“For Lara, we used a hot pink Stila Cosmetics lipstick,” says French, who adds that she mixed the matte formula with highlighter pigments to create an even brighter color. “It kind of has this crazy ethereal glow.”
After laying down the base colors, French applied translucent setting powder on top for a matte canvas, then used House of Lashes eyelash glue and a wax stick to apply the confetti dots over the lipstick. “I had my assistant hold a little heart-shaped mirror that had all the confetti pieces on it, and I would just dip and place,” French says.
French says the exact products she chose are a blur, but she did use MAC Lip Pencils in Nightmoth (a dark mauve), Cyber World (a black with purple undertones), and Caviar (a basic black liner). “I also used a Made by Mitchell eye shadow palette,” says French. “I just kept mixing colors together.” To get the shades of light pink worn by three of the Katseye members, “I mixed a yellow with a pink, a blue, and a white, and I just kept going until we got that almost ugly, early 2000s powdery, almost white-pink lipstick,” French says. “I knew they could pull it off.”
Blink, and you’ll miss that there are also polka dots placed delicately at the tips of the singers’ eyelashes. The look might feel familiar to Lady Gaga fans: The confetti that French used on Katseye first appeared in the “Die With a Smile” music video. In both instances, “I made these lashes using those confetti dots and a black gel nail polish to make the lashes a little more spiky,” says French. “Then I cured them under like a nail light while gluing on the polka dots to the tips of the lashes.” The result was a retro, doll-like glam with a playful feel.
Once French perfected all five polka-dot looks, the crew broke for lunch, meaning the five girls with meticulously crafted lip makeup were about to use those gorgeous mouths to eat—every makeup artist’s worst nightmare. “I just thought, Please, please, if there’s a God out there, please don’t mess this up,” says French.
And when they returned to set, all five Katseye members had managed to keep their polka-dotted lips intact, a true testament to French’s artistry and Katseye’s nimble ability to eat very neatly—plus, the power of One/Size Powder Melt Glass Setting Spray.
To see the full looks, check out Allure’s June cover story, where the members of Katseye bond over accepting their sexuality, their hypothetical future weddings, and the friendships they’ve built that go far beyond the band.
Photographer: Charlotte Rutherford
Stylist: Lisa Jarvis
Hair: Evanie Frausto
Makeup: Alexandra French
Manicure: Juan Alvear
Movement Director: Crystalline
Production: Someday Studio
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