Getting the Lara Stone Look

I first learned of Dutch model Lara Stone from a model friend of mine who showed her picture at W magazine along with supermodels Daria Werbowy and Kate Moss. I was immediately drawn to her excellent bone structure and all-over appeal. When I googled her, I saw that she has graced countless of magazine covers, walked shows for huge designer labels, and currently, Ms. Stone is the face of Versus by Versace.

[image from blog.squa.re] ]

Her trademark is her gap teeth and wobbly walk. Apparently, the wobbly walk has been attributed to her small feet, which is a size 7 (regular runway shoe sizes are 8-10), so the shoes provided during runway shows more or less are too big for her. Aside from those two trademark features, her usual makeup shows her with dark and heavy smoky eyes either in black or earthy taupe-brown and light (almost bleached-platinum blonde) eyebrows. Her lips can go vampy red or berry-stained but the dark eyes and light brows have been a trademark look on most of her shots.

[ from designscene.net]

[from fluxuryb.com]

Amazing how the trademark Lara Stone look could go from intense fierce to girl-next door with just a change of color. With that, I wanted to create a Lara Stone inspired-look. Of course the platinum blonde brows would be a bit too extreme for our hair color. I went for a light brow color lighter than the usual 1 to 1-1/2 shades lighter than the head heair color rule, earthy smokey eyes and moist rosy lips. I wanted a look that we could wear everyday. The light brow softens the smokey eye so we sorta get a look that's and in-between of the two pictures I showed you. So here goes my Lara Stone inspired look.

I'll start off with the eyes first, so I could clean up any eyeshadow fallout with moisturizer rather than having to erase foundation. So first, after prepping the face, I tightlined my eyes with dark brown eyeliner to make the lashes look thicker as well as frame and re-shape the eye. Dark brown would prolly be a softer alternative first since I want the color to be earthy. Don't be afraid if it's not a perfect line. We could always smudge it with a q-tip or our finger.

Next, I used an eyeshadow base for t eyeshadow to hold. Apply eyeshadow base from lashline to browbone. I chose a safe shell-colored base that's almost my skin but better.

Next, I dabbed brown or taupe eyeshadow with little or no shimmer all over the lid. on the crease area, I blended this outwards so that the color is even and there are no harsh demarcation lines.

I countoured the crease with a matte color that's darker than the lid color. Again, blend so that there are no demarcation lines. Highlight the browbone with a matte skintone color that's lighter than the skin color.

On the outer corner, dab a bit of darkest brown or black and blend this with the contour color to deepen and "smoke up" the eye. Highlight the inner corners of the eyes with shimmery color.

You could line the eyes again with a black liner for intensity or set the brown eyeliner with black powder for more intensity. Lashes are enhanced by curling them and applying mascara.

Now after the eye makeup, clean up all fallouts with moisturizer and apply concealer, foundation, and set with powder. Then, contour cheeks and nose for a defined bone structure just like Lara Stone.

I wanted a natural colored lip here, so I used tinted lip conditioner to give my lips some color without looking blah. Gloss would be too glittery so stick to natural colored lipsticks in a creamy or luster finish.

Since I wanted brows to be soft, I saved them for last. The overall look of the makeup dictated somewhat the brow look I wanted so I chose a soft, cool, almost ash-blonde color for the brows and brushed this with blonde brow gel to keep them groomed. This is a real-life version of Lara Stone's platinum blonde brows. Save the platinum-blonde brows for shoots and runway.
Overall, this is how the makeup would look, plus an eye detail. I wanted something that's very subtle and not too heavy on the smoky eyes so I could take this for a daytime look. I wanted the look to be really wearable but it would have the trademark light eyebrow of Lara Stone. I think the light brow gives an overall balance to the intensity of the eye, and kind of softens the expression a bit. I wanted a stained lip so there's a flush of color. A good way to get a berry stained lip is to dab a bit of deep matte reddish or berry color on the center of the lip and blend it outwards and top with lip conditioner or clear lip gloss with no sparkle.

A bit on the eye detail:

For a bit of customizing, you could deepen the crease with more black eyeshadow and carry this over to the top if you want a more intense smokey eye. If you find the almost all-matte look too dull, try blending in a bit of shimmery pigment on the center of the lid and blend this outward. Naturally thick brows could go ahead and skip the defining part and go straight to the blond (or clear) mascara to tame down stray hairs.

Have fun creating your very own version of the supermodel look. :)