53 posts tagged "Odile Gilbert"
Kohl-Rimmed Lids, Beehives, And Braids, Backstage At JPG Couture
“Indian goddesses,” came the call backstage at Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture show yesterday, which caused hairstylist Odile Gilbert to spring into action accordingly. French-braiding models’ hair up the back of the head, Gilbert worked lengths into a high beehive before bringing them back down in a single long, swinging braid. “We texturized hair a little, but other than that it’s just hair spray,” she said humbly.
“The original gypsies were actually from India,” makeup artist Lloyd Simmonds chimed in, doing his part to expand upon the theme with heavily pigmented black pencils to create the kind of elongated, kohl-rimmed eyes found on Hindu sculptures. “I found a vinyl finish that’s super shiny,” he continued of the Rubotan Line Liquid, a Japanese discovery, and L’Oréal’s Super Liner Black Lacquer, which gave lids a greasy finish. “I love the way that looks right now,” Simmonds divulged of the texture. Using crystals as faux nose rings, beauty marks, and, on occasion, full-on face adornment, Simmonds finished with a few rows of faux lashes, using sparkly silver powder on the inner corners of the eye to open them up a bit.
Stick-on face jewelry aside, complexions were comparatively understated for a Gaultier show, a dearth of vibrant color that was made up for on—wait for it—models’ feet, which were turned electric shades of saffron, fuchsia, blue, gold, and silver with sponged-on Kryolan Aquacolors and finished with matching pedicures. Hey, it sure beats wearing stockings.
Naomi Harris Plays It By Ear
Since the Spring shows ended two weeks ago, we’ve already used plenty of blog space to talk about an uptick in haute hair accessories on the runway—and subsequently on the red carpet. But there’s another trend brewing that offers a slight variation on all the bows, bands, and elasticized baubles via hairstyles for accessories. “It’s like the girls are shaved,” Odile Gilbert explained of the front section of models’ hair that she slicked over to one side with Kérastase Ciment Thermique blow-dry polish at Rodarte to showcase the silver dragon cuffs Laura and Kate Mulleavy designed for their collection. At the the royal world premiere of Skyfall last night, newly minted Bond girl Naomi Harris followed suit, sweeping her side-parted strands behind her left ear to accommodate a similarly statement piece of ear candy. Who needs an updo?
More Dungeons & Dragons, Less Kim Kardashian, Backstage At Rodarte
“A modern-medieval face” is what the tip sheet James Kaliardos was passing around to his team backstage at Rodarte said, but there was more to it than that, of course. “The collection feels Dungeons & Dragons to me, not Joan of Arc,” Kaliardos elaborated, referencing the austerity of old religious paintings and “getting rid of the Kim Kardashian look—forever.”
That meant skipping those familiar, heavily bronzed contours and focusing instead on a paled-out complexion that was treated with NARS Skin Optimal Brightening Concentrate and a light-handed application of its Sheer Glow Foundation just in the center of the face, “because once it gets on the cheeks, it actually looks like foundation,” according to Kaliardos. There wasn’t much visible product on the face at all, really, save for NARS’ Triple X Lip Gloss, which was swathed onto mouths and eyelids and applied through girls’ brows as well, including show-opener Jessica Stam’s. “Can you fix me,” Stam beseeched Kaliardos, who added a little fullness, too, at the model’s request.
Odile Gilbert was working off the proportions of Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s designs. “When they showed me the clothes, I thought [the girls] needed something long,” Gilbert said, referring to the hair, which she made “strict and straight” to accommodate a dragon earring cuff clipped onto models’ left ears. “It’s like the girls are shaved,” she explained, slicking strands with Kérastase Ciment Thermique for a pre-blow-dry polish, and dividing them into three sections: two in back—one hanging straight down over the other—and one in front, which was combed all the way over to one side and coated with its Elixir Ultime for added shine.
The finishing touch came from the most conceptual neutral nail we’ve seen this week. “It took 200 man-hours,” CND manicurist Michelle Huynh said of the three-dimensional polish-on-polish basketweave tips that showcased a blended base of its varnishes in Desert Suede and Frosting Cream. Nude, it turns out, doesn’t necessarily mean boring.
Gatsby Goes Graphic, Backstage At Thakoon
Last season, we sat in on the creative process as Thakoon Panichgul and his crack team of beauty experts—that’s Odile Gilbert on hair and Diane Kendal on makeup—trouble-shot a few different looks before arriving at a keeper for the Fall show. This time around, success was immediate. “We got it on the first take,” a jubilant Gilbert confirmed backstage of the “strict, graphic” hair that stemmed from Panichgul’s Spring “garden, flowers, and birdcages” reference points.
“He brings to me, and I bring to him,” Gilbert continued of the idea sharing that helped her arrive at the collection’s dual-textured style. Starting with a generous application of Kérastase Elixir Ultime Imperial to get a glossy, conditioned quality, Gilbert center-parted hair, smoothing front panels behind ears and using a three-branch iron to create defined waves through the lengths. “When we love, we don’t count,” she said, translating a French-ism while slipping a haphazard number of black bobby pins across the back of the head in a half-circle pattern and gathering ends into a low-lying elastic.
“Fantasy” was the Thakoon directive that Kendal picked up on, a theme that was helped along by mood board images of Mia Farrow in The Great Gatsby. “That’s where the 1930s eyebrow came from,” she explained; ditto the sunken eyes and rosy flush. Dusting NARS’ new-for-spring Light-Reflecting Setting Powder over a freshly cleaned and spot-treated base, Kendal blended NARS’ forthcoming raspberry-hued Blush in Seduction onto models’ cheeks, lining lids with its Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Santa Monica Blvd and blending its Eyeshadow in Bali and Blondie across lids. As for those brows, it was important to Kendal that models’ natural arches were visible, “so your eye is drawn to the dark line,” which she drew on top of natural brows with NARS Eyebrow Pencils in either Jodphur or Mambo. “We wanted that eccentric quality,” she explained of why she chose not to bleach brows or glue them down—a quality the models certainly appreciated.
Carolyn Murphy—And The Five-Step Red Lip—Backstage At Jason Wu
There was no mistaking Jason Wu’s intentions backstage for Spring, where models like Ming Xi, Cara Delevingne and Karlie Kloss were letting their nails and toes dry with two glistening black coats of OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees, lips a perfect shade of cherry red, hair slicked into a masculine/feminine quiff. “It’s Helmut Newton,” hairstylist Odile Gilbert confirmed of the “expensive, elegant, but not vulgar” updos Wu asked her to create for the occasion. It would make sense, then, that the designer would get one of the famed photographer’s regular subjects to open his show.
“She’s special,” Gilbert joked as she tended to supermodel Carolyn Murphy’s blonder-than-usual strands. (“I’ve been surfing,” the Montauk regular confirmed of her freshly sunlit locks.) Prepping hair with Kérastase Elixir Ultime to impart a smooth texture while treating damage, Gilbert created a deep side part, slicking one side back and weaving what she called an “African braid” up the back with the bulk of the lengths, keeping her plait very close to the scalp. The other side offered up a feminine contrast to the masculine severity via a single glossy wave, which Gilbert secured with a halo of Kérastase Double-Force Hairspray. “The shine makes it modern,” she surmised of the finished product.
Makeup artist Diane Kendal continued the Helmut homage with a really strong crimson mouth and equally fierce brows. Starting with a freshly cleansed complexion courtesy of a steamed mask of Sunday Riley Good Genes treatment mixed with its Ceramic Slip cleanser plus a massage of Riley’s hydrating Juno Serum, Kendal created “fresh, dewy” skin that was deliberately contoured—a staple of Newton’s many nineties-era muses. Dusting MAC Sculpt & Shape powder in Taupe beneath cheekbones, Kendal dotted the apples with its Blush in Poised, adding highlights with MAC Iridescent Powder in Silver Dusk on top. Eyes were treated to a similar dose of Sculpt & Shape Powder in Taupe through the crease, which Kendal applied after a wash of its Pigment in Golden Yellow. An elongated stroke of black crème liner on the top lash line added definition to multiple swipes of MAC Haute and Naughty Mascara in Too Black before brows were beefed up to “boyish” proportions.
As for that lip, it was a work in progress with not one, not two, but five different steps. Kendal coated the entire pout with MAC Lip Pencil in Cherry, using its Lip Pencil in Vino, a darker wine stain, just around the outline. Then came a dose of MAC Lipstick in Lady at Play, a pink hue, which she topped with its Lipmix in Process Magenta, only in the center, and a sprinkling of its Pigment in Neo-Orange. Do try this at home.