1948 posts tagged "Hair"
Prince, Still Charming
Between the never-ending red carpets in Cannes and last night’s Billboard Music Awards, there was an overwhelming amount of heart-stopping beauty on display across the globe this weekend. But it was Prince—not Carey, or Rooney, or Kirsten, or Nicole—who managed to stop us in our tracks. The man, the symbol, the best Super Bowl halftime performer who ever was or will be, received a Billboard Icon Award in Las Vegas, performing with a Jimi Hendrix-esque afro and mint-green-turtleneck-and-bell-bottom ensemble, as well as some very impressive eye makeup. Not only did the Purple Rainmaker line his upper and lower rims with a black kohl, extending the stroke into a smudged, elongated flick, he used a gold pencil to carefully trace the inner corners—an editorial trick that acts as a highlighter to open the eye area. Not that this was ever in question, but the guy’s still got it—don’t you think?
Beauty Nostalgia: Reminiscing With…Rita Hazan
Beauty Nostalgia is a weekly column on Beauty Counter in which we ask influencers, tastemakers, and some of our favorite industry experts to wax poetic on the sticks, salves, and sprays that helped shape who they are today.
The Pro: Rita Hazan, celebrity hair colorist and founder of Rita Hazan Salon.
The Product: “When I was going to beauty school, I used to perm my aunt Esther’s hair. I was about sixteen or seventeen at the time, living at home with my parents in Midwood, Brooklyn. I went to the beauty supply store to get these perm rods and I remember finding Apple Pectin Acid pH Perm Shampoo there. I loved the smell of the original Apple Pectin shampoo—it was so fruity and everyone was obsessed with it at beauty school. So I was, like, really excited to find the same thing for permed hair. My aunt was about twenty at the time, and I permed her hair every two months, washing out the solution in the kitchen sink. What’s funny is that my Aunt Esther is now the hair model for my Root Concealer; she’s been my guinea pig all these years. She doesn’t have a perm anymore and my taste for scents has evolved a bit (I’m more into the white florals and tuberose fragrances these days), but back in the eighties, Apple Pectin really was the coolest thing.”
Pink Lips And Ponytails, Backstage At Dior Cruise
“It’s a mouth in full bloom,” Pat McGrath told our man on the ground in Monaco this weekend backstage at Christian Dior’s Cruise show. “It’s more intensely pink,” the makeup artist said, referring to the bold fuchsia color she revived for Resort following Fall’s blurred-around-the-edges iteration of the same color. Looking for a “lightness of skin” and, more specifically, a “lightness of eye—lighter than the ready-to-wear [show]“—McGrath diffused a pearly white, shimmering pewter shadow from the inner corners of the eyes toward the temples, rather than return to the precise liquid chrome pen she preferred back in March. “Raf [Simons] said he wanted to ‘feel the girl’—really see her beauty,” she continued, keeping brows groomed and skin slightly sporty with highlights on the cheekbones.
In an effort to keep things from becoming too “over-referenced,” Guido Palau went with the “sophisticated simplicity” of a slicked-down, center-parted ponytail gathered low at the nape of the neck. “There was a future thought,” he admitted, explaining that Simons did mention the 1997 sci-fi flick Gattaca, but without the theatrical undertones. A damp, piece-y texture through the lengths ensured that strands registered as undeniably modern.
Beauty And The Beat: Charli XCX Talks Britney, Baby Spice, And “Loads” Of Black Eyeliner
If you spent much of your time as a 14-year-old going to raves and staying out until 6 A.M.—with your parents, no less—you might have also wound up spending your later years in rehab, not topping the pop charts. But don’t tell that to British hitmaker Charli XCX. The well-adjusted 20-year-old and the voice behind the song that is currently stuck in our heads, a collaboration with Icona Pop called “I Love It (I Don’t Care)” (Girls watchers will remember the jam from the dance-party scene during Hannah’s short-lived cocaine addiction), Charli—short for Charlotte—is a different kind of pop princess. Accented by mounds of black eyeliner, punky lyrics, and midriff-baring T-shirts, her sound isn’t so much candy-coated as rich with rhythm-backed synth riffs that are immediately catchy. As for the XCX bit, “it was part of my MSN screen name when I was 13, and it kind of stuck,” she told us when we caught up with her in the middle of a tour in support of True Romance, her debut album that features the addictive track, “Nuclear Seasons.” Here, the “nineties chick” at heart, talks about late-night clubbing, being inspired by Britney and Baby Spice, and her unconventional secret to the perfect dark lipstick.
How did you get into music at just 14?
As soon as I saw “Hit Me Baby (One More Time),” I knew I loved Britney and music videos, and I was in awe; it inspired me to start making music. I started writing, but it was just me kind of experimenting. I posted demos on MySpace, and a guy who ran a club in East London brought me up to play these raves. I started performing and became a regular in that scene. My parents came with me. They’d drive me and stay at the parties; usually I would play at 2 or 3 A.M. and leave at 6 A.M. At the time, I wasn’t into hanging out with my parents. We’d drive home in the morning and stop for breakfast. They were really supportive. We were always the weird family at the warehouse parties.
Um…Amazing. Why is the new album called True Romance?
All of the songs are about love and my experience with relationships and how I’ve changed my opinion on love, how the relationships have changed me. In true romance, you don’t have just walking on clouds, amazing, happy, beachy moments. To have true romance, you also have to have isolating, depressing moments of crying. The songs are about both. Some are happier and some are darker; some are pop; and others are more mysterious—and that’s what romance is like in real life. “Stay Away” is about an unhealthy obsession with someone, making yourself ill over them, but I haven’t been through that, so it’s more of an imagining.
Your Icona Pop collaboration “I Love It (I Don’t Care)” is the theme song for Snooki & Jwoww—do you watch the show?
That made me really laugh. I don’t watch the show religiously, but I’ve seen it. I think Snooki is pretty cute. They’re both hilarious.
Bongo Does Beauty; “The Rachel” Vs. “The Kate;” And More…
Attention, children of the eighties: Bongo, your favorite denim brand of old and mine, has branched out into beauty with a lineup of fragrances, body care, lip glosses, and nail polishes that will launch exclusively at Kmart. [WWD]
Here’s a secret: Whenever we fly, we put under-eye masks on about twenty minutes before we land to ensure that we look fresh despite many hours of travel. Today, Glee star Lea Michelle revealed via Instagram that she does the same thing. Stars: They’re just like us! [Hollywood Life]
Even though Jennifer Aniston looks back at her famous “Rachel” haircut with a boatload of regret, its onetime popularity was still a bigger deal than even the “Kate Middleton,” according to the Duchess of Cambridge’s own hairstylist, Richard Ward. [Daily Mail]
According to a new poll from the American Academy of Facial and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), social media activity may be driving an uptick in plastic surgery requests. Never underestimate the importance of a good profile picture. [Time]