45 posts tagged "Diane Kendal"
“A Bit of a More Feminine Approach,” Backstage At Proenza Schouler
The Proenza Schouler woman has such a signature low-key beauty look that we often wonder if Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez even have to instruct hairstylist Paul Hanlon and makeup artist Diane Kendal what to do at this point. Following a few twists and turns at the preshow test for Fall, however, it turns out there was, in fact, a specific directive: “They asked me to do the hair I did for them two seasons ago,” Hanlon revealed backstage.
For those of you who need a refresher course, that was the season Hanlon coined the term “skinny hair,” for which he washed every girl’s locks on site, to start with the most natural texture possible, before removing excess volume and weighing strands down with product. “They’re architectural couture clothes for Fall, but there’s a reality to them, so we don’t want the hair to look too groomed,” he explained, coating strands with Frédéric Fekkai Coiff Perfecteur Anti-Frizz Silkening Crème to create a “lank” effect before applying its Defense Pre-Style Thermal/UV Protectant to add moisture. Then, fashioning side parts that he tucked behind models’ ears, Hanlon applied a liberal amount of its COIFF Oceanique Tousled Wave Spray to add a “roughness, like if the girls had been wearing a beanie.”
Kendal wasn’t so much told to re-create her work from past shows, but she’s become so adept at channeling the design duo’s downtown cool aesthetic that it’s almost second nature at this point. “This season is a riff on classicism, so it’s a bit of a more feminine approach for them,” Kendal pointed out, “but they still wanted their girls to be their girls.” Cue the perfected complexions with MAC’s Studio Fix Powder for a velvety base, the boyish brows that were brushed up with its Clear Brow Finisher Wax, and a fine stroke of black cream shadow drawn against the upper lash line in lieu of mascara. There was one new development here, in the form of MAC’s Red Statement Lipstick from its forthcoming Fall Trend palette, which Kendal applied to cheeks as a transparent blush. “But it’s very sheer, so you can’t really see it,” she assured us.
All That Glitters Is Blue, Backstage At Thakoon
Blue eye makeup was a big hit on the Spring runways and it has already had a few standout showings for Fall too—with good reason, according to Diane Kendal. “Midnight blue gives off a winter feel,” the makeup artist explained backstage at Thakoon, where she was layering NARS Single Eyeshadow in Outremer, a deep indigo, with its new-for-Fall Eye Paint in Ubangi, a similar shade of cobalt that was given a shimmering blue accent with its Duo Eyeshadow in Marie Galante. “The collection has fur stoles, but it’s inspired by summer clothes,” Kendal said, referencing the dragonflies and dandelion prints that adorned the designer’s pieces. “We wanted to reflect that with the makeup.” To wit, she implemented a warm-weather beauty staple that has long gotten the youth vote: glitter. “I’m using three of them,” Kendal effused, applying a liquid set to hold the deep bronze flecks that were diffused toward the outer corner of the eye, while gold sparkles were dusted across the center of lids, and a pink shade was tapered inward. Nails were flecked with clear silver sparkles, courtesy of a single coat of Priti NYC’s Bristol Fairy. To finish the face, Kendal chose to skip lip color—as well as lash lacquer. “Sometimes when you put on mascara it can look old,” she surmised.
Odile Gilbert instituted her own fun and flirty element into an otherwise simple series of chignons via a graphic, micro fringe glued halfway across the hairline. “It’s like you have a little hat on the side of the head,” she said, coating roots with Kérastase Paris Resistance Ciment Thermique to create a sleek finish, as she tightly pulled hair back away from the face, revealing a gem-encrusted ear cuff worn by ten of the shows more elite catwalkers, including Aline Weber, Bo Don, and Xiao Wen.
“Futuristic” Two-Tone Hair And “Hooded” Gray Lids Backstage, At Alexander Wang
Fall 2013 marks a season of firsts for Alexander Wang. In addition to showing his debut collection for the house of Balenciaga in Paris next month, he also moved his namesake show to a brand-new financial district venue in New York. It may be a new year, but backstage, it was pretty much the same Wang. “It’s still his girl,” Diane Kendal contended. “There’s no real color in the face.” In its place was NARS Single Eyeshadow in Lhasa, a steely gray, that Kendal dragged through the crease of the lid, using its forthcoming greasy Eye Paint in Transversal, a dark slate, to beef up brows and diffuse the shadow into a soft wash for a “hooded effect.”
While a dearth of catwalking superstar surprises generated a bit of backstage buzz among a crowd used to seeing the likes of Gisele Buündchen, Shalom Harlow, Carmen Kass, and Liberty Ross take to Wang’s runway, the Ukrainian stunner who opened his show last season still appeared to be very much on his mind. “It’s based on Irina’s hair color,” Guido Palau said of Irina Kravchenko’s henna-treated “cognac” strands that he implemented on every girl with a custom-dyed ponytail extension, courtesy of the Whittemore House’s Larry Raspanti. “Alex really wanted a pop of color,” Palau explained as he pulled lengths into a sleek updo, coating the top section of hair with Redken Hardwear 16 Super Strong Sculpting Hair Gel as he went. “It’s quite futuristic,” he continued of the two-tone style, which served to unify the models into a roving tribe of Irinas. “The fakeness of it clones them a bit,” Palau added of the color’s effect. Then, right before models hit the runway, he coated razor-cut ends with Redken’s forthcoming Diamond Oil Shatterproof Shine Intense for a multidimensional glossiness, which was evident even underneath the medieval-hoods-come-hats that models like Julia Nobis, Jamie Bochert, and Juliana Schurig wore down the runway.
Seeing Blue, Backstage At Jason Wu
As makeup artist Diane Kendal worked feverishly to perfect the forty-plus girls who walked in Jason Wu’s Fall show, the compliments were coming from all corners of the room. “It’s a beautiful blue,” model Hanne Gaby Odiele remarked of Kendal’s eye color of choice as Wu himself and his stylist Kate Young came over to admire her handiwork. “It’s amazing,” Wu beamed. “It’s the perfect shade.” Color matching was the easy part for Kendal, as Wu had given her a piece of fabric from his dark cobalt finale dress to work from; the application, however, took some finessing.
“I applied it in the crease and then blended it,” Kendal explained of the inky blue pigment she swept across a blonde-again Jessica Stam’s eyes, a preview of the first piece of Wu’s debut cosmetics collection for Lancôme, due out this Fall. Using its Le Crayon Khol in Purple Dusk close to the lash line for definition, Kendal added a shimmering lilac pigment to the center of lids to create a multidimensional effect before dragging the mixture underneath and out toward the temple. Lashes were treated to multiple strokes of Lancôme’s Hypnose Drama mascara in Excessive Black, while skin was kept clean and slightly defined with a subtle peachy-bronze contour.
Not to be outdone, Odile Gilbert devised a similarly statement hair look. “I want the designer to be like, ‘Wow,’ ” she said of the “chic and elegant” updo that had no less than eight interwoven sections, she estimated. Prepping hair with Kérastase Resistance Ciment Thermique Heat-Activated Reconstructor Milk and its shine-inducing Elixir Ultime Moringa Immortel, Gilbert crafted precise center parts to add a dose of sophistication before dividing a large front panel from ear to ear and parceling out long plackets of hair. “I go like this,” she said while acting out the crisscrossing motion by which she layered strands over each other before gathering them into a tucked-under chignon that served as a veritable pincushion to secure the style. Two long silver barrettes, slid into place on an angle, increased the “wow” factor.
Copper Cat-Eyes And Twiggy Hair, Backstage At Chloé
“There’s a slight sixties silhouette, but she didn’t want the makeup to look sixties,” Diane Kendal said of Claire Waight Keller’s Spring collection for Chloé. So Kendal borrowed the idea of a retro cat-eye and tweaked it for the here and now with a rectangular shape and an unusual hue: copper.
“[Waight Keller] wanted to use color on the face and this is just the color I liked,” the makeup artist said of the Smoked Paprika cream eye shadow from MAC’s Fall Trend Palette that she slicked across lids, squaring it off toward the inner and outer corners of the eye and topping it with MAC Pigment in Copper Sparkle. Skipping the mascara, as has become her signature for Spring, Kendal drew a fine black cream line onto the upper lash line, resisting her usual urge to brush on contours and settling instead for a hint of MAC Blush in Something Special.
“Sort of Twiggy” is how Guido Palau described the deep side parts that were prepped with Redken Wax Blast 10 High-Impact Finishing Spray and its Powder Refresh dry shampoo for a flat, matte texture. “It’s got the ease of a half-up, half-down,” Palau said of lengths that were pulled into a loose elastic for a style what was neither a knot nor a bun, he insisted, just an effortless, swept-up look. “This season, it’s been more about nuance, rather than big statements.”