Beauty Test with Rose Byrne

Over the years, Byrne’s evolved into an actress to watch both on and off the screen. She’s a style icon for chic smart girls, as comfortable in glittering Chanel as she is in sleek Calvin Klein. Her look is youthful but still tasteful, proper but not prim. “There is something very classical in her beauty, but then there is also something very unique to her and the proportions of her face,” says makeup artist Kate Lee, creative director for this month’s Beauty Test and frequent collaborator with the actress. “A little bit like Jean Shrimpton. She’s incredibly easy to imagine transitioning genres and decades. I think her beauty is truly very versatile.”

Of course, like most beautiful women, actresses perhaps in particular, Byrne has a complicated relationship with her looks. “Beauty comes from within. It’s a cliché, but I think it’s true,” says the 35-year-old. “However, in this business, it’s hard to reconcile that when you’re constantly being told things about your appearance, whether it’s that you are too pretty or too plain or too brunette or whatever the problem is.” This thinking is partly what inspired Byrne to co-found an all-female film and theater production company called The Dollhouse Collective, which aims to tell stories that feature strong female leads. “We are developing a script called Seriously Red about a woman who dreams of becoming a Dolly Parton impersonator,” she reveals. Byrne’s own film career, meanwhile, continues to gain momentum. Opening tomorrow, she appears again with Melissa McCarthy in the comedy Spy playing a villainous Bulgarian arms dealer whose iciness off-sets McCarthy’s CIA agent bluster. Further down the pipeline are The Meddler (in which she stars opposite Susan Sarandon) and the latest film in the X-Men franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse. “We're shooting now,” says Byrne, who will reprise her role as scientist Moira MacTaggert. “So lots of mutants in my summer plans.”

Below, Byrne takes a break from her sci-fi escapades to discuss more prosaic subjects like her makeup essentials, the definition of glamour and why she envies boyfriend Bobby Cannavale’s skin.

The idea was simple: “I wanted to do an anti-beauty beauty shoot,” says Lee. “I didn’t want Rose overly made-up because I love her beauty marks and also the texture of her skin. I wanted her hair wet and slicked back or stuck to the face. Basically, it’s all about raw and bold statement looks.” 

About that eyeliner: “It was very instinctual,” says Lee of the exuberant zigzag she drew using Laura Mercier Caviar liner across Byrne’s left eyelid. “There are a lot of rules in beauty that make women feel as though things should look a certain way. I want to encourage people to have fun, try a different technique and not be afraid of going wrong. Makeup comes off.”

Why Lee “stashed the shimmer”: I bought six pounds of gold and silver glitter in a shop in Covent Garden and shipped it back to L.A. probably nine years ago. I was waiting for the right moment to use it. When VIOLET GREY gave me creative input on this story, I knew the time had come.

A nod to the ’70s: “As a reference for this look, I pulled an image of Iggy Pop covered head to toe in glitter,” says Lee. “There’s a bit of that rough, 1970s punk element to it. I wanted Rose to be like a rock star who was okay with looking exposed and gritty in the beauty sense.”

How Byrne left the shoot: “We went kind of nuts right at the end,” admits the actress. “There was glitter in my hair and between my toes for days afterward. But it was fine, it was such a fun shoot.”