Inside the 10-Hour Prep for Jennifer Lopez's Super Bowl Beauty Look
The moments before the raucous, tongue-wagging, Alex-Rodriguez-crazy-making halftime Super Bowl performance featuring Shakira and Jennifer Lopez are whisper quiet. A monastery gathered at the altar of a worldwide icon prepping for one of the biggest performances of her life. Performers are locking in, according to Lopez's makeup artist Scott Barnes. "We don't have music pumping or anything," he said over the phone shortly after the performance wrapped. "We all want to be laser-sharp, so everyone is very concentrated."
Prepping for the Super Bowl halftime show is a day-long event. Barnes started the morning at 10 a.m., changing locations with the help of a police escort midway through the making of a look, a fitting homage to Lopez and the Super Bowl host city, Miami. Versace and '90s supermodels all played a factor in crafting the look, with Barnes and Lopez planning it as soon as the singer locked the performance. But now that's it's over, the fun can begin. What's next for Barnes? "I'm getting on a yacht," he says.
Below, Barnes discusses working with Lopez and putting together the perfect look for whatever your equivalent of the Super Bowl halftime show is—maybe you have a big meeting tomorrow that calls for a smoky eye?
What was on the beauty mood board for tonight?
My vibe for this was Versace supermodel, the '90s. It was very Peter Lindbergh shoots with the skirt, the leather, and the hats. And I was like, "OMG, this reminds me of Linda [Evangelista], it could be Christy [Turlington], and all of the girls." I wanted to give the nod to that, and that's where the makeup inspiration came from.
What time did your glam start?
We started at 10 a.m. this morning and got to Jennifer's house at around 10:30 a.m. She was doing some rehearsing, we were doing fittings, and then nails started, and hair, and then makeup. But I didn't finish it yet, so I left the house around 3 p.m. with a police escort. Yeah, a police escort. I started makeup again around 4:30 p.m. and did that until 5:30 p.m. We did a quick little run through, and then we finished up and we were on stage. It was crazy.
What's it like touching up Jennifer Lopez seconds before she goes onto the Super Bowl stage?
We were standing on the side, and I was like, "Make sure I get powder, make sure I have lip gloss, make sure I have bronzer." At that point, I was using a ton of products, my palette, my new lip glosses that are coming out, Marc Jacobs bronzer, and Marc Jacobs eyeliner to be exact. That's what we did the smoky eye with and it was so great and amazing. It was so soft and worked so well.
How did you make sure the look lasted on stage and worked with the outfit changes?
I felt like the light was the one thing I needed to figure out. I felt like the light was very strong up there. I was like, "I have to do this eye punchier or else it's going to disappear." Thank God for that eyeliner because it literally saved my life.
What are your tips for recreating this look at home?
Always use bronzer! I used the Marc Jacobs bronzer and toasted all the edges and kept the center a little bit lighter. I used my highlighter kit—glowy and showy. I used my new lip glosses that are coming out in about a month. It's a little too soon to be using them but I'm using them because I love them. I did a smoky eye and I also did a little bit of a small stout cut crease and a shimmer on the lid. The key is you can't just make the eye close up with too much smoke. You want to make sure it stays open.
What was your favorite part of the performance?
First of all, that was the most jam-packed performance I think we've ever done. I've known Jennifer for 20 years and this was like a career flex in front of our eyes for six and a half minutes. I was so proud of the whole performance. I loved it all. Emme [Lopez's daughter] singing up on stage to "Let's Get Loud" was pretty incredible. I knew it was coming, I had been in rehearsals, but to see the crowd and hear the reaction to it, it was amazing.
It's so different when you do things in rehearsal over and over again and it's a different thing when you do it in front of a billion people. You feel that energy exchange like the second she got up on that Empire State Building. Everyone roars and it hits you.
They love her, and they love what she brings, you know?
How Barnes created Jennifer Lopez's Super Bowl Beauty Look
Barnes used Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in Blacquer in her lash line and extended the line out to elongate the eye.
He then flushed out the eyes using the Scott Barnes Snatural Eyeshadow Palette in the shades “Foxy” and “Femme” to create a crease, the shades “Boudoir” and “Brickhouse” to deepen the crease, shape the eye, and smoke out the lower lash line, and then used the shade “Sin” to deepen the outer corner of the eyes, crease, and lower lash line, again, all with his 62 Brush.
He then applied the shade “Twilight Sand” from his highlighter palette on the lid and inner corner of the eye, finishing off with the Scott Barnes Pumped Up Mascara and Bianca – Falsetto Lashes.
For her signature J.Lo glow, Scott used Marc Jacobs Beauty O!Mega Bronzer Coconut Perfect Tan in Tantalize, a warm deep bronze, on her forehead, cheekbones, and jawline using the Scott Barnes 66 Brush to deepen the contour and keep the contrast for the stage.
He created a contour on the nose by mixing Marc Jacobs Beauty O!Mega Bronzer Perfect Tan in Tantric, a terracotta bronze, with the Scott Barnes Sculpting and Contour Palette in the shade “Sliced.”
To finish J.Lo’s signature glow, Scott applied his Scott Barnes Original Body Bling to her chest and arms.
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