“Okay, no one can talk. I’m so sorry.” This was makeup artist Alexandra French’s plea as she watched the five polka-dot pout masterpieces she had just spent hours creating head to lunch. The lip makeup for Katseye’s Allure cover was made to literally match the ’60s-inspired outfits that Sophia Laforteza, Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel, and Yoonchae Jeung wore for the shoot. “It’s five girls, and I had to do all the lips myself because I had it in my head exactly how I wanted it,” French says. “It’s tough to pass that on to someone else.”
So how, exactly, did these polka-dot pouts make their way onto the mood board? French says she and photographer Charlotte Rutherford collaborated on the concept. “Vintage makeup is really having such a comeback in the fashion world and in the editorial world. I think it’s just like the complete opposite of what’s happening in the makeup space right now,” says French, referring to the minimal makeup looks that are all over social media and red carpets.
The return of the retro look isn’t just about nostalgia. French says it’s rooted in a collective desire for more—more drama, more color, and more energy in makeup. As an example, she points to the fantasy lip trend, where makeup artists use color and sparkle to create eye-catching looks on a part of the face that often doesn’t get to be the center of attention. “When I started makeup school in 2012, that’s when lip art was popular,” says French. “I was such a hater of it at the time; it was really cheesy back then. But people like Sophia Sinot really brought back this movement of fun lips; not lip combos, but lip art.”
The process of creating this look began long before the photo shoot. As soon as the concept was solidified, French began thinking of different ways to translate the polka-dot print on the cover stars’ outfits into a makeup look. “I had polka-dot lip tattoos made by a friend of mine, Michelle Sparzo. I tried painting on individual dots,” French says. “For timing reasons, we ended up using confetti pieces that I found deep in my makeup kit.”
French says she found the party decor staple at Michaels many years ago and immediately added it to her collection of adornments. “I have hundreds of little vials of different confetti and different rhinestones, pigments, and glitter pieces that I collect for my kit as I travel,” she says.
Like many makeup artists working on an editorial set, French leans toward mixing and cocktailing products to create unique shades. Each member of Katseye has a different iteration of the polka-dot lip look: Lara wore white polka dots over hot pink lipstick, Megan and Sophia wore white polka dots over a bubblegum pink base, Daniela wore black lipstick with white polka dots, and Yoonchae wore black polka dots over a light pink base.
