Dior's Guide to the Deconstructed Eye

The set for Dior’s Fall/Winter 2023 show was fantastical. Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos constructed what appeared to be a gigantic, illuminated spider with colorful, organic bulbs suspended about 15 feet in the air. “It’s an explosion of light and color…The set is really beautiful and very colorful, so we wanted to do a look where the girls don’t disappear,” says makeup artist Peter Philips when explaining the inspiration behind the striking, deconstructed eye look he created for the show.

Deconstruction was one of the main concepts behind the clothes in the collection. (“There are a lot of amazing takes on the hourglass figure,” says Philips.) To capture a nostalgic mood while also complimenting the designs on the runway, Philips decided to create a deconstructed eye look that was somewhere between a smokey eye and eyeliner. Color-wise, black was the best option to avoid clashing with the set.

model on the runway at Dior's FW 23 show

For a bare and luminous base, Philips prepped the models with Glow Primer before going in with Glow Finish Foundation. If more coverage was needed, he added a few dabs of Skin Correct Concealer. For the eyes, Philips applied a bit of Diorshow 24H Stylo in Matte Black to the inner and outer corners before using the brush on the opposite end of the pencil to stamp in the pigment. Then, he took a brush, tapped on 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette in Black Bow, and pressed the dark hue into the center of the inner and outer corners of the eye. “I didn’t fade it out or else it would turn into a smokey eye,” Philips explains. “We wanted to keep it a little more raw.” In keeping with the more unrefined look, Philips chose to skip mascara to prevent the models from looking too sensual. He was aiming for a strong look with a hint of sadness. “It was delicate to find the right balance,” says Philips.

Additionally, the backdrop of the show influenced Philips decision to skip contour and highlight. “Because there’s so much light on set, there [are] shadows and light coming from everywhere. You don’t want to clash a drawn-on shadow with a moving shadow because visually, it doesn’t read well,” he elaborates. Things were kept simple on the lips, as well. A bit of Lip Sugar Scrub was used to get rid of dead skin before coating the lips with Rouge Dior Lip Balm. To keep the luminous complexions from skewing too oily, Philips finished things off by using a brush to press the newly launched Blotting Papers onto the skin.

Philip’s bold and memorable eye look contrasted beautifully with Grazia Chiuri’s more feminine pieces—which included pencil midis, printed tees, and floral cocktail dress—while still remaining aligned with the overall vision for the show.