If you haven’t been keeping tabs on Tessa Thompson lately, it’s time to start. The Selma actress was out and about in Philadelphia this weekend promoting her new movie Creed, and her style and beauty looks were so good, we had to get all of the details from her makeup artist, Nick Barose.
Barose, who has been working with Thompson since 2010, says that he loves to play up her bold features like her eyes, lips — or both! — as he did for her evening look below. And the one thing the lucky star doesn’t need? Heavy contouring — or really any contouring at all.
Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty; Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images
“Tessa has a great fun attitude with makeup! She’s always open to play with different looks, which made it fun for me and [hairstylist] Ted Gibson,” Barose tells PeopleStyle. “As long as the makeup is dramatic, fun and exciting without it taking over her face, I’ve never had to contour to change her features.”
For Tessa’s daytime look at left, Barose went with nectarine-stained lips (using Armani Lip Maestro in 401 Tibetan Orange sparingly over a coat of Kiehl’s Facial Fuel Shine Free Lip Balm) and paired it with a photo-ready fresh face. “A little color is always a good idea, but since it was day time, full on lipstick would have been too much — so we opted for a bright stain instead,” Barose explains. “There was a lot of color in her skirt so I wanted to pull out the orange tone and tie it in with the lips.”
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And for her evening look, Thompson went a little bolder, pairing an inky black eye look with a magenta pout. “Her night look was more femme fatale with a fresh twist,” Barose says. “With the leather and her hair pulled back into a sleek bun, the combo gave her cool ’80s music video vibes but with a fresh, wearable touch to the make up. And no contour!”
Dying to try the look? Barose used Dolce & Gabbana Cream Lipstick in 250 Guilty directly from the tube, starting from the center of her lips and swiping out towards the outer corners — using a lip brush to get into hard to reach areas — and finished the lip with a similar-shade lip pencil (he used the Dolce & Gabbana Precision Liner in Desire) at the bow of the lips.
George Pimentel/WireImage; Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC
And in case you were wondering, Thompson’s full outfits were just as swoonworthy as the beauty looks that accompanied them. For a Toronto screeniing of Creed, the star selected a feminine Rodarte dress with lace and ruffles at the tiers, then added T-strap gold-and-black heels for a little drama. Her sexy leather Altuzarra dress was finished with a quirky Les Petits Jouers clutch and simple Stuart Weitzman heels (plus, ya know, that perfect pink lip). And her sweet daytime look — a Kimora Lee Simmons top, striped skirt and Roksanda jacket — got a kicky finish from her pom-pom adorned Sophia Webster sandals.
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Loving her looks? Putting her on your style radar? Let us know!
-Jillian Ruffo, with reporting by Jackie Fields
