Jennifer Lopez has returned from her service in après-ski style in Aspen. Swapping fondue and the slopes for brunch and the red carpet, she arrived in Palm Springs for the Variety Creative Impact Awards, where she was to be presented with the Legend & Groundbreaker Award.
In the last few weeks, Lopez has stayed ensconced in fur-lined parkas and heavy knits. Cozy and chic, just like her fellow celebrities who take shelter in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains for the holidays (Bella Hadid et al). But hitting the balmier Cali weather for the awards ceremony, JLo leaned into pastels and softer hues, taking them from her flowing dress to her glowy makeup. A makeup look that reached into her past with its palette.
Styled by Rob Zangardi, Lopez wore a lilac halter neck mini-dress with a lilac sheer overlay that came up to her neck and flowed in diaphanous fabric down her arms into a cape, along with perspex, pointed heels. Her hair was swept back in a sleek, half-up half-down style that recalled old Hollywood glam, by celebrity hairstylist Jesus Guerrero. Her favorite manicurist Tom Bachik was on hand for an understated mani, using Apres Nail’s ‘Beige Flag’—he also did Selena Gomez’s nails for the occasion.
Ernesto Casillas (who has worked with Zendaya, Ayo Edebiri, and Rosalia) gave her a lit-from-within makeup look. Her eyeshadow was a shimmering and pastel lilac to subtly match her dress, with a swipe of black liquid liner. Her lips were lined with a brown pencil, and kept glossy and pink. Lopez’s blush and highlight brought the shimmering look together: her gradient pink blush leans into the ‘sunset blush’ technique that went viral on TikTok some months ago. The trick is to use at least two shades of blush and a highlighter to recall a beachside sunset on the skin. Golden hour goes glam.
For her Vogue Beauty Secrets, Lopez revealed her guide to glowing skin and her ‘lightbulb’ contouring techniques: she’s a fan of the Beautyblender Bounce Liquid Whip Cream Blush, her own brand JLo Beauty’s That JLo Glow Serum to create that sunset sheen herself.
She looked totally radiant, then, when she took to the stage to accept her award. “When I started, there weren’t a lot of roles for Latinas. I was auditioning for parts with accents and stereotypes. I kept thinking, ‘Why can’t I just play a romantic lead? Why can’t I be the girl next door?’ That belie—that conviction that I belonged—was what helped me break those molds,” she told the crowd.
Lopez also hinted at a prospective reboot of her 2003 film Maid in Manhattan. She had a mini reunion of sorts with her co-star Ralph Fiennes at the event, as Conclave star Fiennes presented her with her award. “We really must stop meeting in hotels like this,” Lopez quipped, a la the iconic film.
Funnily enough, one of her looks from the Maid in Manhattan press tour, all the way back in Paris in 2003, seems to have been on the moodboard for the event. The pastel eyeshadow, the thick black eyelashes, the tonal, glossy lip and the shimmering highlight on the peaks of her face.
For her Vogue Beauty Secrets, Lopez revealed her guide to glowing skin and her ‘lightbulb’ contouring techniques: she’s a fan of the Beautyblender Bounce Liquid Whip Cream Blush, her own brand JLo Beauty’s That JLo Glow Serum to create that sunset sheen herself.
A Beresford maid continues to serve.
