The campaign for the fragrance, Love is Heavenly, features Erin Heatherton, Lindsay Ellingson, and Toni Garrn with flowers in their hair and minimal makeup. The look for the event was similarly minimal. "It's fresh and light and pretty," said Victoria's Secret makeup artist Meredith Baraf. "There's a little happiness in the cheeks, some highlighter on the brow bone, soft color on the eyes, and lots of mascara." I was expecting strips of false lashes and caked on foundation, but the reality was much more approachable. In fact, the models had such gorgeous skin that they needed little more than some VS Pro Airbrush FX Face Primer and a few dabs of tinted moisturizer. (At this point, my jealousy was starting to peak.)
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The hairstylists don't use a ton of products
I imagined the room would be engulfed in a cloud of hairspray, but that wasn't the case at all. "The hair should be full and sexy, but also soft and touchable," said Victoria's Secret hairstylist Yusef Williams. "There's nothing sexy about hard hair." The main product they used on all of the models is one of my favorites: dry shampoo. All the hairstylists used Victoria's Secret So Sexy Style Clean & Go Dry Shampoo, $14, to create volume. "It swells the hair," explained Victoria's Secret hairstylist Nicole Blais. "Then all you have to do is curl it with a medium-to-large barrel curling iron."
While the result was gorgeous as always, it was fascinating to discover that Heatherton has fine hair like my own. (OK, feeling a little better about myself.) She wasn't wearing extensions, so in order to get as much lift as possible Yusef set the top sections into pin curls until the hair cooled.
I can't stand Victoria's Secret models. They're tall, thin, tan, and -- unlike most other models -- they're seriously sexy. It's impossible not to be jealous. I had the opportunity to bring my husband (then boyfriend) to the VS fashion show a few years ago, and I didn't leave him alone for a second. I was afraid one of those gorgeous creatures would blink in his direction and he'd never recover.
So when I was invited to go behind the scenes before the launch event for the new Victoria's Secret fragrance, Dream Angels Love is Heavenly Eau de Parfum, $52, I was thrilled. I thought I'd finally get to pull back the curtain and see what the Angels really look like -- without hours of hair and makeup, spray tans, diamond-encrusted lingerie, and gigantic wings.
You see, I generally find models underwhelming before the beauty teams get their hands on them. I've gone backstage at New York Fashion Week for more seasons than I can count, and the way I get through it without feeling horrible about myself (because of the tall/thin thing) is to focus on the negative. It sounds kind of sad, but the models' cellulite and acne makes them more human -- more likeable.
Even though Erin Heatherton and Lindsay Ellingson are Angels of the Victoria's Secret variety, I hoped that meeting them in person would reveal that they're not actually celestial beings. Wouldn't it be reassuring if they turned out to be regular women with problems just like the rest of us? All I'll say now is that I'm still in awe of these women, but significantly less intimidated. Read on to see why.
