Gwen Stefani’s Makeup Artist Defends Her 2016 BBMAs Look
Gwen Stefani barely looked like herself at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. The No Doubt front woman ditched her flirty lashes, red lipstick, and eyeliner for the natural makeup look.
Stefani made her appearance on stage to perform her duet with boyfriend Blake Shelton. At the live televised event, she was seen wearing a nude lip, naked eye, and bold eyebrows. Stefani topped off her look with soft waves in her platinum blonde hair and a nude bejeweled evening gown.
The singer herself has not responded to the comments about her new look. Fans have been wondering if Gwen will stick to this new natural look. The person behind Gwen’s new look, celebrity makeup artist Gregory Arlt is defending Gwen’s 2016 BBMAs look, and says that she’s just having fun and experimenting. He took to his Facebook page to call out her haters.
“Well, the armchair warriors out there in social media land had some very strong opinions about this makeup look I did on Gwen for the Billboard Awards. It’s basically what we’ve always been doing, just no upper liner or false lashes (and yes, a pale lip as opposed to a color). You’d think I sent her out with tinted moisturizer and Chapstick from what people were saying!”
He continued on, explaining why Stefani is his perfect beauty muse.
“Gwen is the ultimate Barbie head — we love experimenting and trying new things; sometimes subtle (Ooh! A pink lip! Ahh! Lining her eyes with shadow instead of liquid!) and sometimes dramatic (I bleached her eyebrows for the ‘Push And Shove’ video and sent her out onstage for the awards performance with a nude, pared down [’90s] supermodel, sun-kissed look).”
Four years ago, Stefani’s hairstylist, Danilo, suggested that she should use Arlt when it comes to her makeup. He’s worked on her looks on episodes of The Voice, at red carpet events, and on her third solo album, This is What the Truth Feels Like. Arlt previously spoke to Billboard (via the Hollywood Reporter) about Stefani’s new “flirty and feminine” look and how her fans can achieve her signature red lip.
When asked if her new relationship has influenced her new look, he remained coy with his answer and said the pop star wanted to reflect her newfound happiness.
“Well, it’s interesting because whenever someone is in a really exciting place in their life, you just want to kind of show it. And with a new love and new music, and she’s feeling very flirty and feminine, and we just went with it. She’s just so happy right now and is willing to try and do fun things, like an orange or a pale lip, both of which are very ’60s-inspired and lighter, flirtier and happier.”
There have been rumors that Blake Shelton loves Gwen Stefani to wear less makeup. The “Misery” singer sent Shelton a no-makeup selfie and then shared it on social media, shortly after he gave her his approval, according to her interview with People magazine.
“I was just like laying there, I just got in bed and I was like, Maybe I’ll send a picture to Blake. You just start doing like fooling around with it. I had actually a new camera on my phone and I just took that picture. I probably took about 10 and that one looked cute and I was like I’ll just post it.”
What are your thoughts on Gwen Stefani’s natural makeup look at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards? Sound off below in the comments section.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
