Toronto Fashion Week Spring 2013 backstage beauty: A twisted hair and modern take on ’70s makeup at Jeremy Laing

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While the details on Jeremy Laing’s Spring 2013 collection echoed the ’90s, the beauty was tinged with elements from the ’70s. “Jeremy wanted the girls to look really handsome and sort of have this ’70s-eqsue feeling,” explained Greg Wencel, Cover Girl makeup pro. Also at play was a mix of textures: glossy eyelids contrasted with matte skin, which had been prepped with Cover Girl + Olay Simply Ageless Serum Primer ($18, well.ca) to keep shine at a minimum. Instead of eyeshadow, Wencel used Cover Girl Cheekers blush in “Iced Cappuccino” and “smoked it out on the eye and under the eye socket.” He then used the same blush to sculpt a high cheek bone but diffused it for a soft, modern effect. Because lashes and brows were left bare Wencel added some dimension to the eye with Cover Girl LiquilineBlast in “Brown Blaze” ($10, well.ca), but applied it by putting the product on the back of his hand and picking up some of the pigment with a fluffy brush. The final step was glossing up the eye with a dab of clear Cover Girl WetSlicks lip gloss ($7, well.ca) for what Wencel called “a ’70s high gloss shine.”

The balance between the ’70s and the ’90s continued with the hair, which featured a low ponytail, a deep side part and three cornrow braids—which were actually twisted strands of hair. For grip and texture Justin German, Pantene Pro-V consulting stylist, used a mix of Sebastian Shine Crafter Moldable Wax ($19, at salons) and Pantene Pro-V Normal to Thick Smooth Definition Gel ($7, well.ca) before twisting two stands of hair together to achieve the coiled effect.