The past season of The Crown revealed Emma Corrin to be a marvel of transformation, slipping into Lady Diana Spencer’s teenage coveralls and feathered bangs with uncanny ease. That chameleonic sense has earned the actor heaps of praise, including a nomination at tonight’s Screen Actors Guild Awards. It’s also revealed her to be a clever interpreter of red-carpet style. In February, Corrin claimed a Golden Globe in a custom Pierrot-inspired look by Miu Miu, complete with a clownish ruff and requisite teardrop. Last month, for her Critics Choice win, she paired a ribcage-baring Schiaparelli couture gown with hair inspired by baby-faced Leonardo DiCaprio.
“The thing with Emma is she loves playing dress-up, but she almost likes to be the character,” hairstylist Daniel Martin said from London earlier this week. This being an unusual awards season, Corrin’s team assembled on Wednesday to film a pre-taped portion for tonight’s broadcast. It was the actor’s usual tight crew—stylist Harry Lambert, makeup artist Florrie White, and Martin—and the starting point was a Prada dress that tapped into this spirit of collaged-together personas. The center panel’s gray satin and lace gives the feel of a 1920s nightgown; French blue sleeves have the sturdiness of men’s shirting offset by embroidered diamantés. Below the waist, a mohair apron pleated like a Scottish kilt is paired with heavy-tread boots. “It just felt like so many different elements coming together,” White said of the directive to keep the beauty raw and clean. But that, of course, left room to play.
“The past six months is all about boys,” Martin said of Corrin’s recent inspirations. “She wants to be Leonardo DiCaprio, or she wants to be Brad Pitt, or she wants to be David Beckham—generally those strong male influences from the ’90s. Her hair goes that way, and she gets into that character.” For tonight’s SAG Awards, the directive was a center-parted curtain, showing off Corrin’s freshly lightened shade of blonde. The first step was a good wash, followed by a handful of Sisley’s new La Crème 230, a heat-protectant serum from the Hair Rituel collection. “Her hair is not damaged, but I want to look after it because we’re going to keep on bleaching it,” Martin said, explaining that he used a bit more than expected for extra weight, so “it’s not fresh, flyaway hair.” He then blow-dried it with a slight bevel, using Sisley’s round bristle brush, followed by a piping-hot flat iron to squeeze out excess volume. A final hit of hair oil on the ends lent a finishing shine. “She’s played a bit of football, and the hair’s a little bit sweaty and is just sitting in the right place,” he said, setting that young Beckham mood.
White’s inspiration was a similar take on carefree youth, exemplified by flushed, clean skin. The makeup artist began by layering Sisley’s Black Rose cream with two drops of the accompanying oil, massaging it into Corrin’s skin for a circulation boost. “The scent of the Precious Oil calms her down immediately,” added White, who even dabs it on her own pulse points to further that olfactory cloud while she’s working. In lieu of foundation, the makeup artist went for deft touches of concealer, using the Phyto-Cernes Eclat formula and the Stylo Lumière brightening pen; over top, a hit of warm cream blush heightened Corrin’s natural flush.
Lambert’s vision for the makeup might have been understated, but White navigated the subtleties. Lashes went uncurled, with an elongating mascara serving as an architectural detail. Kohl eyeliner in a pearlescent finish rimmed the waterline. For the eye shadow, White took a cue from Prada’s illustrated sketch of the look, where the lids suggested the barest pale peach. “I wanted it to look like a reflection of light, maybe as the sun is going down,” the makeup artist said of the iridescent effect she created with a pair of shades: Silky Sky brightening the inner corners; a warm coral dusting the crease. “It’s not doing the classic smoky eye paint-by-numbers,” said White, alluding to the overall slip from convention. “It’s an emotion.”
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