How to Live like Lana Del Rey

By Uloop Contributor on April 21, 2013

Elizabeth (Lizzy) Woolridge Grant, or as we all call her, Lana Del Rey, describes herself as a “self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra.” She describes her music style in various ways; “movie music,” lounge, 50′s and 60′s Americana, “Hollywood sadcore,” “Hawaiian glam metal,” etc. She has had many stage names before, one being Lizzy Grant, another Lana Rey Del Mar, as well as Sparkle Jump Rope Queen and May Jailer, before finally settling down with LDR because she found it the most beautiful. And beautiful she most certainly is (though there are theories that her beauty is not all natural.)

If you want to gain some inspiration from the way Lana Del Rey just is — hair, makeup, style, essence — then look no further for the how-to’s to do just that.

 

The Hair. 

Her iconic retro and modern mixed hairstyle can be easily imitated with some work at home. As provided in Vogue, here’s a step-by-step process to get her 50′s waves (by Luke Henderson):

(Suggested: You’ll need L’Oréal Professionnel Tecni Art Hot Style Constructor, Elnett Hairspray and the Daniel Hersheson Waving Tongs.)

1. Dry off the hair and brush it through.

2. Separate it into sections approximately one inch wide by one inch deep, ensuring they’re even all over the head.

3. Use the curling iron on top of the hair rather than under it. This look isn’t so much about volume, it’s about the wave.

4. Twist and wrap each section of hair around the tongs, making sure you get the ends in.

5. Hold each section of hair in the tongs until it “cooks” – you’ll feel the

heat on the hair. Then release and let the hair set.

6. Take a vent brush and brush through the hair. It’s really important it’s a vent brush when brushing out a tonged curl as it has holes so won’t make the style drop as it would if you used a bristle brush. Voila! You’ll be left with a Fifties wave. Put in some Elnett spray and a little serum and keep brushing so that more of a wave forms.

The Makeup.

For her hypnotic 60′s makeup style, GraziaDaily have got us covered. (A video example.)

1. Lana is very pale, so choose a foundation that corresponds to your skin tone and that won’t add any extra bronze or colour. Work it into the skin to even out the tone and give a photo ready finish.

2. Lana has dark, defined and straight brows. Create this shape using a brown eyeshadow and an angled brush.

3. For the eyeshadow, start with a matte base and dust it all over the eyelid. Lana often has a strong contour through her crease so take a matte brown shadow and blend this into the crease with a fluffy blending brush.

4. Liner is really important to a Lana look. Use a gel liner and a brush and line the top lash line, getting thicker as you work. Finish this off with a flick at the side and join it up to the rest of the liner. After this, run a black eyeshadow underneath the eye for extra definition and you can also run a light kohl colour across the waterline for extra brightness.

5. Coat the lashes with lots of mascara and for a more dramatic look, you could apply false lashes as Lana’s lashes are always amazing.

6. Contour is another important part of a Lana look as she has strong and beautiful cheekbones. Use a contour powder or matte bronzer to create shape and definition.

7. For this particular look, I used a nude lip colour but Lana is often seen sporting red too. Blankety by MAC is a perfect nude. Simply run this across the lips and blot it in with your fingers. Lana look complete!

 

The Fashion.

As for style, she’s quite associated with that retro American 50′s/60′s era mode, on one side with florals and sophisticated glam and the other with the casual American gal. These Tumblr and Polyvore sites should give you a good visual idea of how exactly she likes to dress, but for a DIY project inspired by LDR fashion, here’s this tutorial on Floral Sunglasses you should check out.

If you have any other cool tutorials for accessories, clothes, or the general style of LDR, leave suggestions or comments.

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