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When celebrity makeup artist Joanna Simkin was looking for makeup inspiration for Issa Rae's Barbie press tour, she noticed that the iconic dolls all had one common aesthetic feature that connects them all together: their makeup. She, along with hairstylist Felicia Leatherwood, stylist Wouri Vice, and designer Marc Bouwer, leaned into what Simkin is calling the "Barbie Doll Face."
"I didn’t choose a specific Barbie doll for inspiration [for Issa's premiere look], but rather looked through tons of my daughters Barbie’s and found a pretty common thread for the makeup: a matte lid with a cut pink crease, an angled black wing, and visible lash," Simkin tells InStyle. "So, my inspo pic was literally a Barbie doll face and I just asked the team to bear with me as I explained it."
So rather than emulating one specific Barbie doll, Rae glam's squad played up the pink and doll-like theme for Rae's look — especially for Sunday night's premiere. There is no better star to be creative with than Rae, who Simkin says is game for pretty much anything. "Issa is so fun to work with," says Simkin. "Basically, anything I pitch will get an 'I’m down to try it and see' [from Rae]. I shared all of my Barbie premiere ideas with her, and she loved them."
Rae's look incorporated the classic Barbie pink matte shadow and winged liner with her own signature look of glowing skin and a feathery lash. To get that signature glow, Simkin used a mix of Danessa Myricks' Balm Contour and Vision Color Blush in Ballet Slipper and Tower 28 Bronzino Illuminating Cream Bronzer in West Coast. When it came to the eyes, it was all about playing up the pink shades to make Rae's eyes really pop.
"I love pink, especially against Issa’s complexion, so this entire press tour has been a dream," says Simkin. "I de-potted eyeshadows and created entire pink palettes just for this summer." Her go-tos include the Juvia's Place Sweet Pinks Eyeshadow Palette, which she swept onto the crease and M.A.C. Cosmetics Eye Shadow in Royal Rendezvous.
To finish the look off, she lined Rae's eyes with the Pat McGrath Perma Precision Liquid Eyeliner before adding on the Eylure London Luxe Silk in Marquis for extra definition. "I wanted the eyes to have a doll-like angle, I chose a lash with a lot of dimension," she says. "The Eylure London Marquis style was perfect, and I trimmed the end to fit her eye then pre-curled them using a lash curler to fan them out even more. [Then, I] applied a full coat of Eylure London Lash Adhesive and let it get tacky for about 45 seconds, then subtly angled the outer corner up into the lash line for even more lift."
As anyone could've correctly predicted, it's a party when Rae and her glam team get ready for premieres. Simkin says that Rae is the resident DJ behind the scenes, playing Drake, Beyoncé, and Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice's "Barbie World" in the background.
When thinking of what future looks will entail for the rest of the press tour, the possibilities are endless, as everyone has a favorite Barbie story to tell. "My favorite Barbie was Day To Night Barbie, so I almost lost my mind when Margot Robbie did the look on the Korean leg of the press tour," says Simkin. "Ironically, Issa’s favorite Barbie story is about her terrorizing her sister’s MySize Barbie as a child, so we always laugh about that," she says. "Maybe we should try to recreate that look for one of our press stops." Time will tell...
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