Imagine a downtown girl who gets her tarot cards read, then keeps the night going as she dances and drinks the night away: This is the NYFW Fall/Winter 2017 Nicole Miller girl. “She’s ‘gypsy grunge,’” says L’Oréal Professionnel lead Pepper Pastor. “Think of New York’s underground and St. Marks Place during the ’80s and ’90s. There’s a little big of darkness to this inspiration.” To capture this gritty, dark beauty, Pastor layers L’Oréal Professionnel Wild Stylers by Tecni.ART Crêpage de Chignon and Next Day Hair to "give an extreme texture, but it won't go too matte," she explains. She then creates thick braids throughout the entire head and presses each with a flat iron to bake in relaxed bends. After releasing the plaits, she goes back through with a curling wand and wraps random pieces of hair around the barrel, alternating the direction. As a gypsy-esque touch Pastor weaves a few tiny braids in the back and around the ears that peek through the tangle of texture. "The idea is her hair was pretty when she left the house at 8 a.m. and now it's 3 a.m.," she laughs.
The makeup goes full-tilt grunge with blurry smoky eyes diffused and elongated for a truly mystical look. “She’s partied hard and gone to bed with her makeup on, but she wakes up and looks amazing,” says NARS makeup lead Uzo. To achieve the second-day eye, she blends NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Pandora and Underworld and then heightens the drama with NARS Velvet Shadow Stick in Flibuste and Velvet Eyeliner in Black Moon. Lips look warmed with a touch of color via a new NARS Power Matte Lip Pigment, Warm Leather, which Uzo pats in the center of the lips to create a slightly lived-in appearance.
Since the Nicole Miller girl is “spunky and does her own thing,” according to Zoya nail lead Holly Falcone, the nails naturally brandish nail art. Falcone pulls symbols found in Miller's prints—triangles, ankhs, dots and more—and paints them on one or two random nails on each hand. Zoya Willa provides an inky black base while Falcone free hands the symbols using Zoya Purity and a striping brush. “It’s more symbolic than an accessory,” Falcone says of the choice to put a symbol on only a few fingers per hand.
[Images courtesy of Karie Frost]
