Beige Goes Pop — Daring Splashes Of Color Invigorate A Neutral Beauty Look At Mansur Gavriel AW16

To showcase their new handbags and footwear for Fall/Winter 2016, Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel, the New York City-based design duo behind accessories brand Mansur Gavriel, transformed a space into a faux residence with a minimalist aesthetic, creating a living room and kitchenette adorned with nude carpeting, blonde wood tables, taupe settees and ottomans, and shaggy faux fur throws in a light nude hue. The abundance of beige within the space only served to bring more attention to their cobalt blue, poppy red, candy pink, and deep camel bucket bags, pumps, frame purses, and loafers.

The enveloping feel of the showcase, the alternate universe created for audiences, even involves the models being cast as either maids or residents. Part of what distinguished the residents from the maids were their beauty looks, with the ladies of the “house” flaunting poppy red lips and their faithful (and fashionable) servants wearing only a touch of color on their lips and a hint of blue liner to give their youthful faces some liveliness.

James Boehmer, NARS Director of Global Artistry and key makeup artist for the showcase, created the two beauty looks seen. For both the “maids” and the “residents,” Boehmer began by creating a clean and matte canvas, priming their complexions with the hydrating NARSskin Aqua Gel Luminous Oil-Free Moisturizer, perfecting their complexions and evening skin tone with the NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint, then adding the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer under the eyes and atop any blemishes or imperfections and finishing the look with the NARS Soft Velvet Loose Powder.

Barring the level of coverage and the finish chosen for their complexions, the “models” and “maids” had otherwise starkly different looks. The “maids” look involved a peachy nude cheek color, created using the Stripped Velvet Lip Glide (new for Fall 2016), lips dabbed with the Stripped Velvet Lip Glide and Bound Velvet Lip Glide (both new for Fall 2016) for a touch of rosy color, and an eye look marked by dark blue liner applied only to the outer half of the upper lash line. Boehmer used the Darklight Velvet Eyeliner (new for Fall 2016) to create the violet-tinged blue half-line, adding the tiniest of flicks at the outer corners, then coated lashes with the NARS Audacious Mascara.

For the “residents,” Boehmer bypassed cheek color and instead gave models’ cheekbones a lustrous sheen using the NARS Triple X Lip Gloss. Similarly, he kept eyes bare but gave them a glossy finish with the Triple X Lip Gloss. Whereas the pop of color in the “maids” beauty look emanated from the eyes, here its source was the pout, with models flaunting a poppy red lip created using the Nihiwatu Velvet Lip Liner and Mineshaft Velvet Lip Glide.

In both cases, the looks echoed the vibe of the space by incorporating one standout element and keeping everything else muted and pared-down.