According to Dior, the Makeup Look for Spring Is Natural Radiance

In the backstage buzz before the start of Dior’s ready-to-wear runway show at Tuileries Garden in Paris last month, Peter Philips was orchestrating a small army of makeup artists, each working on a model. Among the bustle, one beauty element in particular stood out: the colour pink.

Philips, Dior makeup creative and image director, has been working with the maison on countless product creations and beauty looks since 2014, and has a special respect for the elegance of femininity. Even so, he isn’t afraid to experiment or add an edge when the time is right. And for this fashion season, fall/winter 2024, the time was just right. “The pink has nothing to do with the show. There’s no pink in this collection,” Philips states, fresh from a rehearsal that he described as a bit of chaos. “I thought it was nice to bring this rose petal effect on the corner of the eye. It’s not perfect—like things in nature, little imperfections make it even more beautiful.”

There is a kind of magic to makeup’s transformative ability, and Philips is the industry’s most deft practitioner. “Makeup should not always be a logical reference. The pink is like a raw, uncontrolled mistake, and what makes it beautiful is that it is not perfectly symmetrical. It is spontaneous, a little organic touch,” he states. The vivid raspberry colour was achieved by pressing pigment on the inner corners of the eyes with a sponge application and blending it out with a brush and Q-tip. Eyebrows were tidied with Diorshow Brow Styler and Diorshow On Set Brow.

Often, at shows, you see exaggerated interpretations of makeup that translate as spectacle on the catwalk. “Those catwalk looks won’t necessarily get you a date,” says Philips referencing the bleached eyebrow phase of a few years back. “It will get you a cover,” he deadpans. In the case of Dior, and at the core of Philips’s artistry, is a game of seduction.

Philips is known to realize a natural look for Maria Grazia Chiuri’s runway collections, prioritizing an ethereal, all-over skin glow with a focus on the eyes (this time pink, but often black liner). After prepping models’ complexions with the brand’s Capture Totale Le Sérum and Capture Totale Hyalushot, Dior’s Forever Glow Star Filter was applied as primer. Skin was perfected using a combination of Forever Skin Glow and Forever Skin Correct. Lips were accentuated with Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil 000 Universal Clear.

With spring upon us, Philips is resolute about the power of glow and luminosity. “Whether it’s a glossy glow or a pearlescent glow, it really makes you radiant. It’s like you turn on the light on the inside and that’s something people are starting to master, the skill on how to play with glow,” he says. Ever the artist, he adds, “and then add your own little thing like maybe a little mistake on the eye or a colour on your lip. Play with how you want to express yourself.”