Ulla Johnson and Tata Harper are cut from a similar cloth.
The two brands cater to women with an urbanized bohemian bourgeois aesthetic, so it wasn’t a stretch that the nontoxic beauty line sponsored both the skin care and makeup at Johnson’s fall show.
Romy Soleimani, a makeup artist known for her signature dewy skin looks — her Instagram handle is literally @romyglow — made an exception this season, creating a matte skin look.
“It’s a departure for Ulla and me — we’re known for glowing skin,” said Soleimani, in between makeup applications backstage. “But Ulla is so earthy and natural, we wanted the [beauty look] to feel more balanced — more grown-up and serious.”
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Soleimani prepped models with Harper’s skin-care line, focusing on the Rebuilding Moisturizer, which she noted dries with a matte finish.
The matte skin, Soleimani said, complemented the muted earth tones of the fall collection. “With all the sandy colors, we wanted a dustier matte feel — more clean and arty.”
The rest of the makeup was simple and custom-blended. Some girls were given a “rusty, deep” stain on the lips, composed of a custom-blend of Harper’s Volumizing Lip and Cheek Tints. A handful of girls were given a swipe of olive liquid liner — also custom-blended — on the upper lash lines.
Holli Smith for Bumble and bumble led the hair look, which was a slicked-back, braided ponytail.
“The clothing has all these beautiful thread, knitty textures — as Ulla Johnson does — so we wanted to minimize the hair so it brings out the clothes,” said Smith of the inspiration.
She started the look by prepping hair with Bumble and bumble Thickening Spray and combed strands up into a ponytail and created a simple braid, working Brilliantine, a shine cream, all the way through. Smith purposefully left a few wisps of hair out in the front for a lived-in effect.
Individuality has been rampant across the shows for the past several seasons, but for Smith, a uniform look was a nice change.
“It’s the most uniform look I’ve seen in a long time,” said Smith. “It’s like an army of Ulla Johnson. It’s kind of a standard to keep girls as they are [right now], but it’s fresh to have a unified look. For me, it’s exciting again.”
Nails by Jessica Tong for Smith & Cult were a reverse French manicure. Tong used the brand’s lacquer in Ghost Edit, a semi-sheer nude pink, as a base, and applied Shattered Souls, a chunky gold glitter, along the cuticles.