Essex High School senior Rachel Croce rarely wears make-up— “not even for prom,” she said. Her hair styling routine is equally low-maintenance: it consists of brushing it when she gets out of the shower.
Any look would need to be simple, she said, since she’s “not much of a morning person.”
Aesthetician Nicole Rouille and hair stylist Chelsea Boardman at Oasis Day Spa in Williston devised a hair and beauty routine that’s simple and low-key enough for athlete Rachel, who plays field hockey and ice hockey. The simple sleek look they created can work just as easily for a day at school, a job interview, or a night out.
1. Brow shaping. Rouille started by waxing Rachel’s eyebrows, just cleaning up stray hairs between and under Rachel’s brows,to keep them full and natural looking. It’s better not to get too extreme with brows, Rouille said, and move in slowly to avoid a thin, over-plucked look.
2. Straightening hair. Since Rachel’s long curly hair has a tendency to get frizzy, Boardman started by washing it and applying some moisturizing leave-in conditioner and a smoothing serum.
“If you want to wear it curly, just use a lightweight mousse,” Boardman said. “You don’t want anything too heavy. You don’t want your hair to be crunchy.”
Boardman also recommended trimming curly hair every six to eight weeks, since ragged ends are more likely to frizz out. Straightened hair has a polished look and silky feel—and can last a couple of days— but Boardman said to avoid straightening hair every day, since it can be damaging.
After trimming the ends, Boardman used a blow dryer, pulling the hair straight with a round brush. Then, she ran a Paul Mitchell straightener through small sections of hair.
“The key to straightening is taking really small sections,” Boardman said.
3. Soft neutral make-up. Rouille went for a low-key natural look, using soft pinks to complement Rachel’s light complexion and blue eyes.
“Because she usually doesn’t wear make-up, I didn’t want to do anything too bright,” Rouille said. “Just soft and neutral, something soft and pretty.”
Rouille swept a little bit of powder foundation over Rachel’s face using a large brush, then dotted concealer on any spots that needed it.
Rouille used three shades of pink eye shadow to make Rachel’s eyes pop. First, she applied a light shimmery pink shadow below the brow bone and in the corners of her eyes. Then, she applied a medium pink shadow across her entire lid, using an angled brush. Then, using a smaller brush, she applied a slightly darker color in the crease, moving a small brush back and forth to blend it in. Finally, Rouille applied black mascara.
Pink colors work well on blue eyes, while people with brown eyes could try purples and those with green eyes could use burgundies and mauves, Rouille said. Neutral colors, like browns and taupe, look good on everyone.
Then, she swept a light pink blush across the apples of Rachel’s cheeks.
Rouille chose lip color just a couple of shades darker than Rachel’s natural lip color. She started with a little bit of lip liner, which she said keeps the color within the lip line, then applied lipstick using a small brush.
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