
To conjure Daisy Buchanan for this summer’s
Great Gatsby reboot, director Baz Luhrmann enlisted the help of designer Miuccia Prada and actress Carey Mulligan. For those of us who don’t have a multimillion-dollar budget, trying to evoke Jazz Age glamour can be tricky. Below, hairstylist
Lauren Sweenor and makeup artist
Jen Brown shared their tips for creating a modern,
Gatsby-inspired look that feels classy, not costumey.
For Hair: Try No-Fuss Finger Waves
What You Need:
Bobby pins
Flat, boar-bristle brush
Small-barrel curling iron with clamp
Soft- and hard-hold hairspray
Teasing brush
What You Do:
1. Finger waves were all the rage in the 1920s, but they took wet hair, a skilled hand, and plenty of patience to create. To cut down on time, the trick is to “start with somewhat dirty hair and [using a small-barrel curling iron,] curl each strand in the same direction,” Lauren said.
2. As she went, Lauren spritzed each curl with a soft-hold hairspray and secured it with a bobby pin. She then let everything set for 30 minutes.
3. After taking out the pins, “don't run your fingers through [your hair]," she warned. "Just put your hand behind your hair and brush down." This motion is what creates the finger-wave effect, which can be held in place with a spritz of hard-hold hairspray.
4. To jazz things up, Lauren suggested adding a retro-inspired hair accessory—like this one she created—or forming tighter waves at the scalp by pinching small “waves” of hair and securing with a bobby pin.
For Face: Think Dramatic, Not Dark
What You Need:
Dark brown or black mascara
Duster eyeshadow brush
Berry-toned lipstick or pencil
Bronze and gold eyeshadows
Dark brown kohl eyeliner pencil
What You Do:
1. To keep the look young and modern, Jen reached for bronze and gold eyeshadows as opposed to the traditional dark purples and grays popular during the '20s. Here, she put a shimmery spin on a classic smokey eye by blending gold and bronze shadow over the entire lid, then lightly dusting them up past the crease with a duster brush.
2. Jen highlighted Amelia’s cheekbones by adding “a pop of peachy pink” for a freshy, rosy flush.
3. The cupid’s-bow lip was de rigueur for
Gatsby-era women—they exaggerated their pout’s natural shape, drawing a thinner upper lip and filling out the bottom. Jen created a more wearable interpretation of the look by lining Amelia’s lips with a lip pencil and then filling them in with a berry-tone lipstick.
4. To complete the look, Jen evoked the sultry glances of flapper-era starlets such as Louise Brooks and Clara Bow by smudging a dark brown kohl eyeliner around the eyes and finishing with a coat of dark mascara.