The beach is like nature’s salon: A dip in the ocean will leave strands full of body and wavy from the salt; the sun gives skin a golden sheen; sand exfoliates. At Jonathan Simkhai, the beauty from a beach or desert is re-imagined. “The idea is taking inspiration from faraway places,” comments Hair Lead and TIGI US Creative Director Thomas Osborn. “It’s everywhere from the Watts Tower in L.A. to Morocco and everything between. It’s always that contrast of moisture and dryness—it’s beach-y waves, but they are coming straight from the dessert.”
To make models look like they’ve spent the day basking in the sun, Osborn preps the hair with CATWALK by TIGI Texturising Salt Spray, adding gritty texture. Osborn center-parts hair—“that way it’s more of a wave and less of a curl,” he explains. He then wraps the hair horizontally around a 1.5-inch curling iron without closing the clamp: below the round of the head if it’s wrapped underneath, above the round of the head it’s wrapped above so that strands stay flat. “We don’t want too much fullness to it,” he notes, “some will be a tighter wave, some will be a looser wave.” To further break-up the hair, Osborn sections off small sections of locks randomly, braiding at the nape of the neck. He wraps thread through the braid in a crisscross motion, adding in a bead or embellishment to complement the clothing. Finally, Osborn applies CATWALK by TIGI Hairista to the ends of hair. “It’s almost like a girl who’s been laying in the sun where her hair has sucked up the lotion from her back,” he laughs of the piece-y ends that he further locks in by ironing at the bottom and applying CATWALK by TIGI Transforming Dry Shampoo & CATWALK by TIGI Work It Hairspray to set.
“You can tell she’s a woman,” remarks Maybelline New York Key Makeup Gato of the desert drifter muse. “You see she is a sophisticated girl, she’s not a teenager. There’s an elegance to the face. She’s a girl that doesn’t need a lot of makeup.” The beauty is meant to look perfect, yet natural and fresh. To create a glowing complexion, Gato mixes Maybelline Master Strobing Stick in Iridescent and Nude Glow and sweeps the blend around the eyes and over the cheekbones using a fan brush. He adds subtle depth to the apples and down to the jaw line, as well as in the eyelids, using Nude Glow. Eyebrows are combed, keeping the look natural. “It is a fresh, golden glow, but extremely polished,” he concludes.
Mary Lennon and Lea Yari, co-founders of Côte Nails, refresh the nude nail by using a layering technique. Lennon applies Côte 8, a sheer pink, over Côte 9, a more opaque pink. “It gives a nice beach-y, casual look that really goes with the vibe of the show,” she says.
[Image credits: Courtesy TIGI, Maybelline New York, Emilie Branch]
