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Our new cowgirl-cool summer idol

as the sun sets over a dusty lawless land, the heavybooted, wild-haired silhouette of a woman strolls into town. She is sunkissed and kickass, with sand-gritted hair and lips the colour of flames. She does not bask semi-naked on our pages as previous summer beauty idols once did, their freshly waxed, oil-slicked limbs glistening in the heat. Instead, her tenacity speaks of a different kind of beauty – one that’s adventure-bound and effortless, inspiring Versace’s leather tassels and Chloé’s ditsy-print dresses. The classic Wild West woman has evolved; once saloon dancer and comedic Calamity-Jane type, now the epitome of strong femininity. She looks hot and calls the shots. So pack away your panama and dig out your bandana. Because this girl is summer. This girl is true grit.

Texas braid

What, this old rope? Spritz a sea-saltbased texture spray into the roots of your bedhead and blast it dry. Next, separate a section of hair off at the crown, and then at the nape, leaving the middle section to split for your two Dutch braids (the best type of braids, according to our shoot hair sheriff, Heath Massi, because the strands go under rather than over so that the detail sits proudly on the outside). Continue to plait these strands off the scalp, securing the ends with a snag-free band. Finally, pull them into a large, messy plait with your remaining hair, securing it only halfway down so that your ends are free to whip away pesky flies. Short-haired cowgirls, turn to page 110.

Sunrise smile

Burnished orange lips on an unfussy face… serious showstopper for all skin tones. Our shoot make-up maverick, Kenneth Soh, applied a red lip crayon to the inner corners of the model’s mouth and used a soft eyeshadow brush to blur it outside the lip line for a fuller effect. Next, he patted a matte brick-brown lipstick into the centre, blending it to the corners, followed by a dab of shimmery, rusty orange powder onto the middle of the lips.“This gives the illusion of a glow,” says Soh.“Plus, it lasts longer than a liquid highlighter.” Outline the lips using a liner in the same shade as your lipstick.