CLEAN SLATE
As backstage beauty trends become increasingly experimental, the simple things – flawless skin, pillowy lips, healthy hair – have an allure of their own. By Remy Rippon.
As backstage beauty becomes experimental, the simple things – flawless skin, pillowy lips, healthy hair – have an allure of their own.
Basic knowledge
If there’s one thing every make-up artist agrees on, it’s that the best looks start with a flawless base. But that doesn’t mean resorting to layers of products. At Prada this season, Pat McGrath, the godmother of backstage face paint, prepped models’ skin with humble moisturiser and concealed “only where needed”, leaving skin that looked like, well, skin. At Zero + Maria Cornejo, Dick Page showed similar restraint by creating bare but ultimately glowing complexions, “doing as little as possible in a very realistic way”.
Get balmy
While Dolce & Gabbana’s enduring love affair with a crimson pout isn’t waning, a raft of shows made a strong case for lips in their natural state. Master of minimalism Peter Philips served up youthful pouts at Dior using just “a little bit of Lip Glow to moisturise the lips”. At J.W. Anderson, the focus was on preparation, which started with a buff and polish. “We got all the dead skin off their lips and we used a little facial scrub. There are millions of lip balms you can put on … and then we just use a Q-tip and wipe it all off,” said make-up artist Mark Carrasquillo.
In the nude
Swap out summer brights for the new nude nail colour: the one that perfectly matches your individual skin tone. Not only does it give the illusion of longer fingers, it whispers of understated elegance. The catch? Colour-matching your exact skin tone can be a lesson in mixology. “In my kit have several hundred nudes and I never have the right one. I always have to mix,” says manicurist Marian Newman of the flesh-toned nails she created at Teatum Jones.
Au natural
“A lot of the girls were actually cast for their hair,” says James Pecis backstage at Simone Rocha, where a sea of waves and natural texture dominated. “We are using a texturising dust – Swept Up by Oribe – just to give it a little bit more of an airiness and a texture in the flyaways.” Forgo tools and find your hero product – an oil, mask, salt spray – that dials up your natural state, rather than disguising it.
Get good brows
The best way to offset the dramatic looks for the season (think artful graffiti liner, or ketchup-hued lips) is with perfectly imperfect brows. At Balmain and Givenchy, where structured brows usually take centre stage, make-up artists opted to do nothing but brush the hairs north for a dishevelled effect. At Maison Margiela, dramatic pink lips were toughened up by strong brows. Céline, Victoria Beckham and Antonio Berardi followed suit.