Sarah McGonagle went backstage for Style Tomes to give you guys a step-by-step on how to recreate the looks from some of the season’s hottest shows! Follow along here on Style Tomes for the exclusive scoops and on her Instagram for additional backstage snaps.
Get The Look: Desigual
Amidst a sea of brightly-printed tunics and teased curls, one of MAC Cosmetics’ Senior Artists paints a dog snout on one model. This is the scene backstage at Desigual, where a diverse cast of fresh faces and minimal makeup get ready for the appropriately-named “Global Traveller” Spring/Summer 2017 presentation, with the exception of some, who each sport a variation of a Snaphat filter painted on their faces or pinned atop their heads.
The visionary behind the makeup design, Gordon Espinet, was compelled by the idea of a “real life” filter, one where models with glowing skin and brushed brows exist in luxury fabrics and dyes. Due to the simplicity of the design, many of the women were able to catch breaks between each step of the preparation process.
Those with hand-drawn Snapchat filter makeup were painted as the infamous dog, deer, and bumblebee filters; others had golden butterflies or a flower crown entangled in their hair.
Keri Blair headed nails, with an array of neon ombres and gold glitter on the end of each model’s finger. Blair’s bright personality and style were evident throughout each design, with her hair pleated with strands of pink as vivid as the toenails she carefully painted.
The choice of colors perfectly coincided with the rainbow of hues seen throughout the almost 50-piece collection of bedazzled army jackets and tie-dye, with many of the girls taking photos of their hands pressed against their chosen outfits.
While the collection itself was a joyous frenzy of colored embroidery and detailed sequin embellishments, the ease of which this look can be recreated and worn out is surprising. Topped off with a messy, loose waves, Desigual succeeded in creating the woman we’d all like to be: straight from the beach, carefree, and naturally filtered to perfection.
Get the Look:
Key products:
MAC Studio Fix+
MAC Time Check Lotion
MAC Prolongwear Waterproof Brow Set
1. Prep the skin with MAC Studio Fix+ and apply MAC Time Check Lotion.
2. Use Prep+ Prime Highlighter to cover any blemishes, redness, or discoloration. Keep it very minimal.
3. Groom your brows using MAC’s clear Browset.
4. Moisturize your lips using lip balm or gloss, leaving a smooth, natural finish.
Adam Selman: Get the Look
Adam Selman is known for his love of sequins. Famously, the womenswear designer clothed Rihanna in a shimmering, transparent beaded gown that sparked conversation the world over. Going into this presentation with that knowledge, one would not be disappointed to find that Selman has hardly strayed from his grungy take on downtown chic that keeps everyone talking. With high twisted buns fastened precariously on the model’s heads and glowing skin with a rosy complexion, the girls looked ready to hit the streets.
With high twisted buns fastened precariously on the model’s heads and glowing skin with a rosy complexion, the girls looked ready to hit the streets.
Hair genius James Pecis led a team of stylists from amika, taking inspiration from a series of illustrations that depicted women with tightly coiled buns and using wire in part to recreate it. The final product was a knot that sat that the front of the models’ heads, strands of hair breaking free in all directions, a 1980’s inspired take on the ever-popular topknot.
Working to complement the casual feel of the hairstyling, MAC Pro Artist Emi Kaneko created a subtle makeup look inspired by the 1980’s with a modern twist, which consisted of lots of blush centered around the cheekbones and temples, blended over onto the eyelid. Brows were brushed upwards to create a tomboyish bushiness, in stark contrast to the femininity of the rosiness of the cheeks. Lips were just barely tinted with a stain, so that the warmth of the color came from the very center of the lips, looking bitten. Finishing off the look with a white pearl-to-pastel pink ombre on the nails designed by Naomi Yasuda, each girl exuded both elegance and edge.
Brows were brushed upwards to create a tomboyish bushiness, in stark contrast to the femininity of the rosiness of the cheeks. Lips were just barely tinted with a stain, so that the warmth of the color came from the very center of the lips, looking bitten. Finishing off the look with a white pearl-to-pastel pink ombre on the nails designed by Naomi Yasuda, each girl exuded both elegance and edge.
Get the Look: Hair
Key Products:
Perk Up Dry Shampoo
Bombshell Blowout Spray
Touchable Hairspray
Digital Titanium Glide Styler
- Begin by parting hair down the middle, and create bends in the hair using the Digital Titanium Glide Styler.
- Once the bends are in place, spray Touchable Hairspray throughout, and brush through.
- Set Hair with wire – four sections on the left and three on the right.
- Divide the left side into two sections, and brush smooth while twisting forward and inward. Repeat on the right side.
- Once you reach your optimal texture, tie hair at the front section of the head, and create a “turn key loop” bun in the hair.
- Putin in place, with the ends of the hair covering the right eye.
Get the Look: Makeup
Key products:
MAC Studio Waterweight Foundation
MAC Casual Colour in “For Your Amusement”
MAC Cream Color Base in “Pearl”
MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Brow Set
- Buff the MAC Studio Waterweight Foundation into the skin using a large brush to create a natural finish.
- Blend the “For Your Amusement” Casual Colour onto the cheekbones, creating a “C” shape up to the temple and onto the lid.
- Use the “Pearl” Cream Color to highlight the high planes of the cheekbones.
- Blend the “For Your Amusement” Casual Colour up to the brow, concentrating on the crease to create a slightly bolder color to define the lid.
- Using the clear Prolongwear Waterproof Brow Set, brush the hairs of the eyebrows upwards, sweeping downwards at the tail end of the brow to define the point.
- Press the “For Your Amusement” Casual Colour into the center of the lips to create a “bitten” look.
