Lupita Nyong’o Wore the Most Futuristic Hair and Makeup to the Us Premiere at SXSW

Marci Robin

Cancel the rest of 2019 — Lupita Nyong'o just served up the most creative red-carpet beauty look of the year, and it's hard to imagine it will be surpassed. The Oscar-winning actor arrived at the world premiere of her latest film, Jordan Peele's Us, and the SXSW festival in Austin more or less stopped in its tracks to gawk at her gorgeous edginess. To learn how she arrived at the look, Allure spoke to with Nyong'o's makeup artist, Nick Barose, who relied entirely on Lancôme products.

“The look is inspired by the fierce '80s music videos from artists like Annie Lennox, Grace Jones, and Daryl Hannah when she was total badass and wore a similar look for her character, Pris, in the original Blade Runner,” Barose tells Allure. “It’s a fun, powerful makeup look that’s perfect for the '80s-attitude revival we are seeing in fashion. And when you’re running strokes of bold colors across the eyes like that, it evokes that fierce warrior attitude as well."

<cite class="credit">Nick Barose</cite>
Nick Barose

As for creating the across-the-eyes effect, Barose layered several shades of red, orange, and copper on top of each other. "Red with a bit of gold complements Lupita’s dark skin, which already has red in it, but you can also do this in any bold colors," he says, noting that it would look amazing in metallic navy, forest green, fuchsia, and more. In this case, however, he used a flat brush to apply Le Monochromatique in French Affair on top of Ombre Hypnôse Stylo Shadow Stick in Quartz Rose, followed by a bit of bright red lipstick to really enhance the color. "The trick is to start by applying the color on lids and wing it out a bit. Do both eyes first as if you’re doing a regular smoky eye, then connect the color at the forehead," Barose advises.

The next step was adding Drama Liqui-Pencil in Noir Intense on on the upper lash lines and water line, winged out on the outer corners. Barose then applied two coats of Hypnôse Doll Lashes Mascara in Black to Nyong'o's lashes.

<cite class="credit">Nick Barose</cite>
Nick Barose

"To play up the lips but ensure the eyes stand out more, I skipped a bright red and opted for a muted oxblood-tone lipstick," Barose tells Allure. Specifically, he went with Color Design Sensational Effects Lipstick in Bow & Arrow. “Since the colors are already bold on eyes and lips, I kept the cheeks bare and skipped the blush." Instead, he gave Nyong'o a little more glow with Teint Idole Ultra Custom Highlighting Drops in Bronze Glow on just her cheekbones.

<cite class="credit">Nick Barose</cite>
Nick Barose

“It’s not for everyone and every day, but it works well with a lot of the strong-shouldered power suits we are seeing a lot," Barose says.

And clearly, it also works well with the entirely unexpected and innovative hair look that stylist Vernon François dreamed up for Nyong'o's premiere look. Inspired by Snoop Dogg, he created a crown of none other than the metal duckbill clips typically reserved for the styling process, not the finished look. And yet — just like the makeup — the result is futurist, imaginative, and 100 percent trendsetting.

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