Beauty

All About Dior’s Cruise 2020 Makeup with Peter Philips 

Exclusive Images Credit:
2020 Cruise, Dior show Backstage
Dior make-up created and styled by Peter Philips
Photography: Vincent Lappartient for Christian Dior Parfums

He’s not only a makeup artist, he’s also the creative mind behind Dior Makeup and the stunning looks that we see on Dior’s runways. For Peter Philips, makeup is an expression of oneself and he never misses the chance to reinterpret Maria Grazia Chiuri’s vision through beauty.

For the house’s Cruise 2020 show in Marrakesh, he created a makeup look that redefines the natural makeup trend. To know more about this, Azyaamode had the opportunity to go backstage and immerse you even more in Dior’s beauty world.

What’s the inspiration behind this beauty look?
This is the Cruise Collection. It should be about the relaxed feeling. However, Maria Grazia Chiuri worked with African and Moroccan artisans to do the fabric and the broidery. It was all influenced by African and Moroccan artists. When you create a look for the catwalk, it can’t be very folklore and very ethnic because it looks like dressing up, like they have disguised themselves. So, we decided to keep the girls in their natural beauty. We had a big cast of 92 girls and a huge variation of skin tones. It is all about the skin and beautiful, individual naturality.

Tell us a little bit about the way this makeup look was achieved and what does it focus on.
It is actually about how to look good in the heat. And luckily, we have this new primer that came out and it is really good. Normally, I never use primer. I started using primer when we launched Diorskin Forever because I had it, and I saw the benefits, especially for long lasting and for adding extra glow. But I also saw some of the weaknesses. So I wanted a primer for backstage which can cover all skin tones because once you go a bit dark, it makes the skin tone a bit ashy. Therefore, we came up with a primer. And one of the benefits of the primer we thought about was to make it more like skincare and more hydrating. We unified not only the coverage, but also the texture. It is not matte, but more blurring and the texture is fantastic. It is gel-like and it has got a little bit of a peach tone, which just warms up the skin and does not leave an ashy white trace. It is also very lightweight and a very good base at it keeps the foundation in place. We started by prepping the skin with a moisturizer. Then we applied a layer of Dior Backstage Face and Body Foundation, curled the lashes and applied Diorshow Iconic Overcurl waterproof mascara in black on the top ones. Finally, we gently enhanced the brows with a brow pencil.

How long does it take to get this look ready?
It all depends on the skin and on whether or not the models are on their phone all the time… So it takes between 15 minutes to half an hour, also depending on if you do it in an elaborate way or not. Meaning if you want extreme eyes, it takes a bit longer because it is almost mathematical.

What about the lips?
The lips were prepped then maximized and given a plumped effect.

There was fire at the show. How did you adapt the look to it?
That was a bit of a challenge because at the rehearsal, everybody looked grilled. The light in the beginning of the show is different than the light at the end of the show. Since I cannot really control that, I went for a natural skin that is not tricky. I can’t use green for example to counterbalance the redness in the face as it might look good in the beginning of the show, but at the end of the show with the change of light, it will not. If the model needs coverage, we will cover with the same skin tone. That is one of the restrictions.

What would you say is the message behind the look?
The message is go to the Dior counter and get yourself this amazing primer and foundation. It is to feel good in the skin you are in. It is all about strong women, all the creative fluids from the Moroccan and African artisans and artists that move together with a corporate company.

When did you start planning the look for the show?
I asked her if she wanted something specific because I don’t know how she would interpret that. I asked her if she wanted to do something with Henna so I can prep for it. Our vision is not to make them look like they are dressing up, because if you do, it will give a good look but it will become a different thing. Maria Grazia is very aware of how careful we have to be today with cultural appropriation. Now the girls look like real women and real girls; we’re not trying to disguise them or dress them up. The looks are simply effortless. If we would have done a makeup look, it would have looked like 10 years ago, and today, people look at fashion differently than how they used to before. This is when you see how important makeup can be because it can really define the line and the vision.

When creating a makeup look for a show, do you keep in mind that a lot of makeup artists will have to copy it on the models so it should be learned quickly?
Well this was an easy look in a way. It is technical and more about how to build coverage and how it will last in the heat. Half of my team is local, so I had to retrain them to work on this look because although they all know Dior, they don’t know this technique. So, we went for a very fresh neutrality. It is the idea of having no makeup on, but of course we all know that this is impossible. They all took their makeup off and they tried to put something on to feel what I was trying to say, because if you have to do speed-training, the best way for them to learn is to do it on themselves so they know how it looks and feels.

What kind of makeup does the Dior woman like?
There are many, many Dior women. Maria Grazia is a Dior woman, and today she is about fresh and neutrality. But there is a whole army of Dior women who love high coverage makeup. I mean the girls in the local team now love the full-on makeup look and the Dior woman is a multi-faceted woman. Backstage, the Dior woman likes the easy to apply, easy to wear makeup that gives a beautifying result. The backstage line is a line of basics. You can build your look. It is like your lingerie and you style it or dress it up, depending on whether you want to go glamorous or natural.

If the look was to be more elaborate, how do you make sure it works for all skin types and tones?
You have to adapt. In this case, it is not very complicated because we have a whole range of shades and it is about that. But of course, when you do a more extreme look, like the black geometric eyeliner look on a dark-skinned girl, it will almost look very natural, but on a white girl it is more like a statement. With this in mind, you have to balance it out and maybe do the Caucasian, pale girl a bit less, and you push it on the dark-skinned girl and go really strong. On Caucasian girls, you can almost do a one tone foundation, but on dark skinned girls, sometimes you have to work with three tones because you have to almost sculpt and make it look evened out.

What is the most important look for you?
Well it depends on the occasion. If it is for a show, you have to think about something that looks great on – in this case – 92 models. If I do a look for a friend, she has to feel confident and comfortable. If I do a look for a campaign, it is a team effort and it depends on the product you want to sell and the message you want to send. So, every look has its different specificities and every look has its own little obstacles and benefits.

What is your favorite part about working backstage at a show?
The whole thing is just great. I have been doing this for a long time and I have got a good team. For example, I do one eye for every model and my assistant has to copy the other eye to make sure it looks the way I want.That is intense and I am in the zone, but it is very exciting.

Do you apply different makeup if it is couture and not read-to-wear?
It does not matter, it is a collection and an inspiration and it is about the story that the designer wants to tell.

Your Dior makeup is constantly evolving and it is quite innovative. So, do you ever feel the pressure to keep working on it?
I am not alone in this, there is a whole army behind me and I am very reactive and very flexible. We do a lot of launches each year. We are a huge brand and we have to work with a lot of faces and a lot of different cultures. This is why we need to be very broad in our range. It is challenging but it is fun.

Article Written by Mirella Haddad



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