Marlyn Alarm is a singer from Miami, Fla., undergoing formal gender transition after living a full year living as a woman. But her struggle with identity is not a new one. “Today I was asked when I realized I was in the wrong body. As much as it took me a really long time to…
Have you ever cried in your car, or wherever, and happen to catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and notice how pretty you look? I know you have. Your eye color is suddenly translucent, cheeks are flushed, there is soft rosy halo around your lash line, and your lips…your lips deepen as blood…
Have you ever cried in your car, or wherever, and happen to catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and notice how pretty you look? I know you have. Your eye color is suddenly translucent, cheeks are flushed, there is soft rosy halo around your lash line, and your lips…your lips deepen as blood…
Wet-to-dry eye shadows need not be complicated. While it might sound like yet another technique one must master in order to navigate a makeup counter, perhaps it’s better to think of it as a two-for-one deal. Wear it dry, and you’ve got your standard dusting of color—classic and predictable (in a good way). But wet!…
Wet-to-dry eye shadows need not be complicated. While it might sound like yet another technique one must master in order to navigate a makeup counter, perhaps it’s better to think of it as a two-for-one deal. Wear it dry, and you’ve got your standard dusting of color—classic and predictable (in a good way). But wet!…
Here’s a fun thing to do: Buy a whole basket full of drugstore mascaras, dump them on a table, and stare at them through a kaleidoscope. For one, the packaging is crazy—like an explosion at the neon plastic factory, resulting in a bunch of really great, tactile pieces you can’t stop picking up and dropping in…
She’s a sun-kissed blonde, straight-across—no muss, no fuss. She came into the office wearing a red cardigan and ate Sour Patch Kids waiting for hairstylist Didier Malige to give her a haircut. Not necessarily something drastic—but something new. Spring may have arrived with a hefty dose of snow this year, but once the seasons change, it’s hard not to feel like a little personal change is in order.
Eventually Didier walks in and there’s Louise, hunched over, playing with her split ends. Maybe expecting someone with layered, voluminous head of hair ready for experimentation, instead he got the epitome of Midwest simplicity. She recently graduated with a degree in photography (eventually she plans on working as a photojournalist) and made it through the four years of school cutting her hair maybe once. Her daily routine consists of washing and leaving her hair to air dry without brushing, in hopes of keeping any waves.
“You should be a bit more wild,” Didier tells her. When she says at this stage, she already feels “too old for that now,” he responds: “Are you crazy? You haven’t even discovered life yet!” Haircuts are best served with a side of sage advice, we find.
Didier is known to be scissor happy—he’s comes from the school of hairstylists in the ’60s and ’70s who made sex hair a thing. “I’m not attracted to very neat hair. I think it’s an American thing to smooth and tame. Now, you don’t see any more pictures of models with little hairs sticking out. It’s all Photoshopped out.”
He takes Louise’s hair and begins to cut long layers at the ends with scissors. “Do you want to look?” He asks her. “No, I trust you,” Louise says. It couldn’t really be called a full-blown haircut, but rather a few stylized, strategic snips to give it more body. He then soaked Louise’s hair in L’Oréal Wild Stylers by Techni.Art Beach Waves for some matte, subtle texture. Soaked isn’t an exaggeration—he kept forewarning Louise that he was really going to wet it. Windblown effects can be attributed to hosting the photoshoot part of the gathering on the roof.
“I think I’ll keep it,” she says as she looks at the photos—just before Didier sweeps it up into a different look, this one more cockatiel cum black tie updo. Inspired by Louise’s vintage Celine secretary blouse, Didier went with the 1940s feel to create the rebellious Euro counterpart to the doughnut-ified American top-knot. It’s wild looking, but at least half of the fun comes from knowing you’ve got bangs, without actually having to get bangs. Maybe next time, Didier.
Louise Parker (The Society) wears a vintage Celine top, Isabel Marant Étoile skirt, and Saint Laurent Boots. Photographed by Tom Newton.
