Fun loving couple Yiran Liu and Roberto Alvarez are about to celebrate their wedding in September, so this makeover came at the perfect time. They first met in Seoul seven years ago where they were both teaching, and moved here four and a half years ago, then had a civil ceremony soon after. Liu is a Beijingren while Alvarez is a Cuban-American from Miami. He works at the British Council and Liu is a freelance translator.
Liu and Alvarez are the proud parents of 3-year-old Roee and 3-month-old Lucia. When we met up at Catherine de France, the couple was beaming, especially Liu, a stay-at-home-mom who had the day off and left her youngest with her mother. Later on as the day progressed, Lucia and big sister Roee joined us as we waited for mom to get her hair done.
Liu and Alvarez have opposite routines as Liu gets her hair blown and styled once a week, when Alvarez is a wash-and-gel man and hadn’t had his hair cut for a year. Alvarez says, “Work and family commitments sometimes make it difficult to maintain a routine. Running after the kids and dealing with the everyday surprises that come up can be mentally and physically exhausting.”
Catherine de France’s team leader stylist, Aurelien Collard, wanted to get the couple ready for their wedding by giving more body and volume to Liu’s hair through perming (RMB 1,500). Meanwhile, for Alvarez, Collard cut his hair shorter and straightened the hair using the keratin treatment, KeraStraight (RMB 550). David Bai and makeup artist Marie Deng assisted Collard.
Our couple didn’t have any expectations, only to have fun.
They liked the staff and despite the long day due to the perm, they are planning to return to the salon. “Wow! Where’s my husband?” exclaimed Liu. She was excited about her husband’s new look and said he looked different. Alvarez kept gazing up and down at his wife, saying she looked incredible. As for 3-year-old Roee, she said she doesn’t like the salon or hospital but was happy that her mommy’s hair has become curly like hers. Lucia breastfeeding happily was her sign of approval. Grandmother was all too happy to smile and take photos of the couple every two minutes.
Products
• Mac 6 Snowglobe Eye Shadows/Cool
• Sephora Almost Nude No. 9 Eye Shadow and Liner Palette
• Sephora Wild Safari No. 3 Eye Shadow and Liner Palette
• Christian Dior NudeTan compressed powder
• Mac Studio Fix loose powder
• Max Factor X No. 81 Crème Puff, Truly Fair, pressed powder
• Maybelline Dream Satin Skin Natural Ivory
• Clinique Even Better liquid foundation
• Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Satin Radiance Lipstick, No.1 Le Rouge
Step 1
Collard cuts the couple’s hair. Liu gets a manicure and opts for the gold color.
Step 2
Liu’s hair is permed while Alvarez is straightened using a keratin treatment.
Step 3
Collard, with the help of Bai, colors Liu and Alvarez’s hair with reddish-brown and dark brown respectively.
Step 4
After applying moisturizer, foundation, and powder, Deng creates a smoky eye using dark purple eye shadow along the lashline fading to light brown in the crease, then a gold shadow on the lid and brow bone. Using black liquid eyeliner, Deng applies along the lashes then adds mascara to the bottom and top eyelashes. To finish off, she uses red lipstick. Collard cleans up Alvarez’s chin with a quick trim.
Catherine de France 法式美容美发沙龙
Tue-Sun 9am-9pm. B1 East Avenue Bldg,10 Xin Dong Lu, Chaoyang District (8442 5120, 135 2147 3492, eastavenue@catherinedefrance.com) 朝阳区新东路10号逸盛阁首层
This article originally appeared on page 12-13 of the September 2016 Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.
