Polished” Proenza Beauty, A How-To

To borrow a phrase form Willow Smith, hair was whipping back and forth backstage at Proenza Schouler, where rows upon rows of extensions were being rushed in for Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez’s “road trip through the American Southwest” collection. “It’s a bit Native American,” hairstylist Paul Hanlon confirmed of the models’ smooth-in-the-front, ratted-on-the-ends strands. To get the look, he fashioned middle parts and prepped tresses with Frédéric Fekkai’s Coiff Strong Hold Volume Mousse, spraying on its Sheer Hold Hairspray and adding heat over a mesh cloth for shine. “We also looked at pictures of Cher and Sissy Spacek—you know, hair that’s cool and easy.” The back was a different story altogether as Hanlon concocted what he referred to as “a ratty dreadlock” by starting a loose three-sectioned braid halfway down models’ backs, adding an elastic, and scrunching it into a matte, frizzy knot.


As for the makeup, it was noticeably brighter than it had been in seasons past. There were the heavy brows that McCollough and Hernandez have made a staple of their collection of late, but in place of the greasy, smoked-out eye that frequently pops up here, makeup artist Diane Kendal crafted something fresher and poppier. “They wanted the girls to look much more polished this time,” Kendal elaborated, using MAC Cosmetics’ flesh-toned Lip Pencil in Stone to rim the upper and lower lash lines before diffusing it over the entire lid to enhance the natural shape of the eye. Brows were sculpted using coordinating shades of MAC Eye Shadow in Omega, Coquette, and Concrete, while lips were simply moisturized and taken down a peg with a mixture of MAC Lip Conditioner and its Studio Finish Concealer. The “polish” came from heavy contouring that Kendal carved out using layers of MAC Pro Sculpting Cream in Peachy and Taupe and its Cream Colour Base in Seaside. For the record, this is exactly how this reporter would paint her face should that cardigan in look no. 15 make its way into her wardrobe (fingers crossed)