6 posts tagged "Karen Walker"
The 411: Karen Walker
Effortless. It’s a word that’s thrown around a lot in style circles, but in New Zealand designer Karen Walker’s case, it has always fit. Walker launched her eponymous womenswear line in 2002 and over the course of the past decade or so has expanded into jewelry, eyewear, makeup (via collaborations with Clinique and Boots), a less spendy diffusion line called Hi There (available in the U.S. at your local Anthropologie), and even, rather amazingly, house paint (we’re particularly fond of Smoky Green and Fuscous Grey shades). But what Walker remains most recognized for are her signature, offbeat sartorial creations that toe the masculine feminine divide without ever veering into too-fussy territory. Here, the woman known for her singularly cool style sensibility, shares some beauty wisdom.
The All-in-One Skin Saver: Sans Activator 7 Body + Hair + Face Oil
“My essential for legs and arms, this little baby does magic things to the skin and smells sensational to boot.”
Available at www.woodleyandbunny.com.
The Longterm Complexion Relationship: Osmosis
“I’ve been using Osmosis as my primary skincare for years and nothing beats it. I especially love the gently exfoliating Purify Cleanser. And even on the grayest of days I always take care to block out the sun using Osmosis Shelter.”
Available at www.osmosisskincare.com.
The Scrub Love: Aesop Purifying Facial Exfoliant
“When you need that extra bit of luminosity, [their] Purifying Facial Exfoliant Paste with fine river-bed quartz is unbeatable.”
Available at www.aesop.com.
The Lip Colors of Choice: Topshop
“Topshop manages to create all the best colors as well as the best consistencies—the lipsticks and the lip crayons are unbeatable. The ones I always have in my purse are the Lipstick in Desert for the perfect flesh color, and the Lip Crayon in Hedonist for an amazing acid orange.”
Available at www.us.topshop.com.
The Eye Palette: MAC
“Who does color better than MAC? I love them, especially for their eye colors, but they also do a great mascara.”
Available at www.maccosmetics.com.
The Hair Essential: Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray
“I adore everything these guys put out and we’re delighted to have had Bumble and bumble as part of our show team for 14 seasons, but it’s their Surf Spray that I go to again and again. I used it almost daily when I had long hair and find that now that I have short hair, it’s just as good.”
Available at www.bumbleandbumble.com.
Karen Walker Makes The Cut
Designers’ bows are often the last thing show-goers notice following a complete collection presentation, but Karen Walker watchers have likely found her latest round of curtain calls hard to miss. Like nearly every model last season—Aline, Daria, Karlie, Ruby, et al—Walker sheared off her shoulder-length locks in favor of a chin-grazing crop, which she debuted when she came out to greet the crowd after her Spring show back in September. Then yesterday, after her Fall presentation, the New Zealand-born designer revealed that she has made like Janice Alida, Athena Wilson, Ruby Jean Wilson, and Bo Don and gone even shorter. “Change is good,” Walker says of the impetus behind her recent trim, a collaborative effort between herself and her longtime hairstylist, Mobeen Bhikoo at Stephen Marr in Auckland. The jury is out as to what we’ll see when she takes her bow next Spring.
Clinique Makes Runway A Reality
Karen Walker has a certain way with color. Season after season, the New Zealand designer debuts bold prints and solids layered with pops of yellows, oranges, and pinks; even when black dominates the runways, Walker still tends to look on the bright side. Her Spring show was no exception and featured an additional piece of eye candy in the form of a coral lip. Walker has been the lucky beneficiary of Clinique’s decision to get into the backstage beauty game, and her season-spanning partnership with the brand and its global color artist Jenna Menard hasn’t disappointed. To make models look “youthful and feminine with a sophisticated twist,” Menard whipped up the pink-y melon hue because, put simply, “it’s less expected than red.” Six months after its debut, Menard’s magic bullet is about to arrive at the retail level. The limited-edition Long Last Lipstick in Runway Coral will debut on www.clinique.com next month—and is prime for the pairing with any number of flirty floral summer dresses.
$15, available May 2012 at www.clinique.com.
Base Training
Even though the tides of fashion week haven’t fully crested yet, it’s looking like certain beauty trends will rise to the top. Flawless, natural, dewy skin is among the standouts, which one might argue never really goes out of style, but is definitely in greater demand at the moment along with all manner of nude and buff-toned makeup. It’s fitting, then, that a slew of new foundations has just hit counters to help impart that radiant complexion seen backstage. Here, we rounded up the most promising debuts backed by science, paired with customized brushes, and available in a veritable rainbow of flesh-toned shades.
What: Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus All-Smooth Makeup SPF 15
Best For: Correcting uneven spots
Seen At: Spiked with peptides to plump fine lines and ultrasomes to repair UV damage, this youth-preserving foundation was road-tested backstage at Karen Walker, where Clinique global color artist Jenna Menard employed its multi-action benefits, which marry the skin-smoothing abilities of the brand’s hit antiaging serum of the same name (Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle & UV Damage Corrector) with buildable coverage.
$32.50, www.clinique.com.
What: MAC Matchmaster SPF 15 Foundation
Best For: Airbrushing away fine lines
Seen At: This fluid’s moisturizing demi-matte finish is pretty amazing, as makeup artist Tom Pecheux illustrated when he turned to its line-reducing, soft-focus powders to help blur the appearance of dark shadows and wrinkles backstage at Marni . Available in a full spectrum of 14 light to deep-dark shades, the foundation glides on especially well when applied with the brand’s two new brushes—the 193 Angled Foundation Brush and the 190 Foundation Brush for allover coverage.
$32.50, www.maccosmetics.com.
A Backstage Beauty V-Day Salute
Maybe it’s all the Valentine’s Day buildup, but red lipstick has been getting some serious play at NYFW this weekend. A few hours ago we spied MAC’s Lady Danger, its popular matte red/orange lipstick, backstage at Hervé Léger, and yesterday, the crimson hue made the rounds at United Bamboo, Karen Walker, Vivienne Tam, and Prabal Gurung—the lattermost of which offered up our favorite incarnation of the classic color yet (not including those glitter-clad slashings of MAC’s Ruby Woo that Tom Pecheux dealt out at Doo.Ri on Friday). Gurung enlisted makeup artist Stevie Huynh to create what Huyhn described as a “strong lip from a minimal standpoint.” That meant an extremely matte pout that he created with MAC’s Lip Pencil in Cherry, plus an extra kick courtesy of a red pigment, pressed on top of the pencil to increase color opacity and leave a chalky, vivid texture. It’s a very cool, edgy way to update your favorite red stain for any romantic plans you may have in the making.