NYFW FW 2012: Richard Chai Pairs Androgyny & “A 1950s Mess”
Richard Chai’s FW 2012 beauty look was the perfect mix of that just tousled, 1950s girl balanced by an androgynous makeup look, which fit the oversized clothing, wools and cashmeres that he sent down the runway.
To start the makeup look, every model was sent to the Dr. Jart skincare station for prep with Dr. Jart’s BB Cream to balance out their skin tone and give them a natural glow — something we’re seeing a lot more of backstage these days (and loving!). Next, MAC Cosmetics’ lead artist James Kaliardos wanted to give the girls a clean, yet beautiful balance of masculine and feminine. He described the look as reminding him of Peter Lindbergh photograph. To get the look, James touched up the faces with concealers instead of foundation to brighten any areas that needed and used a tinted moisturizer for a sheen (adding extra on the cheeks). He then used a classic nude balm on the lips for a nude lip that would take the lip shade down a bit, and contoured with a taupe shade under the cheek bones and on the temples. James also used a new coffee walnut sculpting cream on the eye sockets blending the cream up and down to get that “deepening and dimension” of the socket “that most guys naturally have but girls need added.”
For hair, Aveda’s Kevin Ryan described the style as doing “one hairstyle and then changing your mind.” He added that the finished look look’s a bit like when you take your sweater off and you get a bit of a weird shape to it — with a bit of the 1950s, but a step away from disaster, mixed in. To get the look, Kevin blew dried Volumizing Tonic into the hair and added a bit of Clay for a matte finish. He then went over both of those products with the Aveda Brilliant Humectant Pomade to get a hold to the hair, brushing the sides back and concentrating the product at the crown of the head (with a lot of texture throughout the strands).
We of course also stopped to talk with Elle about the nails for the show, which were painted in a light taupe color by Essie called Glamour Purse and covered in a top coat for a textured finish. She also told us her trend predictions for the season, saying that she’s seeing a lot of brick reds, bold reds, greens (almost black, like navy was a couple years ago) and definitely taupes. She noted that this season will be a take on last seasons colors, but with a bit of an edge.
