For the Spring/Summer ’19 season, Maria Grazia Chiuri wanted us to all dress like off-duty dancers. And so, Dior Beauty’s Creative and Image Director Peter Philips created a beautifully complementary makeup look that was equally as fierce as the clothing.
We recently caught up with one of Dior’s international makeup artists, Ralph Lteif, to find out how to achieve the look. Plus, the Lebanese artist shared some major beauty tips, too…
The inspiration…
“So when Maria Grazia wanted to create the show, she called the artist Sharon Eyal to have choreographers and dancers in the show. This is how it started and you know, the Dior shows are always very spectacular and everyone always waits for the setup and the ideas behind the shows. So for Spring/Summer ’19 ready-to-wear, when Peter started working, he went back to the artist and he got the inspiration from her because she usually does this makeup on herself. It’s to make the whole story come together. From the outfits to the dance, to the lights even, then comes the makeup, and I found it very mesmerising. It’s something theatrical and you don’t really do this kind of make-up to go out.”
The backstage collection…
“Peter used the backstage line. He wanted to create something backstage, that we actually use backstage in real life. As well, you want something universal because you do want something for different types of skin, colour, people coming from different countries, and so it is always nice to have something universal, and something buildable. It’s very trendy, very practical and lightweight. He understood that women now need something practical, universal and it is something really interesting.”
The packaging…
“Even the packaging is so different. It’s quick, it’s practical and the texture is super natural to super sophisticated. You have the freedom to play with it. And I love to mix and you can customise your looks.”
The eyebrows…
“Brows are like the frame. The best features on your face are your eyes and you communicate with your eyes. Sometimes when you overdo the brows, you can turn the attention away from the beautiful picture, which is the eyes. Just use the Diorshow Brow Styler and Diorshow Bold Brow.”
The eyes…
“Liner is a symbol of femininity and it’s one of the elements that we use to emphasise feminity. So Peter went a little bit crazy to make it edgier and show strength, and even Maria Grazia always wants women to feel stronger as well. The eye looks were made with Diorshow Khôl and it was one of the key elements in this makeup look. It was important because he put it inside the eyes but in some areas, he also blended it like it wasn’t well done. It was edgy for a girl who doesn’t care for that perfect line inside the eye. Backstage, they don’t take beauty into perfection for any editorials, but they just like to promote reality in terms of emotions. During the show, we actually didn’t do eyeshadow. We’re always trying to do something similar to reality. They wanted to transmit the inspirations of the outfits and you can feel that the woman is a real woman, and real women have imperfections in real life. This is what the backstage looks are all about.”
“they wanted to transmit the inspirations of the outfits and you can feel that the woman is a real woman, and real women have imperfections in real life. this is what the backstage looks are all about.”
The eye design…
“Peter used the Diorshow Pro Liner Waterproof pencil and it’s a sharp, clear, waterproof liner that stays because for this look, you really need something to stay. So again, the inspiration is from the makeup of Sharon Eyal and all you need to do is to create a line first and again, it doesn’t need to be perfect. When people do such things, they don’t care about perfection. You’ve got to make it a bit thicker because when you do something like this on stage, you need to remember that there are people sitting in the back and you want them to really see it.”
The complexion…
“So we used the Diorskin Backstage Face and Body Foundation and we’ve got 40 shades but usually we use a medium shade. The primer is the Diorskin Forever & Ever Wear Primer, and it’s really important because it smooths the skin, it covers the pores and it’s like a filter between the skin and the foundation. I like to use my hand because I warm it a little first and push it into the skin and blend it into the skin so that there’s no excess primer left. So you just blend it in circles, really push it into the skin and stretch the leftover. All of the imperfections are usually on the T-zone in terms of colour, texture and secretion so we always start from the centre and blend outwards. For the dark circles under the eyes, we use the Diorskin Undercover Concealer and create the matte finish with Diorskin Forever & Ever Control Loose Powder.”
The lips…
“On the lips, we used the Lip Sugar Scrub because you need very clean lips on the catwalk. So it removes all of the dead skin and it’s amazing. It’s like sugar and it melts into your lips. Then you add a bit of Lip Maximizer in the centre because we don’t do too glossy lips on the catwalk. Unless there’s a focus on that. But, if you’re doing something like this show, you just keep a neutral face and texture, then you keep your lips natural as well. This was Peter’s vision for a strategy to see things. He doesn’t do too much everywhere and Maria Grazia is the same. She prefers this gothic, black touch look.”
Now, take a look at how you can customise your Dior Tote with an ABCDior personalisation program that is currently taking place at The Dubai Mall.
