FACE GOOD ENOUGH FOR TV: Though Lifetime may not have “Project Runway” just yet, thanks to last week’s court ruling, the network is busy green-lighting other fashion-related reality shows. Up next is “Blush: The Search for the Next Great Make-Up Artist,” a competition between beauty professionals vying for a $100,000 prize and a contract with Max Factor. The series will span six hour-long episodes and was filmed in Los Angeles. The show’s judges include In Style’s fashion director Hal Rubenstein, and makeup artist Joanna Schlip, whose clients include Eva Longoria, Scarlett Johansson, Ellen Pompeo and Laura Linney. Charlie Green, who has made up faces including Heidi Klum, Naomi Campbell, Jewel and Tyra Banks, will serve as the show’s Tim Gunn, acting as mentor to the nine contestants. Actress Vanessa Marcil, who has played roles on “Las Vegas” and “General Hospital,” will host the show, which premieres Nov. 11 at 10 p.m.
While fashion can make for good television, what drama can applying eyeliner and lip gloss bring to the small screen? “Everybody starts out their days and says, ‘Oh my God, there’s my face!’” said Rubenstein. “You can have a closet full of clothes and still have that same face. We always want to look our best. The show sort of touches a nerve in every woman.” But what of the show’s face-offs? “It’s how well the makeup challenge serves the person made up. It facilitates different solutions the same way that a wardrobe does,” he explained. Rubenstein, who is more a judge of hemlines and red-carpet gowns than the skill used to apply mascara, admitted he is looking for an overall aesthetic achieved through makeup. “I’m not going to judge the intensity of an eyeliner. I can judge whether you made a woman look beautiful.”
The reality show is the latest move into television for In Style this fall: The show has partnered with “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style” for its second season, and managing editor Ariel Foxman and assistant managing editor Honor Brodie will appear on an episode of “Gossip Girl” later this month. — Stephanie D. Smith
