Every Breathtaking Beauty Detail From Our Cover Shoot

If you follow Nara Smith or have spotted her on your For You Page, you already know the fashion model has a serious range when it comes to her from-scratch kitchen creations (bubblegum! cereal! ice cream!) and the outfits she wears while preparing them. For this month’s cover shoot, Smith shows off a similar versatility, undulating between whimsical and powerful looks. Of course, there’s the fashion, but let’s not forget the beauty. From romantic pulls of Old Hollywood to high-society glamour that’s equal parts alluring and mysterious, keep scrolling for Smith’s step-by-step beauty breakdown.

Throughout the cover shoot, Smith subtly shapeshifted through a trio of makeup looks, all of which were inspired by the clothing and location. “The clothes were that of a woman who wears a different face for every occasion,” explains Chanel makeup artist Tasha Reiko Brown. “We were channeling a rich socialite or ‘mob wife energy,’ and the intensity of each look ramped up as the day went on.” According to Brown, each look needed to be differentiated yet cohesive, starting more proper and “done” and gradually becoming more sultry and exaggerated. “The differentiation came from adding more [lipstick] or changing the placement of the blush to be more severe. We wanted to escalate the overall feel without adding a ton of product. Think tiny touches that wouldn’t look garish.”

For Smith’s first look, it was all about the eyes with Brown citing Chanel’s Les 4 Ombres in Initiation ($68) as the MVP product. “All of these colors work in harmony but are on the lighter spectrum of nudes,” Brown explains. The cheeks and lips were kept fresh with a swipe of creamy, rose-hued blush, and a refined nude lip via Chanel’s Le Crayon Lèvres in Nude Brun ($35) and Rouge Coco Baume in Natural Charm ($45).

Entrepreneur and celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton had no shortage of inspiration when it came to Smith’s array of showstopping hairstyles. His inspo? Nineteen-sixties Brigitte Bardot and glamorous waves à la Old Hollywood. Appleton’s goal here was “to simply express her personality with different looks and timeless glamour.”

For Smith’s vintage-esque waves pictured above, Appleton added hair extensions that were pre-colored with Schwarzkopf’s Igora Royal formula for maximum gloss. Next came Color Wow’s Dream Cocktail Leave In Treatment ($26) and a blow-dry using Shark’s FlexStyle Hair Blow Dryer & Multi Styler ($299). “I pinned each section as I dried while also using Color Wow’s Extra Mist-ical Shine Spray ($29)—brushing and working the spray through the hair is what really creates that effortless Hollywood wave,” Appleton notes.

A sculpted complexion, sharpened gaze, and “kicked-up” lips defined Smith’s second makeup transformation. “I built on the first look by adding more definition to the eyes using Chanel’s Les 4 Ombres in Spices ($68); deeper shades of brown following the same lines along the eye as the first look,” says Brown. From there, she warmed Smith’s complexion using Chanel’s Les Beiges Soleil Tan in Deep Bronze ($60) and saturated the lips with a pull of Chanel’s Rouge Allure in Caractère ($48), a rich chestnut brown.

To create the fashion model’s ultra-chic short bob, Appleton applied Color Wow’s Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer ($26) before blowing Smith’s hair out with the same Shark FlexStyle Hair Blow Dryer & Multi Styler ($299), fastening each section into a pin curl, spraying with Color Wow’s Style on Steroids Color-Safe Texture Spray ($28) and teasing everything at the very end to provide that iconic and voluminous bombshell feel.

The final look featured gentle winged eyeliner in the same color story as the previous eye looks in addition to an even deeper shade of lush brown lipstick. Since cat eyes are notoriously tricky to master (if you’re not a professional makeup artist, that is), I asked Brown to walk me through her process and provide a few amateur-friendly tips: “Start by placing a tiny dot where you’d like the wing to end up and repeat the same on the other eye, being sure to check in the mirror to ensure both dots are symmetrical.” Starting backward, Brown explains, prevents you from going freehand and guessing on symmetry. All that’s left is to add your liner just above your lash line, guiding out to your dot.

For Smith’s Bardot-inspired hair moment, Appleton added pre-colored, high-gloss hair pieces to provide a rich, super-shiny look and feel. To style and provide extra protection from the elements in Malibu, where our November shoot took place, he reached for Color Wow’s Dream Coat Supernatural Spray Anti-Frizz Treatment ($28). “I then used Shark’s FlexStyle Hair Blow Dryer & Multi Styler ($299)—with the curl attachment—to create bouncy, voluminous curls before teasing the crown of the hair, pinning it half back, and finishing everything off with Color Wow’s Cult Favorite Firm + Flexible Hairspray ($28),” he tells me.