Behind the Look: Christina Aguilera Is Not Herself

STILL FROM “NOT MYSELF TONIGHT”

Much has been made of late of Christine Aguilera’s imminent transformation from sex kitten into, well, another kind of perhaps more futuristic sex kitten. Kristofer Buckle is the mastermind behind the look of Christina Aguilera’s genius video, “Not Myself Tonight,” which was released earlier this month. The makeup artist, who has also worked with Demi Moore, Renee Zelewegger, and Mariah Carey, said that prior to the shoot, the singer unsurprisingly “wanted to push it.” No surprises there, Buckle says, “I love Christina. As far as makeup goes, nothing scares her—except a natural look!” The clothing on the shoot was heavily influenced by fetish gear: “I thought it would be interesting if the makeup extended off the surface of the face and into the air. I envisioned a spiky eye with very long black spikes that I handmade and studded with aluminum pieces and crystals that were glued to the upper and lower eyelid, so they would extend off the face, ‘crowning’ the eye.” No less done-up than fetish, in the mind of Buckle, is classic Hollywood, a la Joan Crawford, with her big rolled bangs. “I made a black piece to glue on to extend the winged liner four inches off Christina’s face and give her a ruby glitter lip. Christina instinctively knows how to move her face to maximize the effect,” which is a double entendre even Aguilera couldn’t have accounted for.

Sarah Howard is the editor of Beauty Banter.