30 posts tagged "James Kaliardos"
James Kaliardos Talks Summer Staples
Friday’s pummeling rain aside, summer is here, which means fewer layers, more time spent outside, and a host of beach weekends to come, if we’re lucky. But the season isn’t all about tanning opportunities and the tropical-themed cocktails that often come with them. Summer is often best spent reenergizing to help feel fully rejuvenated for Fall, and this year, we’ve asked some of our favorite fashion and beauty insiders to dish on how they unwind in the warm weather. For James Kaliardos, makeup artist and cofounder of Visionaire, V, and VMan, the next few months are best spent in New York. “The city begins to spark again, and the electricity of the melting pot always makes me smile as the temperature rises,” explains Kaliardos. And besides, he isn’t the kind of person to “laze about on vacation” anyway. “Life is too short to be not doing anything, and I can’t help but be constantly working away in my head—art ideas, makeup concepts.” There are a few places the backstage regular reserves for relaxation, though. Read on below for his picks, and click here for forty-plus other tips for soaking up the sun in style.
Cali Kid
“To stimulate my mind, I love visiting the archaeological sites of Greece—the Oracle at Delphi, the museums of Athens. In terms of the body, for total relaxation and rejuvenation in a setting that always inspires me, my go-to is The Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, California. Nestled above the clouds of the geologically youngest place on Earth, this is the most perfect, romantic, and holistically beautiful place to get away from it all. I always book a long daily massage in the tree-house spa that looks out over the forest.”
The Post Ranch Inn, 47900 California 1, Big Sur, CA, (831) 667-2200.
Day at the Museum
“If I can’t get away—and, thankfully, I love New York!—my summer ritual is a bike ride up to the Met to discover another treasure. As I ride, I always notice something I hadn’t seen before—good for the body and the mind! My tip: the incredible (and ahead-of-its-time) painting of a bat in the recently opened Art of the Arab Lands wing. Just brilliant!”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028;
(212) 535-7710.
Smart Scents
Intelligent Nutrients. I love their spray elixirs [http://www.intelligentnutrients.com/shop-by-collection/multi-functional-aromas/certified-organic-intelligent-nutrients-nurturetm-take-comfort], which invigorate the spirit and smell delicious. I mix them, spraying different scents in different areas of my body or clothes.”
Intelligent Nutrients Aromatics, $68, www.intelligentnutrients.com.
Seeing Red
Last Spring, blue made a strong case for eye makeup color of the season, as liners and shadows in shades that ranged from aqua and turquoise to cobalt and navy turned up on the runways in full force. And it’s proved a hard habit to kick for Fall, too, as makeup artists like Diane Kendal and Hannah Murray have turned to midnight and robin’s-egg iterations of the hue at shows like Jason Wu and Topshop Unique, respectively. But there’s another color that’s staking a claim to the season, and it’s a rather unexpected one at that. “There’s a sort of seventies feeling to it,” James Kaliardos said of MAC’s forthcoming Rusted Red cream eye shadow that he blended onto lids backstage at Diane von Furstenberg, which followed a similar move by Charlotte Tilbury at Prabal Gurung, where she used the ruddy color to create a fresh, young, stained effect on eyes. In their more saturated outings, cranberry lids have showed up at Cynthia Rowley, courtesy of Romy Soleimani and her trusty compact of Stila Eyeshadow in Pigalle; at Altuzarra, where Tom Pecheux swiped MAC’s metallic raspberry eye shadow in Loves Lure underneath models’ lower lash lines for a “spooky” feel; and just yesterday at Gucci, where Pat McGrath borrowed a deep claret from Frida Giannini’s collection and turned it into a greasy, bold eye, replete with bleached brows for a molten finish. We have a feeling it won’t be the last we’ll be seeing of the color in Europe.
“Rocker Princesses” Unite, Backstage At Rodarte
Wearing makeup to the beach is a questionable move, although if you grew up in a NorCal surf town, like Rodarte’s Laura and Kate Mulleavy, it was probably also hard to avoid. “It’s the idea of mascara that has been applied on the beach,” James Kaliardos said of the makeup look he created for the sister duo’s Fall Santa Cruz-themed collection. “It’s a bit messy,” he continued, “as if it fell onto [models'] faces.”
Dusting lids with NARS Single Eye Shadow in Bengali, a matte dark brown shade that Kaliardos swept underneath the lower lash line as well, he worked its forthcoming Eye Paint in Mesopotamia, a similar shade, through the crease to provide a little slip. Then, taking NARS’ as-yet-unreleased Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Via De’Martelli, a dark chocolate, he dotted on a chunky, “speckled” bit of pigment for a haphazard effect. NARS Larger Than Life Volumizing Mascara added additional dimension to lashes while its Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Belle de Jour gave pouts a subdued nude finish.
Odile Gilbert was going for a “rocker princess” look, which she achieved by building a “cool, undone” texture into models’ manes. Prepping hair with John Frieda Frizz-Ease Curl Reviver Styling Mousse, Gilbert took strands through a two-inch curling iron to create a loose bend. Brushing out the waves for a more natural appearance, she created interwoven plaits on either side of the head, which were joined together in a rosette that segued into a single braid in the back. Using Frizz-Ease Hair Serum Thermal Protection Formula on the ends to create piecey separation, Gilbert crowned select models with barbed-wire headbands, including Nadja Bender, Irina Kravchenko, Kate King, and Tilda Lindstam.
“Future Girls on Earth, Not Star Wars,” Backstage at Theyskens’ Theory
Last season, the beauty look at Olivier Theyskens’ Theory show was very much a reflection of him at the time. The designer had just sheared off his shoulder-length hair in favor of a chin-grazing crop, and hairstylist Odile Gilbert subsequently gave models the same cut via pastel-colored wigs. For Fall, Theyskens’ beauty team, which includes James Kaliardos on makeup and Jin Soon Choi on nails, was thinking more about Theyskens—and his woman—in the future.
“I’m a big futurist,” Kaliardos said backstage. “I like to think of a time when we can go to bed and get injected with vitamins and wake up feeling better—and looking like we have perfect skin,” he continued of the kind of makeup he was striving to achieve. Starting with a base of MAC Mineralize Charged Water Moisture Gel to fully hydrate the complexion, Kaliardos mixed its Prep + Prime Beauty Balm with its Face and Body Foundation in White for an ethereal glow. Contouring cheeks with is Sculpting Cream in Coffee Walnut—”So the girls look like they have overhead light on them at all times,” he joked—Kaliardos employed pink and peach pigments from MAC’s Concealer Palette to create a “plump-y, fleshy-y” effect. Lips were taken down with MAC Lip Erase before Kaliardos applied a few dabs of its Lipstick in Au Natural. Nails got a similarly clean, perfected treatment with one coat of Choi’s new eponymous lacquer in Tulle, a sheer cream, finished with two layers of glossy top coat.
Odile Gilbert was thinking similarly futuristic thoughts when she prepped strands with Kérastase Resistance Ciment Thermique Heat-Activated Reconstructor Milk and constructed severe center parts that segued into a “veil” of precisely straight flatironed locks. “We’re creating headbands with their own hair,” she said of front sections that had been tucked behind the ears and gathered into a ponytail at the nape of the neck before being covered with lengths. “It’s a future young girl on Earth,” she emphasized; “not Star Wars.“
Pink Lips that “Close the Deal,” Backstage at DVF
Being a designer backstage on the day of your own show comes with a few perks—including on-site touch-ups with some of fashion’s best hair and makeup people. “Can you do what you did before,” Diane von Furstenberg beseeched James Kaliardos as he was applying the show’s look to a model in his chair. Von Furstenberg was looking to re-up on her ruddy smoky eye—and to dole out a few words of wisdom in the process. “The idea with the color,” she said, motioning to the MAC Chromagraphic Pencil in Process Magenta that Kaliardos was blending with its Lip Conditioner for a semimatte finish, “is whatever you’re doing, close the deal.”
“It’s a look that makes you win in life,” Kaliardos continued of the seventies glam-rock makeup, which featured diffused red lids, courtesy of MAC Cream Eyeshadow in Rusted Red from its forthcoming Fall trend palette that he blended with its Cream Eyeshadow in Oyster, a shimmering champagne, to add a highlight to the inner corners of eyes. Sculpting skin with warm shades of MAC Face and Body Foundation, Kaliardos filled in brows with its Eye Shadow in Omega before swiping on a few coats of its Haute & Naughty Mascara to enhance the drama. Toes were painted with a combination of Essie’s fuchsia Plumberry and Miami Nice to match models’ mouths.
Orlando Pita added to the “life is a party” inspiration—von Furstenberg’s party, specifically—with seventies-style sets that he side parted and treated to a few spritzes of his T3 Elevate Heat-Seeking Iron Volumizer hair spray and a one-and-a-half-inch curling iron to implement a slightly disheveled wave. “Diane is about inspiring women,” he said, prompting him to skip hair extensions to avoid total uniformity, catering instead to models’ individual lengths.