Backstage Beauty: Lela Rose Fall 2014

Food and fashion join together in happy harmony at Lela Rose, where the esoteric inspiration for this season’s white, gold and silver collection is Spanish Catalan chef Ferran Adrià. World-famous for his innovative use of texture and molecular gastronomy, he sketches every dish before creating it to ensure consistent mastery.

“We’re interpreting the designs as multi-layered, multi-sized glitter, and using it to achieve a three-dimensional effect,” explains Beauty.com makeup artist Romy Soleimani. She starts by prepping with Boots cosmetics Instant Radiance Beauty Balm, which hydrates for luminous skin. Vitality Eye Roll-On banishes puffiness and dark under circles for instant brightness—a must, given the many late-night parties and early-morning model calls. Kevyn Aucoin The Liquid Airbrush Foundation evens tones—and now comes the fun: Soleimani glosses The Sensual Lip Balm over eyelids to build a sticky base, then sprinkles The Loose Shimmer Shadow in Citrine over top. Larger flecks of gold glitter highlight the models’ already perfect cheekbones. Lashes are lavished with licks of The Curling Mascara, while The Lip Gloss in Dahliana keeps mouths nude but shiny.

Oysters occasionally play a prominent role in Adrià’s cuisine, so Butter London’s Global Colour Ambassador Katie Jane Hughes designed the “Demi Pearl” nail. She starts with a swipe of Patent Gel Top & Tails for chip-free, long-lasting wear, then follows with Nail Foundation and a diagonal stripe of Alabaster Gaze (which premieres April 2014). Tips are treated to an extra lacquer coat, while cuticles remain color-free. “I’m obsessed with minimalist nail art,” Hughes raves. “I translate it to manis whenever I think it will work with a designer’s collection.” Topcoat finishes the look, generating a force field of shine that makes mitts pop. “You can see pearly elements in today’s hair as well,” points out Hughes. “I think hair and nails going together is so perfect and unusual, as opposed to nails and makeup, the usual pairing.”

To achieve his “Twist and Shout” composition, Beauty.com celeb stylist Ted Gibson first applies Ted Gibson Build It Blow Drying Agent to wet tresses, then creates a center part and blows them out with the T3 Featherweight Luxe hair dryer. Locks next get twisted back on both sides, beginning at the crown. Gibson tightly marries the two sides into one twist centered at the nape, then pins it into a bun shape accessorized with a pearl pin. “Lela always loves hair up and away from the face to showcase her clothes, so every season I’m challenged to invent something interesting and new,” laughs Gibson. A spritz of Ted Gibson Beautiful Hold Hair completes the ’do—but strands shouldn’t be too stiff. “I’m messing it up by adding texture to the tips, because this modern bun is an easy alternative to a ponytail and needn’t be too tightly polished,” says Gibson. —Francesca Moisin


[Photos courtesy of Butter London; Francesca Moisin]

 

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