Gothic-inspired beauty at Chloé Comme Parris.

Backstage at 
Toronto Fashion Week, in the midst of clouds of hair spray, cameras and double-kisses,
 two key people—the head makeup artist and hairstylist—are busy working their magic. I caught up with Grace Lee, Maybelline’s lead makeup artist, and Jorge Joao, Redken’s lead hairstylist, to get the scoop on two of the most coveted looks that went down the runway yesterday.
1. Gothic grunge at Chloé Comme Parris

MAKEUP: Designers Chloé and Parris Gordon “have a bad ass, rebellion feel to their collection,” explains Lee. “It’s like a rich girl gone grunge.” Lee painted models’ lips  a matte rich burgundy to underscore the ‘20s,
Gatsby inspiration. She created a pale porcelain finish by taking skin one shade lighter than the models’ natural hue, and added a soft touch of blush. To enhance the doll-like effect, she kept the brows natural and played with a delicate wash of colour over the entire eye. “We actually used the same lipstick on the eye that we used on the lips [Colour Sensational in Mauve-lous] mixed with the Color Tattoo 24HR Cream Gel Shadow in Pomegranate Punk and just made a light saturation of the colour of the lips on the eye.” Lee swept the sheer colour over the entire eye, wrapping it around and along the lower lash line, and then added just a touch of dark brown
mascara. “It’s soft but it’s powerful, just because the lip is so powerful and paired against that pale skin and the hair with the soft braid – a little bit of rebellion but with that ‘20s vibe feel.”
HAIR: The look was reminiscent of the
Valentino braid we saw for spring, but with a more roughed-up feeling. “We didn’t want anything too put together, too structured," explains Joao, "but we wanted it away from the face. We went with a knot twist, which is a little more organic, what you see on the street.” Joao also backcombed and centre parted the fringe then pulled out some pieces to create a softer look. “Very elegant, very beautiful and a lot of texture.”
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