The Most Flattering Eyeshadow Ever, Courtesy Of Creatures Of The Wind

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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“Flattering,” “universal,” and “easy” are not usually words one would associate with runway makeup, but at Creatures of the Wind’s fall ’13 show, that’s exactly what NARS director of global artistry James Boehmer managed to create. According to Boehmer, the inspiration for the collection itself was a mishmash of influences — from World War 2 Teddy Girls and Memphis furniture to the plasticized nature of candy — but he looked to the patent leather, pearlescent shoes for his makeup cues.

Using a blend of Maldives and Copacabana Multiples with Nepal and Alhambra Eyeshadow, Boehmer concocted a creamy, rose gold shade that he then drew onto the skin in a precise, defined cat-eye shape. “Rose gold looks good on everyone” he says. “It has a warmth and a coolness to it, so it’s flattering, and it’s really interesting what it does to amplify each eye color in a different, individual way.” Boehmer used a brow gel (new for fall ’13) to groom models’ arches and then mascara on top and bottom lashes to create a frame for the eye. Skin was kept matte and angular, with no color on the cheeks or lips, which allowed the graphic eye to take center stage in a “simple and quiet” way.

For the hair, Odile Gilbert for Kérastase created a multi-textured look that combined sleek, middle-parted roots (tamped down using the brand’s Resistance Ciment Thermique) with soft waves in a delicate contrast to the graphicness of the collection. Gilbert used a triple-barrel iron to ensure hair was shaped into a flowing wave rather than a defined curl. To make sure the waves kept that shape, she sprayed hair with Resistance Double Force. To add shine, she finished with a few drops of Elixir Ultime Moringa Immortel and running her fingers through the bottom of the hair to break up waves.

Working with Creatures of the Wind for the first time, nail pros Jan Arnold and Roxanne Valinoti of CND wanted to create a look that reflected the “modern, unique, artsy-but-sporty” aesthetic of the Creatures girl. They opted to go for a graffiti nail that featured a bisected nail down in two corresponding colors, with multi-colored squiggles overlaying one half of the nail. While the nail looked complex, Arnold says it’s relatively easy to score at home. She says to simply paint the nail in two colors, wait for it to dry, add a topcoat and wait for that to dry, then use fine-tipped Sharpie markers to do the doodles.

As far as the clothes went, it was a more commercial collection by far, with pieces that tread the line between the sartorially bravehearted and the fashionably adventurous. With short, boxy military jackets, ’90s Ghost World-type silhouettes, and a ’70s car-salesmen vibe, the collection fused dowdy and dramatic to brilliant effect.

Photographed by Erin Yamagata

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