Kylie Jenner's Cover Shoot Will Live Rent-Free in My Head Forever—Here Are the BTS Beauty Secrets
Straight from her makeup artist and hairstylist.
"Versatility" could be Kylie Jenner's middle name. From her multi-hyphenate career status to her chameleonlike approach to beauty and fashion, there's nothing, it would seem, that Jenner can't do. Unsurprisingly, the star's creative and confident spirit was displayed front and center for our August cover shoot, which dripped with Schiaparelli earrings and a truly amazing Saint Laurent ring. There was plenty of gorgeous beauty inspiration as well. To celebrate, we're spotlighting Jenner's amazing glam team and everything that went down behind the scenes below.
It wouldn't be a true Kylie Jenner cover shoot without a subtle nod to her iconic King Kylie era, and what could be more nostalgic than ultra-blue hair? Jenner's hairstylist, Iggy Rosales, says the super-bright-blue wig moment was all about having fun with color and creating something bold and poppy. To create the wig's voluminous and wonderfully undone bob shape, Rosales made sure to constantly blast it with wind so the strands never fell too perfectly or appeared too precious. In fact, when I asked Rosales to share the most essential products he brings along with him on set, he credits said wind machine (or his leaf blower), a really good wig, and his assistant Kennedy. "Not a product and unfortunately not available at Sephora," he laughs.
As far as Rosales's inspiration for all of Jenner's hair looks on set, he credits photographer Aidan Zamiri and his unique approach to shooting. "He works across so many different formats, from film and digital to point-and-shoot cameras, and each one captures hair and movement differently," he explains. "I wanted the hair to have enough personality that it could almost change depending on how he photographed it." Regardless of which hair look Jenner wore, Rosales wanted to create a special kind of looseness that would suit Zamiri's style of work.
If you were on set that day, you'd also notice a lot of experimentation and play. "Alexandra and Mackenzie Grandquist were styling, [Ariel Tejada] was on makeup, and Zola Ganzorigt was on nails," says Rosales. "We'd see what Kylie was wearing, what Ariel was doing, what Zola was doing, what Aidan was seeing through whichever camera he'd picked up, and then we'd start messing around with the hair. Pigtails on, pigtails slightly destroyed, blue wig on, wind machine, blue wig off, hair out, more wind. If it worked, great. If it didn't, there was always another wig."
Despite the variety of looks Rosales created for Jenner, he confesses that the star's "undone little pigtails" were his favorite. "We blow-dried Kylie's hair into a soft, polished wave, gathered it into two pigtails, and then loosened everything up," he tells me. "We wanted them to feel effortless, with lots of movement, almost like they were naturally falling apart after being caught in the wind."
For makeup, Tejada wanted to make sure Jenner first and foremost felt like herself. "We added a slightly deeper waterline to define and bring out her eyes while keeping the complexion relatively light and fresh so her natural skin could really come through. It was all about enhancing her features rather than overpowering them," Tejada tells me.
"Aidan and his entire team had such great energy during this shoot," compliments Rosales. "Everyone on set—Kylie included—just had fun with it. Those are always my favorite experiences as an artist, when it doesn't feel like there's all this pressure to get one very specific thing. I think that's when I'm having the most fun creatively, when everyone is throwing ideas around, and nobody is too precious about anything. I think that energy always translates to the final photos."
"We definitely all collaborate as a team," Tejada agrees. "Kylie really does enjoy being part of the creative process, so we all bring our own ideas and touches to create the final look together. I love working that way because, ultimately, I always want my clients to feel confident, comfortable, and like themselves."
