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Source: style.com (Beauty Counter Blog)A Beauty Bonanza, Backstage At Dior Couture
July 5, 2011 11:25 am
If the design inspirations at the Dior Couture show yesterday seemed all over the place—architect Frank Gehry, French interior design star Jean-Michel Frank, the Memphis design group of the 1980’s—the backstage team of Pat McGrath on makeup and Guido Palau on hair took it to another level. “We’re contrasting the sculptural lines of Art Deco,” Pita said, adding to the mix of muses, before he and McGrath both referenced Le Palace, Paris’ after-hours hot spot during the last days of disco. How does this manifest itself into a consistent beauty look that spans the entirety of 37 looks? It doesn’t, really. But it does leave room for at least three distinct caricatures—and a touch of fairy dust for good measure. The dancing queens had the voluminous, teased-up blow-outs made famous by eighties-era glamazons, and the jewel-toned smoky eyes and lacquered red lips to match. The architectural references were complemented by tall, towering coifs that were tilted slightly askew, topped off with geometric hats and accessorized with color-blocking, 3-D eye makeup. And for McGrath and Palau’s nod to one of the City of Light’s famous clubs, hair was pinned into a makeshift bob with wavy tendrils adhered to models faces’ “like she’s dancing and sweating,” Palau offered, with elaborately bejeweled lids. A hodgepodge, to be sure, but like the clothes themselves, the sheer artistry and craftsmanship behind the conceptualization of each look is undeniable.
Photo: Luca Cannonieri / GoRunway.com
All That Glitters Is Pink And Gold, Backstage At Valentino Couture
July 6, 2011
“Ultra-pretty” is how makeup maven Pat McGrath described the beauty look at Valentino Couture yesterday, and she wasn’t kidding. To properly complement Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri’s ethereal collection, McGrath and her hair partner in crime, Redken creative consultant Guido Palau, made models look soft and mythical—almost like wood nymphs. Make that “Russian princesses,” Palau confirmed of the backstage muse, which called for loose, low-lying, braided chignons that featured gilded, bejeweled wire headbands made especially for the show that he wove across the hairline and through the updo itself. McGrath added to the regal style with a palette of golds and pinks, dusting blush across models’ lids and onto the apples of their cheeks, culminating with a rosy stain pressed into their lips. As for that subtle, almost inexplicable glimmer on models’ faces that anyone lucky enough be front-row surely noticed (Anne Hathaway, we’re talking to you), that came courtesy of a barely detectable line of gold pigment that McGrath etched onto the inner corners of eyes and along the cupid’s bow of mouths to catch the bright lights of the runway. Ultra-pretty indeed.
Photo: Luca Cannonieri / GoRunway.com