Think beauty icon, and chances are Brigitte Bardot comes to mind. Few other celebrities of the past century have enjoyed the same level of enduring hair and makeup influence as Madame Bardot. Referenced backstage at least once every fashion month (such as at the recent Diane Von Furstenberg show), the French actress-turned-animal-activist’s trademark bedhead blonde locks, pouty peach lips and slinky black eye makeup are now style classics. So how better to celebrate the birthday girl this weekend – she turns 80 this Sunday – than to lure out some BB-inspired bombshell beauty of our own…
1. Style half-up hair. It’s the perfect way to add height up top (which makes a face look more perky and petite, as all big hair lovers know) without taking away the flirty femininity of long hair. Best on second-day hair, or a blow-dry worked through with texturiser, lightly tease the top half of hair with a natural bristle brush, then either pin it up, leaving a mini ponytail at the back of your head, or twist the ends into a bun. Optional extra: add a flower.
2. Next, mess it up. Nobody did bedhead as well as BB. The day after you’ve worked the aforementioned half-up coiffure, let it all down and simply leave it that way, give or take a shake of the head or two. The product and teasing from the previous day will give you all the extra va-voomy volume you need, and it will have that raunchy rumpled look that French women do so well.
3. Perfect a kittenish cat-eye. When BB dropped her beauty bombshell on the world in the 1950s, her signature eye makeup look was a flirty little flick of black liner. If you haven’t yet perfected the art of the cat-eye, buy yourself a black gel liner and a slanted liner brush, and start by drawing a little wing from the outer corners of eyes, up towards the end of brows. Next, swoosh some more black along the lashline, from the outer towards inner corners, and go over both lines once more so they merge as one. Good to know: practice makes perfect.
4. Failing that, smoke it all up. If you just can’t get your wrist action happening for a cat-eye look, no matter. Make like BB in the 1960s and go for a traditional smoky eye. The easiest way: line around eyes with a black pencil, smudging it to soften the effect, then layer a creamy eye colour in a charcoal shade over lids, and blend and blur it out with your fingertips. The finishing touch: loads of mascara.
5. Paint your pout in peachy lipstick. BB knew that the best way to play up that impressive pout of hers was to always wear pale shades of lipstick. Peach always looked the sexiest, because it was fleshy without being so pale as to wash out her complexion. It also, of course, keeps the focus on your sexy eye makeup. Try M.A.C Lipstick in Peachstock, $36, M.A.C.
6. Wear Guerlain Jicky. This was said to be Bardot’s most beloved perfume. Considered one of the first modern fragrances, for its use of synthetic ingredients, it’s quite a complex formulation, and so unlike many modern scents, with their fresh, fruity, floral tendencies. Technically a unisex scent, Jicky is both a little sweet (lavender) and sharp (citrus), but it settles into a base of vanilla and musky animalic notes, which make for a warm, fleshy, slightly naughty feel. We’d expect nothing less from such a sex kitten as Brigitte Bardot.
7. Wear sunscreen. Sure, an 80-year-old BB is the poster girl for what happens if you have too much fun in the Saint-Tropez sun. But let’s not hold it against her – nobody knew the real dangers of sun exposure back then. Nevertheless, as we come into spring/summer, with its soaring UV index, it’s a timely reminder to stock up on a fresh new batch of SPF50 suncare for the season. As well as remember that ageing is a part of life; BB’s refusal to submit to plastic surgery is refreshing in a world where most celebrities feel pressured to start Botox in their twenties.
Tell us, Primpers, do you love BB’s beauty style?
Who’s your beauty icon?
Kat x