Batsheva Makes the Case for Retro Beauty This Spring

The higher hair—and the blacker the eyeliner—the closer to God.

Batsheva Makes the Case for Retro Beauty This Spring

“We’re doing a lot of liner,” said makeup artist Francelle Daly, stating the obvious backstage at Batsheva Hay’s spring show as she put the finishing touches on makeup artist turned model for the day Alice Lane. “It’s really meant to complement the hair,” Daly continued of the blacker-than-black, oversized retro eyeliner shapes that, situated beneath towering wigs, read one part Siouxsie Sioux, one part ’60s housewife. Daly, who launched her makeup brand Lovecraft Beauty three years ago with a nod to the goth and industrial music scenes that she and her partner, Andrew D’Angelo, mine for regular inspiration, is something of an eyeliner evangelizer. “It breaks down barriers,” she said of the universal makeup statement as she layered two different pencils topped with her eye shadow in Waning, a black satin, for super saturation. Daly applied this mixture as well as lipsticks in black and classic red to nearly every one of Hay’s cast of characters—from comedians Lauren Servideo and Heidi Gardner and activist-writer Alok Vaid-Menon to actor Busy Philipps and supermodel Veronica Webb. “Everyone can wear it,” Daly continued—including Hay, who arrived early to the Upper East Side location just to get her own lids expertly defined by the pro.

But perfection was not the order of the day. “There’s still an undone-ness,” Daly insisted, which was helped along by fresh, almost bare skin—and 17 over-the-top hairpieces, teased and styled with hairspray and a bit of mousse that hairstylist Brent Lawler prepped for two-and-a-half weeks before Webb handpicked her own: a chin-dusting fringed crop with major height at the crown. “It’s Elizabeth Taylor on her way to Harry Winston,” Webb said of the style. “But she’s on pills!” Lawler added of the disheveled but still sophisticated vibe he was trying to create, much to the delight of the Batsheva faithful gathered at Serendipity3’s old-fashioned ice cream parlor. As a crocheted shirt made its way past Ella Emhoff, the model and occasional Batsheva collaborator nodded along with enthusiastic approval. 

This story originally appeared on: Vogue - Author:Celia Ellenberg