The bittersweet end of Blush

If you hadn’t already heard the news, the final episode of Blush revealed some terribly sad news: 23-year-old makeup artist and Blush finalist Todd Homme passed away.

While Todd’s death obviously made the final episode of Blush difficult to watch, Todd’s performance on the show is an immense achievement that should be celebrated. He was obviously talented and seemed like a genuinely sweet, kind person. I wish I could have met him, but I’m glad we were exposed to his talent through a show as historical in the beauty world as Blush.

So in memory of Todd and in celebration of our “Next Great Makeup Artist,” here’s a recap of the season finale of Blush:

Max Challenge: Futuristic Makeup

Maxi, Nolan and Todd proved, yet again, that they deserved to be the top three finalists of Blush. For their final Max Challenge, the artists were to create what they think would be a glamorous makeup look in 100 years.

After having his model lay down on the floor (so he could more easily work on his elaborate makeup), Maxi created a look that he envisioned as a “futuristic version of an African queen who’s ruling the world.” Max Challenge judge and Blush mentor Charlie Green praised Maxi’s futuristic look as well as Todd’s look that included extra long lashes and silver eyebrow cut-outs.

Like last week, however, Nolan’s precision and meticulous attention to detail earned him another Max Challenge win.

Elimination Challenge

The show’s final elimination challenge was as elaborate and intense as you could have expected: the artists had to do the makeup for a Badgley and Mischka fashion show.

To their delight and surprise, the artists received direction from the designers themselves, (and this week’s guest judges) Mark Badgley and James Mischka.

Badgley Mischka was to show three collections: resort wear, ready-to-wear and couture. With only three models each, the makeup artists were to create makeup looks for each collection. The most difficult part of the challenge? While the artists had one and a half hours for their first makeup look (to be worn with the resort wear collection), they had only 30 minutes between each collection to change the makeup for each of their three models.

Nolan: Feathery brows not so haute

Two of Nolan’s makeup looks earned high praises from all the judges. The first was the sexy, Madonna-inspired look that Nolan created for Badgley Mischka’s resort wear collection. The second was a makeup look that featured blue eyes and matte nude lips and was worn by the models while showing the ready-to-wear collection.

Unfortunately for Nolan, his “couture” look fell flat. Though he took a risk by gluing a pair of black feather brows onto one of his model’s eyebrows, the judges felt that the look was distracting and Mischka actuallly said that he wouldn’t send the look down a New York runway.

Todd: Bronzed goddesses

Out of all his runway makeup looks, Todd’s look for the ready-to-wear collection was easily the judges’ favorite. Unfortunately, the judges weren’t wild about Todd’s orange and pink resort wear look or the dark, smokey eyes that he created for the couture collection.

Maxi: “Funk it up a bit.”

Maxi pulled out all stops and drew on his unmatched creativity to fight for the win. Though the judges weren’t too keen on the arrows stenciled onto his models’ faces for the resort wear collection, they laid on the praise for the fresh, white winged liner that Maxi created for the ready-to-wear collection as well as the elaborate turquoise blue patterns that Maxi stenciled onto his models’ foreheads for the couture collection.

The Winner

While all three of the Blush artists are immensely talented, only one could emerge as the show’s final winner. While the judges all admired Todd’s joy and enthusiasm and acknowledged his incredible potential, they chose him as the first to be eliminated in the show’s final round.

Would the judges look past Maxi’s antics and choose him for his brilliant creativity and visionary talent? Or would the judges choose Nolan, a consummate professional with a sparkling personality and mad blending skills?

After six weeks, 12 challenges, and 22 makeup looks, the title of the Next Great Makeup Artist went to Nolan Makaawaawa. Hyper talented, professional and lovable, Nolan truly deserved his win and it will be exciting to watch him make his mark on the beauty world.

As the winner of Blush, Nolan will receive a cool $100k, a contract with Max Factor and the opportunity to work on an InStyle photo shoot.

A huge congratulations to Nolan! We love your “makeup moxie”!

Related: