Courtesy of Dior
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3 min read
Peter Philips’s
first big break in beauty came courtesy of Mickey Mouse. On a Sunday afternoon shoot with fellow Belgian photographer
Willy Vanderperre
, the creative and image director of Christian
Dior Makeup
drew a grinning, open-mouthed cartoon of the iconic character onto the face of a male model. Juxtaposed against the dark styling, the surprising contrast catapulted Philips to stardom, with boldness, creativity, and spontaneity becoming his signature. Vanderperre and Philips are still frequent collaborators and reunited over the course of two days for ELLE to create a portfolio of beauty looks once again focused on shocking moments.
The subsequent images show that a painted lid is always better than an unpainted one. Philips centered each model’s look on glowing skin and then chose a unique color to adorn the lid, with surprising shades of satiny white, bronze, light mint, and even two different colors of blue.
Blue eye shadow
has always been polarizing, since becoming the defining color of the ’80s. But in subsequent years, it’s been associated with everyone from Christina Ricci in the
cult film
Buffalo ’66
to
Alexa Demie on
Euphoria
, for a bit of subversive edge. Maybe swiping a color you’ve never tried before across your eyes is just the thing to excite you for spring. ELLE talked to Philips about how the shoot came together, including inspiration and a key breakdown of the looks.
What did you and Willy discuss for the shoot? What was on the mood board?
We knew we had to shoot over 40 pages in two days, of which some were going to be more zoomed in to integrate beauty in this fashion story. Because the styling was very eclectic and flexible for spontaneous changes, we decided to keep the makeup relatively neutral with a surprising touch here and there. My main focus was on great, luminous skin, using our new Dior Forever foundations.
Courtesy of Dior
Makeup by Peter Philips at Dior Beauty.
Tell us about the creation of the flower crystal eyebrows. How did they come to be?
I like to make things, craft stuff. In my kit I carry little things I make, and when the moment is there, I can integrate them in a makeup look.
When you look at these images together, what do you see as the story connecting them?
The luminous skin feels like a
fil rouge
that connects these portraits. Each one has a twist via eye shadows, lipstick, or even embroidered eyebrows, almost as an accessorization of the face.
Courtesy of Dior
Makeup by Peter Philips at Dior Beauty.
Each one of these looks can inspire someone to play with their makeup. Once your skin, which is your canvas, looks good, you can build a look according to your style, mood, impulse. A pastel eye shadow might be the start of a discovery of a whole range of cheek, eye, or lip products to play with.
Courtesy of Dior
Makeup by Peter Philips at Dior Beauty.
There is an almost painterly quality to the colors, especially on the eyes. How did you achieve that?
The painterly quality is there because you can almost say that the eye shadows are painted on. I really pushed the pigments (pastels are also pigments) into the skin. Specifically on darker complexions, it’s important to know exactly where you want to place your eye shadow as that zone needs to be prepped in a lighter shade of skin tone to allow the lighter eye shadow colors to stand out.
Courtesy of Dior
Makeup by Peter Philips at Dior Beauty.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Dior Forever Skin Wear
$60 at Dior
Credit: Courtesy of Dior
Dior Diorshow On Stage Crayon
$35 at Dior
Dior Diorshow Mono Couleur in Denim
$37 at Dior
Dior Dior Forever Skin Glow
$60 at Dior
Dior Diorshow 5 Couleurs in Denim
$72 at Dior
Dior Diorshow 5 Couleurs in Pied-de-Poule
$72 at Dior
Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Blush Stick in Rosewood
$44 at Dior
Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Blush Stick in Cherry
$44 at Dior
Dior Diorshow Stylo in Matte Mint
$36 at Dior
Credit: Courtesy of Dior
Dior Diorshow 5 Couleurs in Khaki
$72 at Dior
Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil
$42 at Dior
For look one, try Dior Forever Skin Wear, Diorshow On Stage Crayon in Black, and Diorshow Mono Couleur in Denim. All, Dior Makeup.
For look two, try Dior Forever Skin Glow and Diorshow 5 Couleurs in Denim. All, Dior Makeup.
For look three, try Dior Forever Skin Wear and Diorshow 5 Couleurs in Pied-de-Poule. All, Dior Makeup.
For look four, try Dior Forever Skin Wear, Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Stick in Rosewood and Cherry, and Diorshow Stylo in Matte Mint. All, Dior Makeup.
For look five, try Dior Forever Skin Wear, Diorshow 5 Couleurs in Khaki, and Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil in Raspberry. All, Dior Makeup.
A version of this story appears in the May 2026 issue of ELLE.
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Source: https://www.elle.com/beauty/makeup-skin-care/a71204935/dior-beauty-looks-spring-2026/
