Backstage Beauty Bit: Mandy Koon Spring/Summer 2012

Rock collecting may not be your bag, but as any jeweler (and woman who loves jewels) knows, rocks, minerals and crystals provide an endless source of beauty—and inspiration. For designer Mandy Coon, her childhood fascination with the facets of rocks and crystals provides the springboard for her Spring/Summer 2012 collection. “Their texture, their metallics: There is something so cool, and tough, about them,” she says, adding that she softens this idea by incorporating pleats, which “add a touch of femininity.”
 
The makeup, applied expertly by the hand of NARS lead makeup artist Francelle, doesn’t find it’s starting point in rocks, but rather, paintings. “I took a cue from Mark Rothko’s color-blocking and created a modern version on the eye with purple and pink,” Francelle says. She concentrates the pink, a shade plucked from NARS Douces France Trio Eyeshadow (available Spring 2012), on the inner and outer corners of the eye and lid, and sweeps smoky lilac, NARS Lhasa Single Eyeshadow (available Spring 2012), directly in the middle of the eyelid. “It’s girly because of the eye shadow shades, but it’s tough since there’s no eyeliner,” she notes. Lips retain a sweet berry tone, a mixture of NARS Bilbao Lipstick and Valparaiso Pure Matte Lipstick. Francelle allows for the eyes and lips to be the focus by giving skin a dewy finish, which she notes lends a “really whimsical, effortless effect.” —Karie L. Frost