Backstage At McQueen, “A Little Fantasy” Goes A Long Way
If the lace masks at Sarah Burton’s show for Alexander McQueen looked familiar, it’s because anyone who made it to the wildly successful exhibition celebrating the house’s late namesake designer at the Met this summer has seen something like them before. “The idea came from the masks we created for the McQueen exhibit,” confirmed Guido Palau, who dreamt up another series of similar headgear with Burton for Spring. “People expect a little fantasy from this show,” Palau pointed out, which he delivered by weaving tight, half-inch-thick rings of braids all around models’ heads. “It’s like a wig wrap, but I wanted it to look more embellished,” he explained—which happened to be the complete opposite of Peter Philips’ M.O. “It’s almost like a sculpture,” the famed face painter said of the full-body muting technique he employed, applying a continuous wash of Chanel Pro Lumiere foundation on faces, limbs—anywhere skin was showing. “It’s all the same color; we wanted to make sure everything was covered,” he said, taking the season’s monochrome makeup trend to the next level. While Philips finger-pressed foundation into lips as well, there was one area of the face that he enhanced: the brows. “We tried bleaching them, but it looked too alien,” he said, opting instead to flatten arches, coating them in the same latex-based glue he used only a few hours earlier at Chanel. “It puts some life back inside those masks.”
Girly And Gorgeous, Backstage At Valentino
If there were a single word to describe the hair and makeup backstage at Valentino, it would be “pretty.” Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri have made the descriptor something of a mantra since taking the reins at the house and have instructed their go-to glam squad of Pat McGrath and Guido Palau to do the same. The hair and makeup duo hit their stride at the designers’ Couture show, in our opinion—with a pink and gold face palette and glorious long, soft waves that were woven with crystal-dotted gold wire—but what they dreamt up for Spring was equally endearing (and way easier to duplicate!). “I’m contouring the face with pastels,” McGrath explained of the pale pink and dove gray powders she swept underneath cheekbones and along brow bones, using a more iridescent pink on the inner corners of eyes and across lids. Grooming brows, she dotted lips with CoverGirl and Olay Simply Ageless Sculpting Blush in Lush Berry and slicked on a few coats of black mascara for heightened femininity.
All That Glitters Is Gold And Red Backstage At YSL
If you want After a last-minute change to the beauty look last season at Yves Saint Laurent, in which all traces of Pat McGrath’s original vivid purple lip were erased in favor of a glossy nude mouth, we were hesitant to vacate the backstage premises out of fear that we’d miss all the eleventh-hour action. But McGrath’s Talitha Getty, “couture collector” look for Spring stayed intact, from the second she bleached brows and slicked on a metallic red lip until the curtain closed on Stefano Pilati’s collection. “It’s different and very brave,” McGrath said of the look, which married the sixties style icon and heiress’ signature black liner application that favored black kohl rimmed lids with a thick and heavy point on the outer corners and a made-to-order mouth, which featured a crimson foil finish rather than boring old matte or glossy. “It’s time to change things up a little,” McGrath said a dare that hairstylist Guido Palau was ready to accept. Rather than create a simple, textured chignon, the Redken creative consultant was also game to think outside the box. Prepping strands with Redken Satinwear 02 Ultimate Blow Dry Lotion, Palau teased hair at the root to give it a “little lift” before tucking front sections behind the ears and gathering lengths into a low ponytail that he twisted into a messy bun. Then came the segmented gold hoops, which encased each knot and resembled the biggest door-knocker earrings we’ve ever seen. “Stefano had them made,” Palau said of Pilati’s gilded ornaments, which imparted a slight forties feel, but not intentionally. Those bleached arches and a modern nude nail courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent La Laque #2 Beige kept it from veering too far off into retro territory.
