Allure, the first and only magazine devoted to beauty, is an insider's guide to a woman's total image. Allure investigates and celebrates beauty and fashion with objectivity and candor, and places appearance in a larger cultural context.
THE YEAR’S BEST BEAUTY LOOKS It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Sure, there are the holidays, but we also get to reminisce about the standout moments of the past 12 months. For starters: Chrissy Teigen’s polished waves at the Oscars, Joan Smalls’s eggplant eye shadow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala, and Taraji P. Henson’s sleek bob at the Emmys. For 2015’s most stunning beauty looks, go to allure.com/best-beauty-moments. GORGEOUS GIFTS UNDER $50 Is it better to give or receive—or both? For gift ideas, like this Bobbi Brown Rich Caramel Eye Palette, go to allure.com/gift-guide. These picks are all under $50, so you can feel free to snap up some loot for yourself, too. (We won’t tell.) Holiday Hair and Makeup When it’s time to…
SEBASTIAN KIM Photographer, “Woman of Steel” and “Night Light” When did you first hear of Claire Danes? “Oh, definitely with My So-Called Life. My wife loves Romeo + Juliet. She made me watch it.” The “Night Light” shoot looked like an actual party. Was it fun? “Yes, we wanted it to look like the morning after the party—people are still partying. But the best thing about it was they had so much swanky food on set. I got to eat king crab.” What do you do when you’re not taking pictures? “Chase after two toddlers. Working is the easy part. Photography is basically my hobby.” TERRY TSIOLIS Photographer, “Glam Rock” What was the biggest challenge of capturing glam-rock beauty? “Paul [Cavaco, Allure’s creative director] and I discussed not making it…
Seeing the pages in Allure with Julia Roberts and her captivating smile and beautiful laugh lines around her eyes is breathtaking! To see the genuine joy on her face is incredible. It made me realize I need to start laughing and smiling more—it’s a testament to your joie de vivre! Thank you again for inspiring real beauty! Nia Cooper via email @Allure_magazine Julia Roberts has never looked better! :) @PalacinkaBeauty via Twitter Listening to the tunes of My Best Friend’s Wedding after being inspired by Julia’s flawless @Allure_magazine cover. <3 @StephRoseDoan via Twitter This is a photo of a very real, happy woman of her age. I love it! Good job, Allure. Maggi Byrnes via email The Bible has landed. @thirstysarah via Instagram Does anyone else read the Best of Beauty…
Guido The most in-demand, trendsetting runway hairstylist, Guido was responsible for the hair at 26 shows this season, including Oscar de la Renta and Dior. He talks spring trends in “Backstage Beauty.” Do you have any fashion week habits? “I wake up two hours before I have to be anywhere. When I was younger, I could dash out of the house. Now I have my tea, my shower, my wardrobe the night before. I can’t be rushed.” What do you do after a show? “I really need to be on my own. My idea of heaven is going back to the hotel and watching some BBC cooking show or Gardeners’ World, having a salad, and being quiet.” How has runway beauty changed over the years? “It’s a great time for…
300: Approximate number of new dresses Marie Antoinette ordered each year for her social engagements. 25: Age of Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, a socialite living in Paris, when she posed for painter John Singer Sargent. She hennaed her hair and reportedly ate arsenic wafers to make her skin more translucent. 1884: Year Portrait of Madame X was unveiled at a Paris salon; it featured Gautreau with one of her dress’s jeweled straps hanging off her shoulder as if she were undressing. Critics called it indecent, and Sargent later painted the strap back on her shoulder. 17: Age of Alice Roosevelt when she began smoking cigarettes on the White House roof. Roosevelt also gambled, stowed small whiskey bottles in her gloves at dry dinner parties, and carried a snake in her…
Hair Lesson The key to Danes’s soft, natural-looking waves? A little handiwork. After brushing through each section that he’d curled with an iron, hairstylist Teddy Charles separated pieces of hair with his fingers. 1Understatement of the year: Claire Danes is a busy woman. In the days leading up to her second Allure cover shoot, this one photographed by Sebastian Kim, the actress finished filming the fifth season of Homeland in Berlin, hopped a flight to Los Angeles, attended the Emmys as a nominee, and powered through a few press events. Still, Danes arrived early and energized for the shoot at a modern house in Beverly Hills. 2Danes swapped her suede pencil skirt and sleeveless top for a robe and hopped right into the hair and makeup chair. “Her character in…
