BEAUTY INSIDER
An Ode To The Great Midwest, Backstage At Rodarte
February 16, 2011
Rodarte’s Kate and Laura Mulleavy have a thing for blondes. Their California gold rush collection for Spring necessitated a gaggle of tawny-haired catwalkers, and so, too, did their Days of Heaven-derived Fall offering. “She’s a girl from the country,” hairstylist Odile Gilbert said of the matte-textured manes she was coating with Aveda Air Control hair spray and its Phomollient Styling Foam mousse, which she worked into strands with her hands to get piece-y definition. “The spirit is a field of wheat,” she continued of the mostly flaxen locks she was styling with side parts and “supernatural,” sweeping half-up-half-downs, secured with a thin, loose braid and the occasional gilded fan-shaped hair clip designed by the Mulleavys. “It’s a mess under control,” Gilbert concluded of her handiwork. Discussing the “pastoral beauty” look, makeup artist James Kaliardos said, “It’s the light at dawn and dusk”—those brief moments of the day that photographers often refer to as “the magic hour” for the sun’s lovely glow. Building an eye reminiscent of a “stormy sunset,” Kaliardos glided a pre-mixed blend of MAC Pro Cream Colour Base in Nude and Yellow Scream over models’ lids, adding its gray/lavender Eyeshadow in Crystal through the crease. Brows were diffused ever so slightly with a layer of MAC Eyeshadow in Soba, a nutty beige. To give girls an authentic, straight-off-the farm touch, Kaliardos coated their lashes with MAC Pro Longwear concealer in NC-45 to lighten. Complexions were left pretty bare, save for a dusting of MAC Blush in So Sweet So Easy, a bright pink, that Kaliardos dragged on the top of cheekbones and across the nose ridge before carving out a minimal contour with its Sculpt and Shape powder in Bone Beige. Finishing touches came in the form of a rosy-brown lip painted with MAC Lipstick in Photo and nails lacquered with Deborah Lippmann’s No More Drama. But not every girl got the metallic copper polish. Lindsey Wixson and Karlie Kloss, both born Midwesterners, were treated to ten fingers of Lippmann’s Jessica Rabbit, a red-sequins varnish that she hand-mixed for the show to match the stunning red gowns the two models wore on the runway. So, was it an accurate homage to America’s bread basket? “It’s like glam Kansas,” Wixson offered. “It’s not a thoroughfare for fashion, but it’s home to me.”
—Celia Ellenberg
Photo: Luca Cannonieri / GoRunway.com
tags: Aveda, Hair, James Kaliardos, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup, Odile Gilbert, Rodarte
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BEAUTY INSIDER
Graphic Dominatrix Meets Eccentric Grandma, Backstage At Marc Jacobs
February 15, 2011
Chinstraps. The odd accoutrement appeared for the first time this season backstage at Victoria Beckham and we paid it no mind as a potential recurring fashion-meets-beauty theme for Fall. But there it was again at Marc Jacobs, anchoring small berets set atop sleek ponytails. “Dominatrix ponytails,” Redken creative consultant Guido Palau clarified of the graphic up-dos that were prepped with Redken’s Blown Away 09 Blow Dry Gel, dried, and flat-ironed, before being secured with a hair-wrapped elastic and and a spritz of its forthcoming Shine Flash 02 Glistening Mist. “The chinstraps bring in a forties illustration effect,” Palau said—that almost cartoonish quality in which not one hair is out of place. “It’s the perversion of convention,” he continued of the classic, girl-next-door style that had been given a “severe” makeover for Jacobs’ barrage of rubber and fake fur. With hair removed from models’ faces, makeup maestro François Nars was given free-reign to pronouncedly paint them. “It’s like a grandmother whose a bit eccentric that puts on too much blush and her eyeliner wrong,” Nars quipped of his “droopy” liner job, drawn downward on the top lash line with his new for Fall Larger Than Life Longwear Eyeliner in Via Venetto, a dark black. Models were also given a heavy flush low on the cheeks courtesy of Nars’ Cream Blush in Lokoune, which he finger-blended to resemble the rouge in “old 18th century paintings.” Lids were dusted with the red shade from his forthcoming Eyeshadow Duo in Grand Palais for depth and lashes were treated to multiple slashings of Nars’ Larger Than Life Volumizing mascara to complete a look that he described as “a little decadent and a little bit off.” It was a spot-on beauty mix for a collection that had lace and latex in equal measure.
Photo: Luca Cannonieri / GoRunway.com
tags: Fran�ois Nars, Guido Palau, Hair, Makeup, Marc Jacobs, NARS Cosmetics, Redken
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BEAUTY INSIDER
At Donna Karan, Grace Kelly Plays Beauty Muse (Again)
February 15, 2011
Where had we seen this before, we thought to ourselves when we happened upon Wella global creative director Eugene Souleiman’s voluminous donut-shaped chignons at Donna Karan? “I’ve seen this shape before,” Souleiman concurred, “but I’ve never seen it with this texture,” a matte finish he’d created by prepping strands with a mix of Wella’s Ocean Spritz and its Wet Perfect Setting blow-dry lotion. “It gives a severity while having a subtlety to it,” Soulemain continued of the high ponytails he curled with a two-inch barrel iron before rolling sections toward the base of the updo and pinning them in place. “Grace Kelly with a modern twist,” Charlotte Tilbury offered of the backstage beauty muse of the day. And then it clicked: The hair was a near identical match to the Princess of Monaco-inspired look at Oscar de la Renta’s Spring show. Tilbury’s makeup job, on the other hand, was decidedly different. While Kelly’s icy blonde screen star persona was modernized with green eye shadow last season, Tilbury did her updating with a “marshmallow Pepto pink” pout, courtesy of three different MAC lipsticks in Flesh Pot, See Sheer, and Up the Amp—a color that was reinforced on nails with two coats of Deborah Lippmann’s creamy Valentine’s Day-appropriate Shape of My Heart. Skin was treated to a “Hollywood glow” from a mix of MAC’s Face and Body Foundation and its Strobe Cream, which Tilbury added for a luminous finish before building in shimmering contours with its Cream Colour Base in Hush. As for the eyes, they were coated with a wash of MAC’s Cream Colour Base in Mid-Tone Sepia, a tarnished beige color, and topped off with a slick of MAC Pro Gloss Texture for added glisten. A touch of chocolaty brown mascara applied to the roots of lashes and brows that were taken down ever so slightly with concealer completed Karan’s new age debutantes.
—Celia Ellenberg
Photo: Luca Cannonieri / Gorunway.com
tags: Charlotte Tilbury, Donna Karan, Eugene Souleiman, Hair, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup, Oscar De La Renta, Wella
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BEAUTY INSIDER
Carolina On The Mind: A Herrera Beauty How-To
February 15, 2011
“Classic Carolina” is how Herrera’s glam squad described its inspiration at the designer’s Fall show. For makeup artist Diane Kendal, that meant timeless beauty. All the quintessential elements were there: defined eyes courtesy of a precise etching of black cream eyeliner drawn close to the lash line and slightly flicked out; a romantic pink cheek blended into models’ skin with MAC’s forthcoming Blush in Angel; and lips painted a sweet shade of sheer rosy-brown with a slick of its Lipstick in Prince Noir. Full brows and a wash of clear gloss on lids added that extra bit of runway glamour. Hair was similarly demure, thanks to coiffing star Orlando Pita, who prepped strands with MoroccanOil’s Styling Cream before applying heat and creating a soft side part. For his next rick, Pita gathered tresses into a low ponytail, which he tucked into itself and then pinned to secure. “It’s boyish in front,” he said of the style, which was deliberately pulled off models’ necks to showcase an abundance of collars in the collection. “I want it to look neat,” Pita added. Herrera seems to be slowly edging into slightly edgier territory, though. For only the second time in her career, the designer requested dark nails—two thin coats of CND’s Dark Ruby, to be precise. But the point was to help bring an even more “luxurious, expensive” feel to the clothes, not to go goth. Don’t get it twisted.
—Celia Ellenberg
Photo: Luca Cannonieri / Gorunway.com
tags: Carolina Herrera, Diane Kendal, Hair, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup, Morrocanoil, Orlando Pita
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BEAUTY INSIDER
Karlie Kloss Talks Lacquer Love
February 15, 2011
Karlie Kloss is probably best known for those brow-tastic Marc Jacobs campaigns and her impressive stature. At 5′ 11″, the Midwesterner towers over many of her cohorts, kicking her long legs out in front of her body for one of the most mind-boggling walks in the biz. Believe it or not, Kloss is also one hell of a good hand model. “I love nail polish,” Kloss revealed to us backstage at Donna Karan yesterday, where we snapped her in Deborah Lippmann’s Shape of My Heart, an opaque pastel pink lacquer, only a few short hours after she was spotted showcasing CND’s Dark Ruby at Carolina Herrera. “I love a bright red,” she said of her color of choice—”like an obnoxiously bright red. It’s like red lipstick; no matter what you’re wearing it makes you feel like Jerry Hall!” Kloss’ crimson wishes came true this morning at Rodarte’s prairie girls-inspired show, where Lippmann made a repeat appearance toting Jessica Rabbit, a scarlet sequins varnish that only Kloss and Kansas-born Lindsey Wixson were treated to. When we asked Kloss about her thoughts on nails’ newfound importance on the runway, she gushed. “It’s genius. It makes so much more of a statement than plain polish.” Her favorite ten-piece statement so far? CND’s deep bordeaux manis with extended gold smile lines at Jason Wu. “I saved them!”
tags: Carolina Herrera, CND, Deborah Lippmann, Donna Karan, Jason Wu, Karlie Kloss, Nails, Rodarte
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BEAUTY INSIDER
Eyes Like African Sunsets, Backstage At Thakoon
February 14, 2011
There was so much going on backstage at Thakoon, it’s hard to know where to begin. That’s what happens when you combine influences as far-flung as Marie Antoinette and the Masai. But we appreciated the overstimulation in a season that has, thus far, featured fairly tame hair and makeup. “It’s like knitting,” coiffing star Odile Gilbert said as she wove sections of the models’ hair over “wool materials” that had been taken directly from the collection. Prepping tresses with Kérastase Nutritive Nectar Thermique, Gilbert dried hair, slathering it with Kérastase Chroma Riche Fluide for shine before beginning a mixed-medium layering process that resulted in a basketweave beehive of chunky knits. A halo of Kérastase Double Force Controle Ultime Hairspray kept everything in place, as models made their way over to fashion’s favorite colorist, Laurie Foley, who was busy bleaching brows. “I’m here to make them go away,” she said of models’ disappearing arches. “I’m not necessarily a proponent,” she opined of the lightening process, “but it’s a show thing, and a showoff thing. It lets them show off.” The them in question being Gilbert and makeup artist Diane Kendal. And show off Kendal did, with a bright palette of orange, pink, and red eye shadows. “I thought about African sunsets,” Kendal explained, coating lids in NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl, a sheer red, to hold a mélange of NARS Eyeshadows in place, including Taj Mahal (a bright tangerine), Desire (a hot fuchsia), and Exhibit A (an electric cerise). Kendal laid off lashes and lips to keep the focus on the eye. “It’s fun,” she said of the finished look. And how.
Photo: Luca Cannonieri / GoRunway.com
tags: Diane Kendal, Hair, K�rastase, Makeup, NARS Cosmetics, Odile Gilbert, Thakoon
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BEAUTY INSIDER
Bare-Bones Glitz Backstage At DVF
February 14, 2011
Diane von Furstenberg named her Fall collection American Legends, which made makeup artist James Kaliardos think of glamorous fashion icons like Diana Vreeland and Gloria Vanderbilt. “It’s the kind of woman who always looks super put-together,” Kaliardos explained, but by eschewing foundation backstage, he was out to bring an accessible simplicity to the equation. “It’s like, Speed the plow. We’ve got to get the look on and get to the Met ball.” And what’s the easiest way to get “bare-bones” beauty that still packs some requisite glitz? Slap on a red lip and a subtle smoky eye, of course. Using MAC Cosmetics Keep Your Cool eye shadow—a metallic black pigment—Kaliardos dusted just the outer corners of models’ lids, adding a slightly elongated flick before curling lashes and coating them with mascara. He then turned his attention to brows, which were amply filled in, followed by lips that he lined in MAC’s Lip Pencil in Cherry and topped off with its forthcoming Lipstick in Runaway Red. Et voilà, super-iconic makeup made easy with an effortless, Orlando Pita-styled ponytail thrown in for good measure. Before models headed out onto the runway, Kaliardos had words with us about Fall’s ongoing bleached vs. full brows debate. “Kevyn [Aucoin] bleached everyone’s brows—and it’s a great look. But I think women look more intelligent and powerful with a brow. And that’s my thing. Brows make you look like a predator.” Grrrr.
—Celia Ellenberg
Photo: Luca Cannonieri / GoRunway.com
