White bread simplicity, just the way we like it. Easy to swallow, deliciously beautiful on its own. All images © Wesley Kow for herworldPLUS
Audi Fashion Festival 2014 kicked off with a simmering slow burn, at least on the beauty front. The girls set to walk for Prabal Gurung’s Autumn Winter 2014 presentation were sort of like the Nepalese-American designer’s take on sliced white bread: The makeup equivalent of so good you can eat it on its own.
The distilled essence of the evening's colour story: Great skin made better, burnished brick-coloured lids and big brows to set off subdued smackers. In the no-nonsense spirit of this look, let’s plunge straight in, shall we.
BASE
Raw beauty, or rather, the no-makeup makeup look is set to stay for a little while longer. Sada Ito, Nars international makeup artist, said Prabal Gurung wanted a “tomboy look” for his Singapore show. To achieve this, he made the skin and eyebrows the main focus. Minimal colour and no foundation (yes, you read that right) is observed, while each model’s skin was prepped to perfection.
A three-step skincare routine is done before makeup is applied. Models were given a pump of Nars Optimal Brightening Concentrate, a revitalising serum, to prep their skin. Under-eye hydration was then addressed with the Nars Total Replenishing Eye Cream. Lastly, the face was given a massage with the Nars Luminous Moisture Cream. This moisturiser is said to give your skin 24 hours of non-stop hydration, more than enough to last through the show.
With such glowing skin, the models didn’t require pancake coverage afterwards, which was the whole point, really.
Only a hint of radiant creamy concealer was used where needed, with loose powder dusted on the T-zones to mattify any shine. When recreating this look at home, skimp on your foundation and apply only on oily areas to control shine.
To breathe light onto the face, tinted moisturiser was dabbed on the highest plane of the cheekbones to emphasis the skin’s luminosity. Nars Matte Multiple in Vientiane or Altai was then applied along the contours of the cheek for depth and dimension. The look is then finished with a slight hint of pink from Nars Matte Multiple in Anguilla and Exumas.
The result is a clean palette of a fresh face; minimal with a flawless finish. Perfect even off the runway. If you’re not confident in blending a cream blush, start with a few dots on your lower cheek area and slowly blend the products together.
EYES
Incredibly incandescent and exquisitely natural, as if lit from within. Lids were burnished with terracotta shades; try buffing Nars’ Eyeshadow in Bali and Coconut Grove, both delicious matte taupes that teeter right on the edge of chocolate, at the outer corners of the crease.
Use a soft paddle-shaped brush to sweep up and outwards; the superbly pigmented micronised powders lend themselves well to all sorts of shading shenanigans, so just a smidgen of both hues will suffice.
Pro tip: Consider switching things up by subbing with creamy concealer on the lids. Sada Ito dabbed on Nars’ latest heroine product, the madly covetable Matte Multiple, in varying hues of rosy and coppery hues right into the crease. The result? An insanely sexy dewy finish that’s super fun and super youthful.
Keep the peepers polished but sexily approachable by finishing with finger work. Sada Ito worked his magic by ditching the brushes and pressing the shadow in with his digits; the warmth will meld the colours into a cohesive half-moon of imperfect perfection far better than the best badger hairs ever could.
By now, your eyes should be a deeply pleasing, earth-goddess melange of muddy browns. To leaven this somewhat mellow palette, rim your water-line with a creamy pencil in an eggshell white; we’re loving Nars’ meltingly soft Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Santa Monica.
It’s the brows that were the undisputed headliners of the show. Another elegant trick to steal from the backstage pros: Don’t stick to a single shade when filling yours in. For a multidimensional pop that echoes the furrows of real hairs, Sada Ito used up to three earth-toned brow gels from the Nars oeuvre, working the tapered brush over the brows to create width and body.
Concentrate on the inner corners and keep the overall shape relatively “flat” in the fashion of Korean starlets; Sada Ito says that overly arched brows can age your look. Once you’re satisfied, finish by using the spoolie to rein in any stray hairs, always brushing upwards for a lifted look.
As for the lashes, precisely zero mascara was used; a quick crimp with a curler and you’re good to go.
LIPS
Believe us when we say we were stunned when informed that no gloss or colour would be used on the lips. A simple balm is all that was needed to keep the models’ lips hydrated, while concealer was applied on the outer corners of the lip line to give it a slight emphasis. This really is raw beauty at its best. Only a hint of concealer was used on the outer edges. We’re loving this very easy lip look!
NAILS
Prabal Gurung absolutely nailed it with a supremely sleek, startlingly editorial take on the talons; nude with a gash of red just off-centre of the nail bed.
Here’s how to replicate the look at home. Start by giving your nails a once-over with an opaque matte beige courtesy of Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure in Himalaya, wait for this base coat to try, then drag your nail along the brush of a deep burgundy by way of the brand’s beautifully rich Rupee Red.
To get your vertical line just so, it’s easier to use the kinetic thrust of your downward-moving nail to inch the colour along. Don’t fret about getting this scarlet streak dead centre; the off-kilter nature of this vertical stripe is exactly the kind of dramatic tension this almost-minimalistic look demands.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Simplicity, baby. This particular beauty of a look is all about beguilingly bare skin, girlishly flushed cheeks and glossy lids, the warm fleshy tones punctuated with expressive brows that are one part Cara Delevingne and one part K-Beauty starlet.
Deceptively straightforward in presentation but breathtakingly masterful in execution, this gamine look is a great option for a breezy day out – or do as Prabal did and play off your plush autumnal evening wear with a purposefully pared down face: This tug-and-pull between opulence and austerity is very modern, very fierce and very Prabal Gurung.
Nars is the official makeup sponsor for Audi Fashion Festival 2014. Unless stated otherwise, all products used are available at Nars Cosmetics counters. For more information, visit www.narscosmetics.com and follow Nars Cosmetics on Facebook and Instagram.
For more information on Sally Hansen, visit www.sallyhansen.com/nails and follow Sally Hansen Singapore on Facebook and Instagram.
Audi Fashion Festival 2014 is held at the Tent@Orchard from May 14 to 18, 2014. Tickets are available at sistic.com. For more information, go to www.audifashionfestival.com. Get updates on AFF 2014 on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AudiFashionFestivalSingapore, on Twitter @AudiFashionFest and Instagram @AudiFashionFest and by following the hashtag #affsg.