Backstage Beauty: Peter Som Spring/Summer 2012

(Photo Credit: Peter Michael Dills/Getty Images)

Beauty melds rock-and-roll with retro at Peter Som!

The emerging fashion theme of the season, at least in silhouette, is ’60s—and it’s captured to fabulous effect at Peter Som, where retro references stop at the cut, and bright, large-scale floral patterns and out-of-the-ordinary textures step in to bring the wares a fabulously modern—and decidedly cool—spirit. (Credit: Courtesy of Wella Professionals)

The same modern quirk comes across in the hair, a deep, swooping side-part that tumbles into a mane of roughed-up texture. “It’s a little bit like Julie Christie-meets-Courtney Love. It’s quite a rock-and-roll texture, but the hairstyle is very much sourced from the ’60s,” explains Wella Professionals global creative director Eugene Souleiman. Here, too, the style’s silhouette speaks to the ’60s aesthetic—a bump of height at the crown, a dramatic deep side part with forehead-sweeping bangs—but it’s the finish, and another little daring detail, that give it a rocker edge. To achieve the punk’d texture that Souleiman deems “unkempt and a little bit imperfectly raw,” he mists strands with Wella Professionals Ocean Spray after curling them, and tousles the hair with his fingers.(Credit: Courtesy of Wella Professionals)

The aforementioned daring detail—a Courtney Love-approved footnote if ever we saw one—presents as streaks of pinked rose-gold color that strategically peek from beneath the models’ natural hair color. “The rose-gold tones are so flattering and elegant for any woman,” says the colorist behind them, Wella Professionals color ambassador Aura Friedman. “The rose-gold has this understated elegance—a feminine softness—but it’s also very unusual and a bold look because not everyone runs to the salon to get this type of color.” (Credit: Courtesy of MAC Cosmetics)

For makeup, MAC lead makeup artist Tom Pecheux took in the collection of acid-hued wares, and did a 180. “There are so many vivid colors that I thought, ‘If I put more vivid color on the face, these girls are going to look like clowns!” he laughs. The answer comes in what Pecheux calls “deep pastel” purple (MAC Fig. 1 Eye Shadow blended with Pro Indian Ink Small Eye Shadow Pro Palette), which he distinctly arcs (in a “banana shape”) above the crease for a ’60s-reminscent defined contour. “This look is really about the eyes, and we wanted them to be quite sophisticated, but at the same time playful and fresh,” Pecheux explains. Supporting the eye designs is natural-looking skin that “highlights the girls’ own contours” and lips that retain a creamy, moist finish courtesy of MAC Innocence, Beware! Lipstick (available Spring/Summer 2012), which Pecheux rubs into the lips using his fingers for a soft stain effect. (Credit: Courtesy of Zoya)

Nails, the cleanest point of the beauty direction, take on what Zoya lead nail tech Sunshine Outing calls “a micro-glazed effect. Sort of like when you apply iridescence to the face. It’s very subtle, but it’s very done.” The choice color, Zoya’s Erin, is a sheer, subtle beige with silvery flecks. “It’s a very classy look,” she says. —Karie L. Frost/Beauty Etc.

RelatedBackstage Beauty Bit: Preen Spring/Summer 2012  |  Backstage Beauty Bit: Monique Lhuillier Spring/Summer 2012  |  Natural Order: Spring/Summer 2012 Hair Trends  |  Backstage Beauty: Erikson Beamon Spring/Summer 2012  |  Backstage Beauty: Jill Stuart Spring/Summer 2012  |  Backstage Beauty: Mara Hoffman Spring/Summer 2012  |  Backstage Beauty Bit: BCBG Max Azria Spring/Summer 2012  |  Backstage Beauty: Joy Cioci Spring/Summer 2012  |  Backstage Beauty: Cushnie et Ochs Spring/Summer 2012  | Backstage Beauty Bit: Richard Chai Love Spring/Summer 2012


Read Launchpad, the magazine for hair salon professionals, in our digital edition • Get the latest on professional beauty productsPost your hairstyles in our Users' Style Galleries • Read The Colorist, the magazine for professional haircolorists, in our digital edition (bimonthly Jan/Feb 2012) thecoloristmag.comSubscribe to Launchpad—print, digital or both • Subscribe to The Colorist—print, digital or both


More in Home