Backstage at Fenty x Puma: get the makeup look
Dewy pink highlighter and doubled-up lashes were the key to the beauty look at Rihanna's Fenty x Puma Spring/Summer 2017 show in Paris last night.
The star opted for doll-like makeup with an urban edge for her second season fashion presentation, focusing on a iridescent pink shimmer that covered the models' cheekbones and temples.
"We wanted something to go with the clothing, so something more pastel," Myiesha Sewell from Sephora Pro, who worked with Rihanna on the look, explained backstage. "So we added in some ‘Make Up For Ever Star Powder' to the look to give it this really beautiful holographic glow." Sewell used the ‘draping' technique to sculpt the blush from under the cheekbones up to the temples, using a small brush to blend in all the luminous pigment. As well as the ‘Make Up For Ever Star Powder in White with Pink Highlights', the Sephora Pro backstage team also blended ‘Marc Jacobs Beauty Glow Stick Glistening Illuminator in Spotlight' into the complexions for extra glow.
False lashes from Sephora Collection x House of Lashes and Make Up For Ever were stacked high for extra impact, with models wearing one of two styles -- either thick and dramatic or wispy and willowy. Either way, the result was striking. "It's just all about a really big, big lash!" Sewell said. Lips were painted with a custom blend featuring a bronze and pink holographic shimmer that will go on sale as the first release from Rihanna's Fenty Beauty label next fall.
Custom-made stiletto false nails from Young Nails also reflected the makeup color palette in shades of pink, white, black and gold. Each handmade nail featured an ornate 3D frosted flower design that reinforced the feminine but urban theme of the look.
The hair was slicked back into a low ponytail with a twist, riffing on one of Rihanna's signature go-to styles and counterbalancing the opulence of the makeup and clothes. "This time we wanted to do something a little bit more refined, but a little bit street at the same time," explained Rihanna's hairstylist Yusef Williams before the show. "It's not too fussy, we just kept it very clean and simple."
The finished overall result was a look that was pretty, playfully theatrical and slightly urban. As Sewell summarized: "It's very feminine, very girly, but it also has a tough edge to it." In other words: very Rihanna.
