I arrived at Desigual‘s backstage area a good hour before the show’s start time, but many of the models were already out of hair and makeup. Unfortunately for the hardworking makeup artists, when models have time to kill, they sometimes eat. “Is your makeup done?” I asked one of the models lounging about in the changing area. “It was, but I might have eaten some of it off with this Popsicle,” she replied. Oh, well…on to the next.
Above is the finished beauty look, created by MAC’s Gordon Espinet, who explained that he was inspired by “the young girl who loves folkloric art, patterns, colors and everything to do with busyness!” He continued by explaining that this season’s makeup muse “doesn’t love wearing makeup, but she still wants to be the prettiest girl in the room.” With that in mind, Espinet’s focus was on skin. “We used about 700 products to make the skin look perfect,” he told us. When asked about the key to perfection, however, he stressed that applying highlighter over the blush is very important as it gives the finished look a fresh radiance. Brows were kept thick and boyish; again, this is not a glamazon look, but rather meant to be “fresh, cute and pretty.”
The idea of a bright, color-loving girl translated to hair as well. Lead hairstylist Marco Santini for amika finished off his look with a bold faux floral headband, which was placed on the models’ heads just before they took to the runway.
The hair look itself was a casual one that is easy to recreate. Hair was dried in sections using a round brush and then it was flat wrapped around a one-inch barrel curler and curled to the ends of the hair. After letting them cool, the curls were brushed out with a wide-tooth comb before being separated into three sections and teased from the bottom up to create volume and texture.
In a nod to the brand’s fun-loving aesthetic, one of the models walked the runway with rainbow waves.
As a finishing touch, MAC created rainbow nails “inspired by images of overstuffed bouquets of flowers taken in soft focus.” The nails tied in perfectly with the collection’s floral camo prints.
