Some Era Beauty Influence: Artists Petra Collins and India Salvor Menuez on the Hair, the Skin, the Look

On a recent Monday afternoon, photographer Petra Collins and artist-cum-actress Munira Salvor Menuez were out of their comfort zone. On set for a Vogue.com photo shoot, India’s naturally copper red eyelashes were coated with an impactful swipe of black mascara, and Petra’s bow-shaped mouth dabbed with a sheer rose-colored stain. If the friends and artistic collaborators can be found doing everything from attending gallery openings to documenting their tightly-knit social circle on Instagram, and tackling what it means to be a woman today through provocative visual work and thoughtful essays, wearing makeup is not among those things. “I don’t see the point most of the time,” says Menuez, while braiding her hair into pigtails that would even incite envy in pacificist Willie Nelson.
Such naturalistic sentiments seem fortuitously aligned with fashion’s current zeitgeist. From Menuez’s cascade of hip-grazing auburn hair and Collins’s fuzzy haze of curls to their clean, soft-focus skin, their languid beauty recalls the bohemian, seventies-era looks seen on the recent spring 2015 collections. We sat down with the twenty-something duo to talk about the politics of makeup, why a daily headstand might help your skin, and the enduring influence of Boogie Nights’s Rollergirl.
Question: I’m looking at your hair, and you both have this incredible seventies vibe. Do you find inspiration in that decade?

Answer: Yes, I really love the seventies disco-era hair. My hair is naturally big, so all I do is wash it with whatever is in the shower every three days, then wait for it to dry. I don’t even tease it out. [Laughs] The comparison that I always get is Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver or Heather Graham in Boogie Nights.
Munira: Oh my god, Roller Girl! I was thinking of that character today, actually. In my case, the hair reads very sixties/seventies just because it’s so long and I don’t do anything to it either. It feels very “hippie natural.”
Question: You don’t seem to wear very much makeup either. Is that a choice?

Munira: I stopped wearing makeup in high school and now I just want to feel healthy and fresh, which usually means not spending extra time to put a layer of makeup on. If I’m going to wear anything it’s going to be silly, like black lipstick or glitter galore. And it’s going to be made by an animal-friendly brand like Obsessive Compulsive.
Answer: I don’t really wear makeup either. It’s so much effort. [Laughs] Occasionally I’ll wear glitter or blue eye shadow.
Question: Does that mean you’re really into skin care?

Answer: I actually just got into skin care. I use Dr. Hauschka. I have the cleanser, the toner spray, and the clarifying oil moisturizer. Once in a while I love doing an intense regimen where I’ll go into the shower, steam my face, and put on the Dr. Hauschka clarifying clay mask.
Munira: I’ve been really into finding the most natural products. Not to an extreme measure, but I like to think that if I’m putting it on my skin, it’s going into my body, so I want the products to be composed of ingredients that I could potentially eat. I use African black soap on my face and sometimes make a scrub out of spent coffee grounds. To moisturize, I love Dr. Hauschka rose day cream, but have recently just been using an oil mix that my fairy godmother, [makeup artist] Andrea Helgadottir, makes. It’s a project that I think she is slowly expanding under the name Ástin Mín, which is Icelandic for “my love.”
Question: Are you into oils as fragrance, too?

Munira: Yes, but I like mild, straight-from-the-source kind of smells. My step-mom, Keetja Allard, got into mixing essential oils and made me one for my birthday. It’s very fresh and delicate. I think it’s called Shi-so Hungover because it has shiso in it.
Answer: If I wear a fragrance, I like a natural scent, too, like lavender.
Question: Petra, it’s interesting that you don’t wear much makeup because your work and even your Instagrams so often capture beauty moments—girls in front the mirror getting ready.

Answer: How girls perceive themselves is interesting, and how they act when they’re looking in the mirror. Everyone has a mirror face that’s so different from their natural face. And I think it’s interesting, seeing the way people want to be viewed when they’re putting themselves together.
Munira: It’s such an intensely personal ritual. Speaking from my own perspective, the days I look at myself and think, “Ugh, I look disgusting” is the day everyone looks at me and is like “Oh, you look great!” And the days that I feel glamorous and amazing, no one cares! [Laughs] It’s so funny. Sometimes I won’t even recognize myself in pictures.
Question: But you’re so photogenic—Petra photographs you a lot. Petra, what draws you to her as a subject?

Answer: India is just so expressive—she can convey a lot of emotion. That’s what I look for in models: Someone who can tell a story and has a presence in front of the camera.
Question: Your photographs also have a kind of unapologetic sexuality to them that I think could be linked to a new feminism movement. Do you embrace that in your own visual identity?

Answer: I try to. I think it’s more a state of mind than how I present myself. It’s more about accepting my body as it is and not trying to change it for other people. It comes out in not shaving or just really trying to embrace myself and not hate myself. That’s important for me.
Question: Does that go back to why you don’t wear makeup?

Munira: No, both of us like wearing makeup. I think makeup can be fun. But I personally believe in what not wearing it suggests politically: Girls don’t need to wear makeup just as much as men don’t need to wear makeup. It’s an equal playing field.
Question: Do you have any beauty indulgences when you want to refresh?

Munira: I really got into headstands lately. I try to do one once a day for as long as I can to rejuvenate my circulation—it feels so good.
Answer: I always try to go to bath houses but I get so bored and too hot! [Laughs]
Munira: I’m supposed to bring my mom to the Aire Ancient Baths soon. I really want to go to an isolation tank, too—it’s where you go into a bath of water that’s the same temperature as your body and it’s really salted so you float perfectly.
Stay beautiful!