The lovely Diane Kendall, master makeup artist
Source: stylebistro.com, style.comCarolyn Murphy—And The Five-Step Red Lip—Backstage At Jason Wu
September 8, 2012
There was no mistaking Jason Wu’s intentions backstage for Spring, where models like Ming Xi, Cara Delevingne and Karlie Kloss were letting their nails and toes dry with two glistening black coats of OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees, lips a perfect shade of cherry red, hair slicked into a masculine/feminine quiff. “It’s Helmut Newton,” hairstylist Odile Gilbert confirmed of the “expensive, elegant, but not vulgar” updos Wu asked her to create for the occasion. It would make sense, then, that the designer would get one of the famed photographer’s regular subjects to open his show.
“She’s special,” Gilbert joked as she tended to supermodel Carolyn Murphy’s blonder-than-usual strands. (”I’ve been surfing,” the Montauk regular confirmed of her freshly sunlit locks.) Prepping hair with Kérastase Elixir Ultime to impart a smooth texture while treating damage, Gilbert created a deep side part, slicking one side back and weaving what she called an “African braid” up the back with the bulk of the lengths, keeping her plait very close to the scalp. The other side offered up a feminine contrast to the masculine severity via a single glossy wave, which Gilbert secured with a halo of Kérastase Double-Force Hairspray. “The shine makes it modern,” she surmised of the finished product.
Makeup artist Diane Kendal continued the Helmut homage with a really strong crimson mouth and equally fierce brows. Starting with a freshly cleansed complexion courtesy of a steamed mask of Sunday Riley Good Genes treatment mixed with its Ceramic Slip cleanser plus a massage of Riley’s hydrating Juno Serum, Kendal created “fresh, dewy” skin that was deliberately contoured—a staple of Newton’s many nineties-era muses. Dusting MAC Sculpt & Shape powder in Taupe beneath cheekbones, Kendal dotted the apples with its Blush in Poised, adding highlights with MAC Iridescent Powder in Silver Dusk on top. Eyes were treated to a similar dose of Sculpt & Shape Powder in Taupe through the crease, which Kendal applied after a wash of its Pigment in Golden Yellow. An elongated stroke of black crème liner on the top lash line added definition to multiple swipes of MAC Haute and Naughty Mascara in Too Black before brows were beefed up to “boyish” proportions.
As for that lip, it was a work in process with not one, not two, but five different steps. Kendal coated the entire pout with MAC Lip Pencil in Cherry, using its Lip Pencil in Vino, a darker wine stain, just around the outline. Then came a dose of MAC Lipstick in Lady at Play, a pink hue, which she topped with its Lipmix in Process Magenta, only in the center, and a sprinkling of its Pigment in Neo-Orange. Do try this at home.
Source: style.comBackstage At Alexander Wang, The Future Is Bright
September 9, 2012
The supermodel surprise that caused more than a few oohs and ahs backstage at Alexander Wang last season was notably missing for Spring, save for a catwalk cameo from Erin Wasson. But there was still plenty of shock value in the catacombs of Pier 94. Following the Kristen Stewart affair scandal that dragged her name through the international tabloids, Liberty Ross was getting ready for the runway; then there were those strips of scalp tape.
“It’s severe and simple-looking,” Guido Palau suggested of the pieces of black—and, in some cases, glow-in-the-dark white—electrical adhesive he stuck to slicked-down middle parts. “It looks more futuristic and takes [the style] to another level so it’s not too simple,” he continued of the accessory he added to a classically placed low ponytail that he prepped with Redken Satinwear 02 Ultimate Blow Dry Lotion, adding a slight bend to the lengths with Sultra’s The Bombshell oval curling iron. Enhancing the modern, otherworldly feel were fingers painted with two coats of Dune, the neutral beige that is part of Wang’s latest collaboration with Sally Hansen (which also includes White Out, a sheer alabaster), and about ten sets of bleached brows, purposely lightened by L’Atelier de Laurie’s Laurie Foley, and modeled by the show’s blond closers including Iselin Steiro, Magdalena Frackowiak, and Daria Strokous.
The makeup was “bold, strong, and sexy”—words we imagine Diane Kendal has all but memorized after seven-plus seasons of building up Wang’s signature “boyish” brows and not much else. Her focus was on arches again this season. Using NARS Eyeshadow in Blondie or Bali to create depth and thickness after treating complexions to a slathering of NARSskin Optimal Brightening Concentrate and a light coat of its Sheer Glow Foundation, Kendal dusted the high points of models’ faces with its new-for-Spring Light Reflecting Setting Powder. Simulating a slight flush with NARS Blush in Zen, she continued, contouring lids with its Cream Eyeshadow in Cayenne, a rich milk chocolate. Then Kendal did something that is gaining popularity for Spring: She skipped the mascara altogether, because glossy black lashes “make you look more pedestrian and normal,” she said. And the intrigue mounts.
Source: stylebistro.com, style.comDavid, Harper, And “Strong, Simple” Beauty Backstage At Victoria Beckham
September 10, 2012
Part of the fun of being backstage at a Victoria Beckham show is that it’s a family affair. Since the birth of her daughter two years ago, it’s become common practice for Beckham’s soccer star husband to emerge pre-presentation, Harper on his hip. The other thrill is to see the hair and makeup.
Beauty for Beckham is an evolution, much like her clothing design; “she’s still figuring out [that] side,” Guido Palau said, pointing out that she likes a strong look but wants to keep it simple—which is why Diane Kendal’s original orange lip was scrapped at the last minute for Spring’s early preference for the subtle and subdued. In its place were “contours” and “highlights,” two familiar words in New York this week, which Kendal created using a series of Maybelline New York Expert Wear Eyeshadows in Made for Mocha and Nutmeg, powder pigments that carved out the hollows of cheeks and the sockets of eyes with a bit more definition than you’d get from a cream product. Its Eye Studio Color Tattoo Eyeshadow in Too Cool, a creamy silver shimmer, provided a luminescent shine to cheekbones, brow ridges, and the bridge of the nose.
Palau’s look started out “unreferenced” and stayed that way. Operating under the guise that “something just feels right about minimal hair right now” and without a specific era or individual from which to cull inspiration, he went with a dual-textured middle part that was prepped with Redken Guts 10 Volume Spray Foam Mousse to provide a grip to the hair, which was rough-dried with its Powder Refresh 01 Aerosol Hair Powder Dry Shampoo in back and given long, purposeful flyaways. “The hairlines have got to be perfect,” Palau instructed his team as he smoothed down front sections with its Shine Flash 02 Glistening Mist—the better to wear those perfectly crisp, buttoned-up-to-there collared shirts, we imagine.