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Mad Max Fury Road Takes Home the Oscar for the Best Makeup

Road Oscar for Best Makeup
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Master the Art of Cinematic Makeup Just Like Mad Max

Mad Max Won the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling

And the Oscar Goes to Mad Max Fury Road for the Best Makeup

The number of movies we have today is wildly inappropriate. We have hundreds and thousands of movies just in one genre alone. That is why the Academy Awards is such a big deal every year. It is darn near impossible to watch every movie out there and the Academy helps the general public to narrow down the very best movies that we all should devote our time to. Yes sometimes they can be wrong, but with this year being the 88th show, the picks are usually spot on.

Each category at the show is so diverse and frequently, you will see a lot of diversity within the categories as well. Take this year for instance. For the Best Makeup and Hairstyling category, the 3 nominees were very different from one another and each very individualistic. Of the top runners, Mad Max had dazzling world-building designs while The Revenant had wilderness frontier designs.

Mad Max came in as a front-runner after winning Guild, BAFTA and BFCA awards. This awards show was not a disappoint as the film left with not only the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, but ended up taking home 5 other Oscar wins as well. This movie received the most awards of the night! Imagine how difficult this is and how great their makeup team was to have won this award. 300 films are originally in the running for this category at the Oscars. From these 300, 7 are chosen to be on a short list. From that 7, 3 are selected to be nominees. This year, the 3 nominees were “Mad Max”, “The Revenant” and “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared”. All of the makeup and hair teams of these movies are first time nominees, which were interesting to see.

The Mad Max team was made up of Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin who together created some of the wildest and extravagant makeup this category has ever seen. They shocked the audiences with terrifying masks on the most vicious villains, albino soldiers and very grimy yet unbreakable heroines.

This was filmed mostly in the sands of South Africa, Namibia, and across Australia with the makeup team actually using dirt and elements that they were filming in to help create the looks for the movie.

The women needed to look supernatural in this world so to get that luminous skin, the team used multiple shades of BECCA body shimmers as their base layer. To get that sweaty look, they would then apply matte gloss and stipple it on with a sponge.

For the no makeup looks they had to achieve, they did just that. They used very little product outside of some powder and enhancing the eyes a bit. The makeup team was very aware of the reality of this movie and played to it perfectly. They also used real dirt and artfully applied it to the actors in little spots and smudges. In addition, they would apply oil based dirt to elbow and knee creases as well as to the neck. They also had special effects dust that they would mix dirt in with that gave them a perfect product.

Needless to say Mad Max and their incredible makeup and hair team are well deserving of this Oscar win. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, believe me… it is worth watching if only just to see the incredible makeup looks.

Mad Max Fury Road Oscar: Best Makeup
Mad Max Fury Road Oscar: Best Makeup
Mad Max an Oscar for the Best Makeup
Mad Max an Oscar for the Best Makeup
Anastasia Andreani
Anastasia Andreani
For over 10 years, Anastasia Andreani has been dedicated to providing individuals with the tools they need to look and feel their best. From her esthetics license and certifications from renowned organizations, plus a business degree in hand - she imparts helpful makeup wisdom, enabling everyone to reach their full potential!