Olympian Gracie Gold on Red Lipstick and Ice-Proof Makeup

Gracie Gold is everything I imagined an Olympic figure skater to be: precise and on point (lots of training), upbeat and optimistic (how else to survive all that relentless competition), and obsessed with beauty (did you not see her red lipstick?). I spoke to the 18-year-old Sochi veteran—and CoverGirl spokesperson—about her favorite products and where she looks for inspiration. Her biggest beauty lesson? “Always wear a smile because you never know who is watching.” Spoken like a pro.

Beauty inspiration: “Grace Kelly is my main inspiration, for her timeless beauty. I like Jennifer Lawrence for her fun, down-to-earth style, and Taylor Swift is always elegant. On the ice, I go for a simple, elegant—always one color, nothing extreme. When I’m at home, I am much more expressive and quirky.”

On her love of makeup: “Red certainly is the family color. From my mother and my grandmother I’ve learned a lot of little tricks—the significance of color and lipstick being one of them. I started skating when I was eight years old, and my mom did my makeup for me back then. I guess I started experimenting with makeup myself the summer after eighth grade, when most girls do—clumpy mascara and lots of eyeliner.”

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Beauty on ice: “All of the skaters do their own hair and makeup. Sometimes my mom will help me, and [ice dancing gold medalist] Meryl Davis’s mom will help her. Timing depends on the look; if it’s a very complicated bun or curls, I may need up to three hours to prep. This year, I needed about an hour and a half. The makeup is a lot like stage makeup—nice and thick to last a whole day of training and competition. Meryl actually taught me the ropes on a lot of makeup looks and blush. Matte finish is always a must—powder finish is the best. At Sochi, everyone can tell who the figure skaters are because we come from practice with full makeup and hair done.”

Skating soundtrack: “Classic music will always come across better on the ice because skating has such a rich history, rooted in tradition. One skater here at Sochi performed to Queen and ZZ Top, and I thought that was so fun. Beyoncé’s ‘I Was Here’ could be really beautiful on the ice. I’ve always wanted to see a team do ‘Say Something’ by Christina Aguilera.”

Post-Olympics beauty splurge: “I’d love a hot-rock massage and full facial.”

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Four Tips to Rock Bold Brows That You Haven't Heard Already

Aside from recently being named the face of Burberry Body Tender, model Cara Delevingne has two other claims to fame: her famously bold eyebrows. Her embracing full brows has spawned a trend that has women contemplating their eyebrow brushes. But if you're a little scared about dusting on some pigment for fear of looking perpetually angry at the world, don't fret. Here are some things to keep in mind while doing up your eyebrows:

Stick to powders, not pencils. While pencils have usually been the mainstay for brows for generations (hello, '80s makeup), powders are easier to handle and create a more natural, feathered look. Grab two shades: one that is a shade lighter than your natural color for daytime and one that is a tone darker for more drama.

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Brush powder on your hairs, not your skin. One common mistake women make is that they press on their brushes and pencils too hard, causing pigment to adhere to their skin. This makes brows look clownish and fake. Use a lighter touch to ensure the pigment coats your hairs, not your skin, and always make sure you're brushing in the direction that the hair is growing in.

Focus pigment on the outer two-thirds of your brows. If putting powder on your brows makes you look clownish, take note at where you're focusing the pigment. Brushing powder into the inner corners of your eyes causes them to look fake. Instead, focus the powder from the beginning of your arch to the end of your brow. Then, using a brow brush, blend the existing pigment into the inner corner for a more natural look.

Mix your colors. The best way to get a natural look is to blend your colors. Use the darker shade in a thinner line along the center hairs of your brows. Then blend the lighter shade out from the center of your brows to the ends. This will ensure you'll always look natural.

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A Facial With Benefits

Book the Energy Lift Facial, the latest addition to the menu at Ling, and you know immediately upon entering the treatment room that you’re in for an entirely different kind of experience. Clue number one: my aesthetician, Michiko (whom I highly recommend), instructs me to position myself on the treatment bed, facing down (a strange request for a facial), with my back left bare. She says that she is going to work on releasing all the tension in my back before focusing on my face. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. But this is no run-of-the-mill massage; instead, Michiko uses the treatment’s titular Energy Lift contraption, a heated machine embedded with tourmaline, a potent energy-producing crystal with proven detoxifying abilities. It feels like a warm, polished stone being run up and down my spine and around my neck and shoulders. Michiko explains that the heated tourmaline therapy is designed to aid in lymphatic drainage and to help open up your meridian points to allow for proper movement of chi (energy). Terrific, I think momentarily, before returning to my state of drooling bliss.

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Once it’s time for me to face forward, I’m basically putty in her very capable hands. She cleanses my extremely dehydrated skin and then layers on a trio of peels—glycolic, then papaya enzyme, then an acid-free rescue variety—to suck up any dirt and impurities. Then—groan, grumble—it’s extraction time; considering the fact that I’d subjected my complexion to a few different climates, a lot of plane travel, and zero exfoliation in the weeks prior, Michiko has her work cut out for her. After a meticulous excavation, she paints on a soothing clay mask, then a ginseng herbal moisturizing mask to placate any inflammation. (A side note: Michiko suggests, wisely, that in the following week I sleep for a few nights with their Replenishing Serum and Ginseng mask layered on to get my skin back into shape. I oblige and am feeling—well, my skin at least—much more balanced.) Next, the same heated-tourmaline therapy used on my back is now applied to my face, to energize and lift my skin, before Michiko launches into a nimble-fingered facial massage. The facial is dubbed Energy Lift, and although your complexion will definitely leave Ling looking glow-y and invigorated, you will likely be in a state of deep relax.

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Joseph Fetes Twenty-Five

Twenty-five years after the opening of its flagship on London’s Fulham Road, Joseph is finally staging its first runway presentation on London Fashion Week’s official schedule. Next week’s presentation just one component of the quarter-century birthday celebration—another crucial part is the launch of a capsule collection that fetes all things Joseph. With contributions from six designers, the range will be available at the Fulham Road store starting February 15.

Balmain, Jil Sander, Giles Deacon, Jonathan Saunders, Rupert Sanderson, and Joseph creative director Louise Trotter all hit the drawing board to create limited-edition pieces, which debut exclusively here. “We wanted to focus on designers both past and present that reflect the Joseph ethos,” Trotter said, explaining how the company whittled down the list to six, she included. “Everyone was thrilled to be asked, and thankfully most people could make the time!”

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The designers also fell into line when it came to conveying the ethos of the brand. “The guiding spirit behind each piece came from the Joseph DNA: black and white. My idea of the leather tote began with one of our most iconic pieces—the stripe carrier bag,” explained Trotter. Also included in the mix are a black-and-white dress from Jonathan Saunders, a crisp white clutch from Jil Sander, and a roaring lion’s head from Balmain.

Fashion is a notoriously unforgiving business—consider each fashion year like a dog year, so for Joseph to hit twenty-five is a watershed moment that few retailers have achieved. How does Trotter account for the popularity, never mind longevity, of the brand, given the crowded retail market? “Joseph [Ettedgui, the founder] himself was a curator of new talent. His taste and spirit are still evident in the combination of designers we offer and the unique way we buy and showcase our collections,” she said of the vision of the charismatic Ettedgui, who died in 2010. “The basic principles that Joseph set out from the beginning, which are the perfect wardrobe essentials translated into luxury fabrics, is still as relevant today as when he started. We have tried to stay true to his philosophy whilst looking forward.”

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Ballet Russes Beauty, Backstage at Diane von Furstenberg

The ballerina at Diane von Furstenberg was not your typical perfectly coiffed bun head. Instead, “a dancer in rehearsal, not performance,” inspired the undone chignons crafted by Orlando Pita. After pulling the hair into a ponytail at the center of the head, the mane master spritzed a teasing brush with BioSilk Firm Hold Finishing Spray before dragging it vertically from forehead to elastic, making it appear as if the models had raked their strands back using just their fingers. After he coiled and pinned the tail in place, he strategically undid it for a soft, imperfect finish.

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Makeup artist James Kaliardos noted the Ballet Russes and refugees leaving the mother country “to embark on a creative life.” He employed techniques normally used by dancers onstage, such as contouring the sides of the face with various tones of concealer and brightening the eyes by rimming the lower waterline with MAC Cosmetics’ forthcoming Technokohl liner in Nude. Wanting a “glossy taupe” shade for the lids, Kaliardos mixed Grey Matter, a cream shade from the Fall 2014 Trend Palette, and Dusty Mauve, a hue from the season’s lip palette. He topped it off with Gloss Crème Brilliance for additional sheen and coated the top lashes with Haute & Naughty mascara. “You know when you see those girls from ballet school and they just look like ballerinas even though they don’t have makeup on? This is what we’re doing,” Kaliardos explained. With all the lithe models milling about backstage, it was almost as if they were waiting for their curtain call instead of your standard catwalk.

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What to Do When You Hate Your New Hair Color

Kim Kardashian and "relatable" don't exactly go hand in hand, but when she tweeted about being "so annoyed" that she'd dyed her hair dark? I felt her pain. (In the last three years, I've gone from brown to blonde to reddish and back to brown—with more than a few second thoughts.) Here's what I learned to do when I hated my dye job:

Speak up. The first time I hated my color, I left the salon mute. When I finally mustered the courage to book a corrective appointment three days later, my colorist wasn't upset that I wanted a change—he was frustrated that I'd waited to tell him. He could have fixed it before I left the first time. "Your color isn't done until you're happy with it," he told me. I've never forgotten that.

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Change your makeup. Every celebrity I've interviewed says she's had to adjust her makeup after a major hair-color change. New brunettes might find they need to go heavier on the blush to keep themselves from looking washed out (Olivia Wilde bumped up her cheek color when she went dark). And depending on their skin tone, blondes might need to soften their eye shadow or lipstick shade. Either way, you'll need to experiment a little to get it right.

Consider your hairstyle. When I got ombré highlights, I couldn't stand the way my hair looked blown out straight. But when I curled it or let it dry naturally: sun-kissed perfection. Make sure you tell your colorist how you like to wear your hair, so she can give you color that matches your style.

Get glazed. Glazes aren't just for shine—they're also amazing color correctors (and much, much cheaper than another dye job). Colorist Kim Vo told me that every one of his celebrity clients gets one before the Oscars, and for good reason: They eliminate brassiness, boost golden tones, and can even deposit just the right amount of semi-permanent brown or red to get you through until your next appointment.

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