AnOther’s Guide to Laura Dern’s Natural But Quirky Beauty

Amid the straight-off-the-runway Chanel Métiers d’Art fantasy tweed tailleur, the silk blouse and the pearl necklace, hair stylist Esther Langham and make-up artist Francelle Daly wanted, in Daly’s own words, to combine Laura Dern’s natural beauty with a “twist and a quirk”. Working in collaboration with photographer Willy Vanderperre and stylist Olivier Rizzo, the pair did just that – showing us the Hollywood royal as we’ve never seen her before. Here, they reveal just how they created this look...

Francelle Daly on the vision

“Beauty looks generally stem as a collaborative effort between the photographer, stylist, make-up artist and hairstylist. After speaking to Willy about the mood and inspiration for the shoot, looking through the amazing clothes Olivier pulled and discussing the hair with Esther, I knew we wanted to create a character that had a strong presence... I wanted her natural beauty and elegance to be portrayed and for her to feel confident in the look.”

Esther Langham on the inspiration

“We were inspired by her look from Blue Velvet. She still needed to look like Laura but adding the fringe gave her a different character to what we see today.”

Francelle Daly on the specifics of the make-up

“I wanted the make-up to have an ease to it; I didn’t want it to look like she had been in the chair for three hours. I applied a light foundation to the skin, pinched the cheeks for colour and defined the brows while keeping them natural and not too heavy. She has such beautiful, expressive eyes that I really wanted to highlight. I applied a soft grey cream eyeliner which I smudged to give it a lived in feeling. A coat of black mascara completed the look.

“The idea to add a bold lip evolved throughout the shoot. After Willy applied a coloured lens to the film, I knew adding a strong lip would add more drama to the look and almost read green in the images. Overall the images, styling, and beauty look were a reference to Laura’s dynamic career and had a touch of nostalgia.”

Esther Langham on the specifics of the hair

“I had so much fun doing Laura’s hair for this shoot. I got to add a fake fringe to help create her character that she was totally game for. I worked with her natural texture and blended the fringe to make it look seamless.”

Francelle Daly on working with Laura Dern

“Laura is absolute magic! She’s so inspiring, but still so down to earth and natural. This was the second time we worked together and we picked up right where we left off. While I was working on her look we talked a lot about New Orleans, which is my hometown and one of her favourite cities. She has a lot of respect for the process and I admire how open she was to the concept and experimenting. Her poses and facial expressions completely make the shoot.”

Hannah Lack’s interview with Laura Dern appears in AnOther Magazine Spring/Summer 2020, which is on sale internationally from February 13, 2020.

Head here to read the interview in full.

Hair: Esther Langham at Art and Commerce using Foil Frizz and Static Control Spray by R+Co. Make-Up: Francelle Daly at Art and Commerce using Lovecraft Beauty. Set Design: Piers Hanmer. Manicure: Megumi Yamamoto at Susan Price NYC. Digital Tech: Henri Coutant. Lighting: Romain Dubus. Photographic Assistants: Gaspar Dietrich and Stefano Ortega. Styling Assistants: Desirée ADédjé, Jasmine Morales and Helen Franco. Hair Assistant: Gabe Jenkins. Make-Up Assistant: Agus Arcidiacono. Production: One Thirtyeight Productions. Production Assistants: Jacob Gottlieb and Andrew Gowen. Post-Production: Stéphane Virlogeux.