How to Be a Versace Babe: 4 Bombshell Rules Worth Committing to Heart

 

What does modern sex appeal mean? The answer may evolve from season to season, year to year—but chez Donatella Versace, the bombshell equation of swingy hair and smoldering eye makeup always makes good. At her show tonight, models Karlie Kloss, Natasha Poly, and Anna Ewers lounged around the backstage area looking like certified power babes. And while excellent genes have no doubt helped their case, there is something to be learned by mere mortals from the designer’s more-is-more beauty philosophy. Here, four rules—stolen from backstage power duo Guido Palau and Pat McGrath—to consider this month.

1. There is nothing more important than a black kohl pencil. Each season, Versace’s girls walk the runway with a fresh incarnation of the smoky eye—and tonight’s show was no exception. “It’s pencil drawn all around the inside and the outside of the lashes,” said makeup artist Pat McGrath, who took a cue from the bold shapes and slit-to-there lines of the house’s fall collection. “It makes things tougher, sharper, it brings out the color of your eyes.”

2. Do not, we repeat—do not—leave the house with less than three coats of mascara. In fact, you are going to need “massive” amounts of inky black pigment swiped along the lashes, according to McGrath, who curled them before going over each little hair repeatedly with a thick brush formula.

3. You are going to want to consider growing your hair out—and possibly getting bangs. Swingy, below-the-shoulder hair is key to your look—because what better accessory is there for a body-con power suit? If you’re thinking of making a bold change, however, the brow-grazing fringe spotted on models Mica Arganaraz and Vanessa Moody is an appropriately pillowy option.

4. Remember that old saying about looking in the mirror before you go out for the night and taking one thing off? It does not apply to you. Because whether it’s clouds of Redken Diamond Oil High Shine spray on the hair for a sleek urban texture or a high-impact gleam on the eyelids in the form of Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, standing out is most definitely your thing.