Behold Elsa Hosk on the latest cover of Vogue Scandinavia, looking positively ethereal with whisper light strokes of makeup to enhance her natural beauty. We spoke to Lisa-Marie Powell, the makeup artist behind the look, about her inspiration and tips for mastering no-makeup makeup
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“Her illuminated self,” is how Powell describes Elsa Hosk’s next-to-natural makeup look. “I just painted Elsa’s face in colours and tones where I felt it was needed; a bit of colour correcting, beautiful eyelashes and eyebrows and neutral tones around the eyes and lips.”
Crucially, Powell decided on an undone and stripped back aesthetic rather than red carpet glamour. “With the picture society paints of beauty and the pressure it puts on women to always look filtered and heavily made up, I think we overlook a lot of our really unique, beautiful features. Every individual has their very own blueprint of facial features and Elsa’s is definitely incredibly stunning. I just really wanted to accentuate that and for Elsa to shine as her truest, most authentic self with no distractions. There’s strength in embracing your natural beauty.”
Related: “As a model, I’m always naked”: Elsa Hosk goes au naturale in this video for Vogue Scandinavia
I just painted Elsa’s face in colours and tones where I felt it was needed
Lisa-Marie Powell, make-up artist
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Photo: Torbjørn Rødland
Rather than look traditionally sunkissed, Powell decided to tonally mimic the golden and coral light from the sunset that Elsa is bathed in. To create a very glowy, hydrated base, she used the Creme de La Mer Treatment Lotion, followed by Supergoop’s Glowscreen. “I love finger painting as nothing rivals how it gives foundation and creamy textures a melted-in quality,” says Powell. “Here I applied Tom Ford’s Traceless Soft Matte Foundation to the forehead, nose and chin as shine doesn’t belong everywhere. Then I amped up the sheen on Elsa's cheeks with the Shade and Illuminate Soft Radiance Foundation.”
Hosk’s delicately blushing cheeks come courtesy of Tom Ford’s Shade & Illuminate Blush in Explicit Flush, which Powell describes as “the perfect neutral peach blusher with just a touch of shimmer.” And rather than use a pearlescent highlighter, Powell dabbed oil onto the high points of Hosk’s face. Eyes were kept softly defined with just a few strokes of Dior Diorshow Mascara in Brown.
There’s no denying that no-makeup makeup is notoriously hard to get right. Hitting that sweet spot of not too much coverage, while also not looking like your face is naked, can be challenging. “Less is always more,” says Powell who recommends a soft touch and a very gradual approach to building up colour. “The goal shouldn’t be to alter anything, only to illuminate. Remember the entire face doesn’t actually need coverage. Only add colour and coverage on areas to perfect the skin.”
