Keira Knightley Hair and Makeup at the SAG Awards 2015
How to Look as Edgy-Glam as Keira Knightley IRL
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On a normal day, it's hard not to stare at Keira Knightley — and on the 2015 SAG Awards red carpet, it was impossible not to drool. OK, a bit dramatic, I know, but the mommy-to-be mastered the modern bedhead and smoky eye style while keeping it polished enough to go with a gala gown. If you've already pinned her style to your Saturday night inspiration board, then let me take you one step further by offering up exclusive tips from the hair and makeup pros who created this look.
"I have a background is fashion and runway makeup," explained Chanel Makeup Artist Kate Lee on how she dreamed up Keira's face chart. "The most amazing thing about this [Erdem] dress is the color, so I didn't want to do anything that would clash. Also, she is pregnant, so I didn't want to do anything too outlandish. But I wanted to make her look like the rock star she is. So we went for a warm, gray smoky round eye — rather than rather than elongated one." When it came to hair, Ben Skervin for Vidal Sassoon went with a Brigitte Bardot-influenced half-up, half-down look that he felt was a "boho-chic style to complement the dress."
Soft Smoky Eyes
When I first saw this eye, I thought, "I love how smoky and smudgy it is!" But whenever I, personally, try to re-create this at home, it just looks dirty and like I didn't properly wash my face after a night out. Luckily, Lee has tricks on how to make it appear polished for the red carpet. She warned not to put on foundation first — especially if you're not confident. Rather, clean up any eye makeup smears later with foundation.
Her biggest trick, though, is to use two brushes: one for applying pigmented product and another clean one for blending. "You must always blend inwards not outwards," she added. "Because you will flick and turn it into cat eye instead of this smooth, round look."
The key to making the makeup look elegant and romantic is to skip eyeliner altogether. "To use liquid liner on a look like this would look harder and more intense," noted Lee. "Doing this smoky eye without a line is what make it look soft and beautiful." To define the eyes, she applied shadow with a wet brush along the lashes and blended it into the lashes with a clean brush (again, that savvy two-brush trick!). This also makes your flutter look thicker since there are no gaps between the liner and lash. Genius!
Products used: Chanel Quadra Eyeshadow in Prélude and Tissé Mademoiselle ($61 each)
Sculpted Cheeks
"It helps to have kickass cheekbone to begin with!" Lee mused. "I did use something to enhance it."
She started by applying Chanel Le Blush Crème in Cheeky under the cheekbone ("just cupping it") and blended it backwards and forwards. "If you're afraid of shading, it’s a good color because it has enough depth to it to make a shadow," she offered. Her pro tip: use whatever foundation is left on your beauty blender to take any excess color off, so it's not a hard look.
To "trick the eye" (re: contour), Lee added a pop to the apples of the cheeks with Chanel Limited Edition Le Jardin Powder Blush ($55). "It's so pretty," she gushed. "It has camellia flowers pressed into it, and it's [two-toned] so you get a a multidimensional color."
Modern Nude Lips
Even though Keira's lips look quite defined, Lee confirmed that the star is actually not wearing any liner (sorry Kylie!). The hack to getting your pout to stand out is to go over the edge with concealer. "Go around the outside and cupid's bow," explained Lee. "You are doing a reverse lip liner."
If you have trouble determining the right nude color for your skin tone, Lee advises to get your hands — or rather, lips — dirty. "There's no generic way to choose the best color," she said. "It is a trial-and-error situation. You just need to get it on to see which suits you." She also advised to think about the texture of lipstick. "Nudes that are slightly more transparent are easier to wear. Keira is a wearing a Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Hydrating Sheer Lip Colour in Satisfaction ($35). It's midway between a tint and a lip balm. She doesn’t like to have anything she has to maintain too much." See? Even Keira can be a lazy girl sometimes, too!
Bedhead Half-Up 'Do
What also made Keira's look seem so effortless was the texture in her hair. To give her strands some grit, Skervin prepped them with Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Boost & Lift Foaming Air Mousse ($4) (for volume) and Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Heat Protect & Shine ($4) (to add luminosity). He blow-dried it with a large brush, curling the ends under.
Then, it was curling iron time. Using a large barrel, he wrapped two-inch sections in a spiral down the rod, leaving the ends out. This is what keeps it from looking less coiled and more beachy. He also pulled each piece down while it was cooling for help it form a loose wave, instead of bouncing up. Once the hair was cooled, he finger combed his hands through it to further break up the waves. Spraying dry shampoo on the roots (even if it is clean hair!) will give it that bedhead look, and back-combing the top will add extra volume.
Half-Up 'Do From the Side
To make the half-up 'do, Skervin took two small sections of hair on either side of the head by the ears and pulled them back into the middle of the head. He secured it with three bobby pins and two U-shaped pins. By pulling out some pieces to frame the face, he gave it that effortlessly cool vibe. Hold all of that hairdresser magic in place with a holding spritz that won't look too stiff, such as Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Flexible Hold Hairspray ($8).
