Anthony Vaccarello’s Graphic Eyes and Smooth Hair

“It’s minimalist, confident, sexy—but it’s also playful,” said makeup artist Tom Pecheux at the Anthony Vaccarello show in Paris this afternoon, referring to the deep midnight blue square of eyeliner he was carefully drawing onto the outer corners of each model’s eyes. He had settled on the look with the designe the night before. “We tried a red lip first, but it was too established,” he explained. “The collection is very graphic and there are a lot of triangular shapes. We wanted something sophisticated, rock ’n’ roll but still young. Anthony’s woman should have fun with her makeup.”

Models, a number of whom—like Anja Rubik and Malgosia Bela—are Vaccarello’s friends and supporters, certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves. Many of them slipped outside to a sunny patch of terrace with views of the Eiffel Tower before being coaxed back inside by members of his team, who were hard at work perfecting the tricky wedge shape. Pecheux was drawing it on freehand using a deep black powder (from Estée Lauder’s Pure Color Eyeshadow Duo in Moons) before going over it with a striking jewel-toned shade of cobalt (the company’s Pure Color Gelée Powder in Fire Sapphire).

To balance the rest of the face, he kept the complexion fresh—which was no small feat considering the steamy indoor temperatures. “I’m using a drop of Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum and mixing it in with the foundation,” he explained. “It’s a trick that makes it stick, even in the heat.” Afterword, he swirled a soft wash of the rosy bronze blush (Estée Lauder Pure Color Blush in Sensuous Rose) under the cheekbones and dabbed a bit of natural flesh-toned lipstick (Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy lipstick in Insatiable Ivory, out next March).

Healthy, glowing skin, of course, is a central part of the Anthony Vaccarello formula—and there was plenty of it showing below the neck, too, thanks to the designer’s cutaway blouses and slit-to-the-hip skirts for spring. In a way, said hairstylist Anthony Turner, that body-consciousness had even impacted the hair. “There’s something Amazonian about the girls,” he said of their long, gleaming limbs. “And there’s also something sporty. We were talking about early ’90s Cindy Crawford, a very American woman.” He wanted to create the feeling of hair that had been casually combed back away from the face with the fingers, “but still uptown rather than downtown.” After combing L’Oréal Professionnel Tecni Art Full Volume mousse through, he blew it “straight back” and then flat-ironed it for good measure. Before models took the runway, he applied the company’s Super Dust texture powder, then raked his owns hands through it for an authentic feeling.

The finishing touch before models walked down the runway? A coat of Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy Nail Lacquer in Red Ego (out in March) on toes—because, as Pecheux put it laughingly with a gesture toward their sky-high, lipstick-red stilettos for the runway, “this is not a woman who wears flats.”