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subscribe to beauty counter blog via RSSColette Malouf Pops Up at Bendel’s
May 1, 2012 5:16 pm
The art of the headband has garnered increasing attention since the classic, girly staple started to turn up on the red carpet—with frequency—earlier this year. After two pretty monumental headband moments at the Golden Globe Awards, the accessory has made some equally big fashion statements. Julia Restoin-Roitfeld wore a gold beaded incarnation, set back like a halo on her raven locks, to the amfAR gala in New York in February; Dakota Fanning recently sparked a bit of a blog frenzy with her bronze, Grecian-style chains, which were pushed down onto her forehead at Vanity Fair’s Tribeca Film Festival opening party; and just last week, Chloë Moretz stole the show at CinemaCon in Las Vegas with a thick black bow. But how do you wear a hair accessory properly? Colette Malouf has some ideas—and she’s doling them out for free at a pop-up shop that just opened at Henri Bendel’s in New York this week. “I like unexpected ornamentation,” says the bauble behemoth, which might explain her Spring collection; Night Fever, as the new line of clips, bands, and barrettes is called, features mesh metal and leather details plus brightly colored stones like lapis and coral. Inspired by the 1970’s and the last days of disco, plus bygone brands like Mary Quant and Fiorucci, the entire range is currently on display along with Malouf herself, who will be taking questions and doing demos on Thursday and Friday. Finally, a chance to learn how to wear a pair of hair combs à la Miu Miu’s Fall 2011 show. See you there.
Colette Malouf pop-up shop at Henri Bendel, 712 Fifth Ave., May 3 and 4 from 3 to 8 p.m.
tags: Colette Malouf, Hair
Beauty And The Beat: Little Hurricane’s CC On Bridging The Drummer Gender Gap And The Merits Of Waterproof Primer
April 27, 2012 4:01 pm
Celeste “CC” Spina has been playing drums since she was 10, but it took a short-lived career as a chef followed by a serendipitous Craigslist posting to finally get behind the kit in an actual band. She joined singer-songwriter Anthony “Tone” Catalano to form the San Diego duo Little Hurricane, whose debut album Homewrecker (out next week) lives up to the group’s name as something small but powerful; think bluesy rock tracks that sound just as good when played to thousands at Lollapalooza as they do soundtracking an episode of Gossip Girl (GG fans will likely recognize the song “Haunted Heart”). Although CC prefers wearing vintage dresses and styling her hair in long, side-swept waves, she’s no delicate flower—just look at her inked-up arm for proof. “I got my first tattoo at 18,” she says. On the eve of their big album release, CC spoke with Style.com about sweat-proof primers, stocking up on dried fruit, and an American Apparel staple that, in a twist of irony, prevents her from flashing an entire audience.
What does someone not familiar with Little Hurricane need to know going into your debut album Homewrecker?
It’s rock, but there’s blues, folk, country, punk, and funk lurking there as well, [and] it’s full of personal stories of heartache and hope. It’s a true DIY album, recorded while touring the West Coast.
You’ve been compared to—and have yourself talked about—Meg White. Do you ever feel like you need to differentiate yourself from other blues-rock duos with female drummers?
Being compared to someone else is part of playing music and every band goes through it. I like that most female drummers are viewed as a novelty; it’s great motivation to be a better drummer. Being on an all-guy drum line was really challenging when I played as a kid. It sets me apart in a different way now, and I love that. I just really try to be myself. It wouldn’t be any fun to just copy another band.
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tags: CC Spina, Hair, Little Hurricanes, Make Up For Ever, Makeup, Oscar Blandi, Smashbox
Benefit, On The Big Screen
April 26, 2012 2:38 pm
Benefit has made a name for itself as the beauty brand that serves up stellar, complexion-enhancing face-savers—and a little dose of humor, free of charge. The idea of blending cosmetics and comedy stems from founders Jean and Jane Ford’s own lighthearted approach to a life that has taken them from small-time Indiana to the fast-paced world of New York modeling, and then finally to San Francisco, where they’ve built Benefit into a global business over the last 30-plus years. And with a cult-favorite cheek and lip stain cleverly called Benetint, which was originally made for a San Fran-based stripper who wanted her nipples to look more red, and a velvety complexion balm known simply as Dr. Feelgood, it’s unsurprising that the film version of the Fords’ road to success would be anything but normal.
“It’s like a seventies variety show,” Geremy Jasper said of Glamouriety, a new movie that he directed with Georgie Greville in partnership with Legs, Milk Studios’ motion and creative division that premiered in Tribeca last night. “It’s sort of like Sonny and Cher,” Greville chimed in of the project that combines animation, skits, and original musical numbers, composed by Jasper. “[Jean and Jane] opened up their eccentric and colorful past and they let us walk down memory lane with them,” he said, describing the plotline, which features vignettes about the creation of Benetint via a “Streisand-esque” ballad—”My mom is the voice of the old stripper!” Jasper effused—and a live-action short about Ralph, a cross-dressing farmer that used to send away for Benefit cosmetics through the Fords’ mail-order catalog.
“Ralph is my favorite,” Jean divulged before the tape rolled, adding that she was also particularly proud of Hervé Lopez’ animation. “All of them are real stories, and they are only really three or four of the massive amount of stories that we have,” she said of the sketches. So why not do a book? “Words may not be able to capture the spontaneity and the spirit of the brand,” Jane surmised before revealing that she’s not ruling it out. The material is there; “when a person works retail, every minute is a potential story.”
Glamouriety will be premiering in Shanghai, Seoul, and Paris before it makes its online debut at www.benefitcosmetics.com later this year.
This One Time, At Athletes Camp…
April 24, 2012 12:31 pm
SoulCycle careerists, Gumby-limbed yoga enthusiasts with unlimited monthly studio memberships, bi- and triathletes, the improbably muscular: None of these archetypes best describes me. I am but a young fashion editor of modest gymnastic ability. I am the 99%. This is my story.
My 2012 began, like my 2011 and my 2010, with midnight promises to improve my fitness lot. But unlike in 2011 and 2010, I actually did something about it. On the advice of a colleague, I delivered myself to Chelsea Piers before dawn, into the care of a former national bobsledder named Grayson Fertig. Two mornings a week, Fertig put me and a small group through the paces of a training program he’s dubbed Athlete’s Camp, a variable program emphasizing athleticism in general over any workout in particular. The program varied class to class, but always included rock climbing, basketball, some form of balance training, cardio, and strength training. A month later, I was well on my way to the body beautiful—and amazingly, the professional personal trainer taking the class alongside me was, too.
“It seems like the best stuff is reserved for the best athletes, who are most physically adept. I don’t really think that’s fair, and I don’t really think that accomplishes anything,” Fertig says. The idea for the class came to him when he was privately training runway models between bobsled tours—girls like Elise Crombez, Doutzen Kroes, and Anne Vyalitsyna. “I treated them as if they were specific athletes,” Fertig explains. “I really treated them as individuals. It’s an individual type of person. You don’t need to spend too much time with a fashion model to know that physically, they’re a particular type of person and need to be attended in a specific kind of way. You take it a step further and realize we all need to be attended to in a specific kind of way. In fitness in general, you hear a lot of you need this, you need that. But so much of it is [actually] just working on your own thing. So someone like you and someone [at a much different level] can be working side by side and you can both get something out of it.”
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tags: Athletes Camp, Grayson Fertig
Beauty And The Beat: Talking Concealer Tips And The Hunt For The Perfect Black Eyeliner With Dum Dum Girls’ Dee Dee
April 20, 2012 4:31 pm
Dum Dum Girls look like the coolest girl gang around when they take the stage; with their emotional imagery, soaring guitars, and gorgeous vocals, it’s hard not to become an insta-fan—if not for their sound then for their exceptional on-stage style. The bicoastal four-piece pair lace dresses, printed tights, and impeccably drawn-on cat-eyes with their sixties-meets-eighties pop, an intentional move that’s meant to strengthen the ties among fashion, makeup, and music. “It’s just a personal preference on my part,” explains the group’s founder and front woman Dee Dee (no last name necessary). “I’ve always worshiped bands and artists who covered both bases, be it the Ramones with their jeans and jackets or Roy Orbison with his sunglasses. To me, it adds something that takes it from just music to art.” She’ll be taking that philosophy (as well as a suitcase full of vintage boots and leather jackets) on the road starting tomorrow, when Dum Dum Girls kick off a month-long U.S. tour. Here, Dee Dee tells Style.com why she’s considered getting permanent eye makeup, how Spanish Sephoras are the best in the world, and what life-changing advice she got from Karen O.
The band has a really uniform look—even when you break the mold and wear, say, white instead of black, you’re all wearing white. Did you ever sit down and say, “We’re all going to wear black eyeliner and patterned tights?”when the band started, or did it just happen organically?
I definitely wanted the band to have an established aesthetic, essentially a melodramatic extension of my general style. I explained this simply to the girls, “black vintage,” and the look just evolved naturally from that.
How much clothes sharing goes on when you’re on tour?
Not too much, though Jules [guitar, vocals] tends to save me with dress loans every now and again. At this point we mainly just share and swap around all our Zana Bayne leather belts and harnesses. She’s a vital accessory!
What’s your preferred liner when it comes to drawing on a cat-eye?
The sad truth is I have yet to find the perfect eyeliner. I use cheap L’Oréal [Lineur Intense] felt tips because it is so easy to apply quickly, and everything I’ve tried, from drugstore to YSL, ends up running by the end of a set. Even the waterproof versions! I am intrigued by the reusable velvet strips Dior came out with recently, but I am going to give gel liner a try, as all the research I’ve done—relying mainly on professional dancers’ experiences—points to that as the solution. I may look like Kiss for a bit, though, as I hone my brush skills. Then again, maybe I should just get permanent cat-eye makeup…
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tags: Dee Dee, Dum Dum Girls, L'Oréal, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup, Perfekt, Skincare, Youngblood Cosmetics
WAH Nails Crosses The Pond
April 18, 2012 10:45 am
A lot can happen in three years. Witness the rise of nail art: When Sharmadean Reid opened WAH Nails in April 2009, she surely couldn’t have foreseen a world where hip girls got their nails wrapped and airbrushed as a matter of routine, where the Internet would find room for literally thousands of nail blogs, and where graphic nail wraps were sold at the drugstore. But not only did Reid imagine this very world, she helped create it. Her Dalston-based nail emporium has pretty much set the bar, and then set the bar higher, for all of the cool, crazy things you can do to a nail, erecting a mecca for the U.K.’s nail art-obsessed to come and pay homage. This week, Reid is bringing the WAH experience to the United States for the very first time, celebrating her salon’s third anniversary with a party and a pop-up nail salon at the W Union Square. Reid has more than one reason to celebrate, too: This July, she publishes The WAH Nails Book of Nail Art (Hardie Grant), which serves as both a time capsule of East London cool and a DIY nail art manual. Here, Reid talks to Style.com about pointy tips, WAH: the product line, and the universal downtown state of mind.
Why did you start WAH?
I couldn’t find what I wanted anywhere else. I couldn’t find it in the hood salons and I couldn’t find it uptown. And that seemed ridiculous—if I go into a nail salon and I say I want my nails all to be different colors, with my boyfriend’s name spelled out, somebody should be able to do that for me. Right?
Have you been surprised by the salon’s success?
Yes and no. It took off really fast, and that was surprising. But I wouldn’t have started WAH if I wasn’t confident that it would succeed. I had a sense that the nail thing was coming. I still do some trend forecasting, and I’ve just got a good instinct for stuff like that; you feel it in the air. Like pointy acrylics—I had a feeling about those. Back when I started the salon, if you saw someone with acrylic nails they’d be square-tipped. I wanted pointy. Rihanna always had pointy. Now pointed nails are the norm.
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tags: Nails, Sharmadean Reid, WAH
The 411: Bluemercury’s Marla Malcolm Beck
April 17, 2012 1:04 pm
A little over a decade ago, Marla Malcolm Beck decided to turn her beauty product hoarding into a lucrative business; enter Bluemercury, the Washington, D.C.-born boutique and spa that has been doling out luxury beauty products to the eager masses since 1999. With nearly 40 locations around the country, Beck is preparing to spread her influence that much further with the release of her own skincare line, M-61, next month. The collection melds time-tested ingredient powerhouses like retinols, salicylic acid, and peptides with a host of naturopathic plants to create surefire hits like Fast Blast, a two-minute vitamin C mask, and the potent Power Pro-Peel system, which happens to be Beck’s favorite offering from the line. “[It] is perfect for smooth skin pre-foundation before going out,” she says. Here, the primping innovator divulges her other beauty go-tos, including her favorite hometown hits and beyond.
The Hair Heroes: Salon AKS
“I have been going to Kathleen and Kao of Salon AKS for over ten years now. I won’t let anyone touch my hair other than this dynamic duo. They come to Georgetown every six weeks, thankfully. Kathleen really knows how to do the perfect blonde.”
Salon AKS, 3240 P St. NW, Washington, D.C., e-mail salondcny@mac.com for appointments, www.salonaks.com.
The Blow-Out Queen: Maria at Salon Nader
“Maria at Salon Nader in Bethesda is fast and does a perfect job. Her blow-outs last longer than anyone’s. She also cuts all of my children’s hair; my 5-year-old son has the perfect surfer cut because of her!”
Salon Nader, 10243 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda, Md., (301) 897-8700, www.salonnader.com.
The Muscle Relaxer: Remede Spa at the St. Regis
“Between my three kids and running all our locations and e-commerce business, I have no time for massages in Washington, D.C. My breaks are taken while I travel, especially in New York. I adore Gordana at the Remede Spa in the St. Regis. She is an expert with backs and her deep-tissue massages feel like the equivalent of going through a weeklong detox program in 50 minutes. One of the best massage therapists I’ve ever been to.”
Remede Spa at the St. Regis, 2 E. 55th St, NYC, (212) 339-6715, www.starwoodhotels.com.
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tags: Bluemercury, M-61, Marla Malcolm Beck, Skincare
Beauty And The Beat: Eight-Day-Old Hair, Phillip Lim Shorts, And More Coachella Prep From St. Vincent’s Annie Clark
April 13, 2012 3:20 pm
This year’s Coachella lineup is packed with women who know how to command a crowd, wield a mascara wand—and wear a blue sequined pantsuit with gusto. Feist, Cat Power, and Florence Welch will all be flexing their vocal chords this weekend (and next) in Indio, California. But when it comes to subtle beauty, few can top Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent. The multi-instrumentalist has captivated audiences with her small but powerful voice, delicately painted lips, and raven-hued ringlets since releasing her first solo album, Marry Me, in 2007—the fashion world included; Clark has performed at Rachel Comey’s Spring 2010 show and frequently sits front-row at 3.1 Phillip Lim. Five years and two albums later (her most recent, Strange Mercy, came out last fall) and Clark is just as luminous. But how will her halo of curls and porcelain skin fare in the desert? Style.com checked in with the art-pop musician to find out what festival-ready hair products she’s stocked up on, her enviable suitcase of designer duds, and why you should never, ever eat the catering backstage.
You’ve got an amazing mess of curly hair. How do you keep it in shape when you play outside?
Gone are the days of haphazardly cutting my own hair in a dorm room. Now I go see Peter Gray every three to four months and he keeps me on track. Then I usually just run some Bumble and bumble Deeep into it when it’s wet, then let it air-dry. Hair starts looking its best when it hasn’t been washed for approximately seven to 10 days. I should be at day eight on the first weekend [of Coachella]!
You’re practically a fashion week regular at this point. Does it make you feel like you need to step up your game when it comes to choosing onstage outfits?
I was raised by jazz musicians who wouldn’t dream of stepping onstage unless they looked “proper.” It was a show of respect to the audience in those days: If you’re onstage asking people to look at you, you ought to look put-together. I tend to abide by this philosophy.
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tags: Acne, Annie Clark, Christopher Kane, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2012, Hair, Peter Gray, Phillip Lim, St. Vincent
How To Fake-Bake Like A Supermodel
April 10, 2012 5:34 pm
Self-tanner has had a bad rap since the earliest incarnations of the dihydroxyacetone, or DHA, -rich lotions first hit stores in the early sixties. A half-century later, and those orange-tinged, fake-baked connotations still stand. But not with Nichola Joss’ clientele. St. Tropez’ resident skin finishing expert has perfected the craft of sunless tanning and become sought after by A-listers like Hugh Jackman and Charlize Theron and supermodels like Kate Moss and Elle Macpherson in the process. “It’s cold and gray here, and we don’t want to look gray while we’re looking at gray,” the Scottish-born blonde jokes of her vast experience, which benefits from a childhood spent enduring long U.K. winters, not to mention a biology and cosmetology degree. We’re most familiar with Joss’ backstage résumé, though. “I did tanning at Julien Macdonald’s show 12 years ago when no one was doing it. I had to mix something and it wouldn’t wash off; it was really difficult,” the self-proclaimed “beauty therapist” recalls. A decade later and Joss has made a habit of giving limbs a natural warmth at shows like Erdem, Roksanda Ilincic, House of Holland, and David Koma—in a custom-built booth that lets her spray down models on site, no less. “You’ve got to really love it and you’ve got to understand how the body works and how your muscles work,” she says of the secret to creating the perfect faux glow. Here, as short-shorts season looms ever closer, Joss talks self-tanner innovation and imparts some of her application wisdom, free of charge.
What would you say is the most common mistake people make when they try to apply self-tanner at home?
It’s about being aware. With a very dark tan, you look one-dimensional, and the reason that happens is because you are applying [the lotion] all over your body—but you don’t tan naturally all over your body. So, when you apply all over your body, it flattens you, it makes you one-dimensional. It is really about understanding skin. I’m constantly thinking about how we can develop something new or fresh.
Are you part of the product development team at St. Tropez as well?
That’s why I was so keen to be involved! It is really hard to shut me up once I start talking about product. I was constantly saying to them, “Listen, it would be great if we do this” or “What about thinking about a wash-off product?” five years ago. I am passionate about skin and skincare, so I am really lucky to be able to influence it slightly.
So you’re the brains behind the new One Night Only wash-off product. Can you speak to that a little bit?
It’s an amazing product for me because it means I can tan [my clients], then they can go to their event, and then they can wash it off if they’re going to be in movies or for something that doesn’t warrant it. For backstage, editorial, and advertising campaigns, I can’t do without it. I used to have to mix stage products before. It is exactly the same color as the self-tan mousse except you have no commitment with it. You can play with it and make a mess and then wash it off. There are two different levels, a dark and a medium.
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tags: Nichola Joss, Skincare, St. Tropez
Raf’s In At Dior: But Who Will He Put On Makeup Duty?
April 9, 2012 1:33 pm
After over a year of waiting, The New York Times is reporting that a new creative director has been named at Christian Dior—and his name is Raf Simons. The ousted Jil Sander designer, whose Fall show, his last for the house, ranks as one of the season’s best (it got the number two spot on Style.com/Print’s top ten collections list), seems unfazed by the responsibilities that taking over such a large brand will entail, emphasizing that his approach is collaborative. “I’m not an isolated person. The more I connect to people, the more I have the feeling that things work.” Which got us to thinking: Who will be the person Simons connects with in the makeup department when his team takes over the Musée Rodin in October?
Legendary maquillage force Pat McGrath has been behind the fantastical face painting at every Dior show—both ready-to-wear and couture—since the early Galliano years and has been responsible for the whimsical seasons (think cupid’s bow lips, redrawn brows, and fine-art-inspired eye makeup) as well as the more pared-down tributes to classic beauty, as we saw for Fall. But over the past two decades, Simons has been loyal to friend, countryman, and collaborator Peter Philips. The Belgian-born makeup artist has worked on Simons’ own label’s campaigns as well as those for Jil Sander, and has been behind the stellar beauty looks that have prevailed there for the past few seasons: The rose petal pink lip that will long be remembered from Simons’ swan song at Jil Sander was Philips’ doing, as was that jade green cat-eye circa Fall 2011.
Philips’ role as creative director of makeup for Chanel might make it difficult for him to participate in a Dior show, but jury’s out whether Simons can make it happen anyway. He’s already managed to snag what has been the most elusive job in the fashion industry; who knows what else he’s capable of.
tags: Christian Dior, Makeup, Pat McGrath, Peter Philips, Raf Simons
