Hair
Following designer Tanya Taylor’s recent trip to Kenya, Morocco and Tanzania, hairstylist Allen Wood wanted to create a fun and interesting look to match her desert-inspired clothes.
“The collection itself is really vibrant, and has pigmented, rich colours,” said Wood. “She is exploring really interesting textiles and treatments and beadings. We wanted the hair to go along with these feelings of her travels and this desert vibe to the hairstyle. Working backstage, we talked about wanting it to feel really dirty and gritty, like this girl has been travelling through the desert for weeks.”
“We are using oily products to give this greasy sweaty look. It isn’t really dry and frizzy but there is this element of pieces of hair which can be left out. It is definitely an imperfect style.”
“For a number of seasons, especially in New York City, the industry has been really tame and safe. There’s been this look like models did it themselves. It sells and appeals to the masses. It isn’t going totally crazy, but it is creating something that is fun and visually appealing and fresh and new and different.”
Here’s how to recreate the look…
Step 1 – Saturate hair with Prep, then evenly apply Surf Spray, followed by a generous amount of Brilliantine to coat the hair.
Step 2 – Use hands to twist and blow dry hair in large sections, upwards in the direction of a high ponytail.
Step 3 – Use fingertips to take pie-shaped sections around the head and twist along the scalp from the hairline towards the base of the high ponytail, spraying with City Swept Finish along the way to saturate and add even more grit.
Step 4 – Gather hair into a high ponytail (in line with the top of the ear from the profile), and then coil into a topknot with the ends left out.
Step 5 – Use a flat iron to flick the ends (not too pin straight) and spray with Classic Hairspray. “All the girls have their hair flicked off to the right hand side, so in the line-up of the presentation there is this cool consistent look to it,” continued Wood.
Step 6 – Mold the end pieces with fingertips to create a spiky “Bird of Paradise” effect.
Makeup
The makeup look at Tanya Taylor’s show was lived-in, pretty, and is an absolute cinch to achieve.
“I was so intrigued by Tanya’s story, and I had this image in my mind of Meryl Streep in the movie ‘Out of Africa’,” said Uzo, international lead makeup artist of NARS.
“The look is very romantic and it is all about the rich aristocratic women who moved to Kenya in the 1920’s and 1930’s – there’s such a correlation between that movie and the whole idea behind the collection.”
“Tanya loves really clean, groomed and polished skin. It’s Spring, and we wanted just a bit of colour. We decided to go with a pink lilac on the lips and a wash of colour on the cheeks. This is all about rich girl beauty. Sophisticated, elegant beauty but beauty that translates well from the runway to the real world.”
Here’s how to recreate the look…
Step 1 – Prep skin with NARSskin Total Luminous Moisture Cream and Total Replenishing Eye Cream. Follow with a light base of Sheer Glow Foundation, Radiant Creamy Concealer (if needed) and set with Soft Velvet Loose Powder.
Step 2 – “My favourite product right now is the Dual Intensity Blush (in Adoration) that gives a high illumination to the cheeks,” continued Uzo. “Use it dry with the Yachiyo brush, and buff it into the skin for a nice shine.”
Step 3 – Lightly define the eyes by curling the lashes, and follow through with some mascara.
Step 4 – Shade in brows with a matte eyeshadow, and neaten it up with a brow gel.
Step 5 – Make the lips stand out with a pretty stain, using a Velvet Matte Lip Pencil. “With this look, you aren’t trying to do the perfect lip – you just want a little bit of colour, and press the colour into your lips with your fingers,” said Uzo. “Our editorial trick is to pat a matching blush into the lips to give it a matte finish.”
