Venturelli/WireImageThere is nothing prettier than a smooth blowout with soft loose curls – except when accompanied by a retro black-lined eye and on-trend coral lip. Gabrielle Union must have made every head turn at the Miu Miu Women's Tale premiere at the 70th Venice International Film Festival yesterday when she showed off those glossy tresses.
Gabrielle's lustrous locks stole the show with her retro side part and cascading curls. But, what made this look such a standout was that her hair was so healthy and shiny, the camera flashes makes her tresses look practically illuminated.
It also didn't hurt that Ms. Union, a Neutrogena ambassador, wore classically pretty makeup to complete this retro look—and used all Neutrogena products to do so, including her Neutrogena MoistureSmooth.Color Stick in healthy peach. A black-lined eye is universally flattering regardless of eye, skin, or hair color. While the coral lip may not work on every skin tone, it looks beyond amazing on brunettes and women with olive and darker skin tones.
Get the Look: Since styling sirens are her specialty, we asked Nicole Giannini, Owner and Creative Director of Siren Salon in the San Francisco Bay Area to help us achieve Gabrielle's gorgeous look at home:
Plug in your 1 or 1.5 inch curling iron and have 7 duckbill clips ready. Apply a pea-size drop of a shine cream like Oribe Supershine Moisturizing Cream as a foundation on the ends, and then thoroughly spray hair from the roots to mid-length with a thermal protective bodybuilding spray like Oribe Maximista.
Then use a large or medium barrel round brush to do a simple blow dry, aiming for smoothness. Once hair is dry, prepare to curl!
Starting from the back of the side part, take a large section from the crown to the mid-front hairline (it would look like a triangle if you were looking down at the top of your head) and brush all of that hair forward, holding the section straight up from the forehead. Spray section with a heat-activated shine spray like Oribe Soft Lacquer Heat Styling Spray. Curl that whole section back from the face, and clip in place as a rolled pin curl to cool.
Work your way around the head in the same fashion, pivoting from the crown and curling the hair. Spraying each section of hair with Oribe Soft Lacquer Heat Styling Spray will give your curls amazing hold, memory, bounce and shine. When you're finished curling, let the pin curls sit until they're cool.
Once curls are fully cooled, remove the clips and brush hair into place with a bristle brush. Finish with a light anti-humidity hairspray like Oribe Imperméable Anti-Humidity Spray.
To get Gabrielle's makeup look, use a soft black eyeliner pencil like Votre Vu Le Joli Crayon in Charbon to line the upper lash line, making the line thicker as you get towards the outer corners of your eyes. If your eyes are not sensitive, then line the inner waterline of your eyes. Finish eyes by applying 2-3 coats of your favorite mascara.
To copy Gabrielle's coral pucker, first use a feather-proof skin-colored lip pencil like Bite Beauty Contour Lip Liner in Nutmeg to line and fill-in the entire lip area. (Filling in the entire lip area will ensure your lip color lasts longer and will show off maximum pigment)
Then, apply one coat of a glossy longwearing coral lipstick like STILA Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Carina. Blot with a tissue and apply a second coat to ensure longevity.
And of course it probably doesn't hurt that Gabrielle is a brand ambassador for Neutrogena, so her skin provides the perfect base to support whatever look she's going for.
We can't wait to try this look at home for our next special event. Who are we kidding? Like we have black-tie events in our future… We're going to rock this look at the BBQs this weekend. There is no such thing as being overdressed when it comes to hair and makeup!
If you're a beauty addict, Janna will be your enabler. Just an occasional user? She'll be your bad influence. Visit her blog at mybeautybinge.com and indulge!