California Beauty: Lily Kwong
San Francisco native Lily Kwong has a love of style imprinted in her DNA. Her cousin is the fashion designer Joseph Altuzarra, and her grandmother travels from the Bay Area to New York each season to see his presentations. Kwong—who moved to New York to attend Columbia University—traditionally does a fitting with Altuzarra and stylist Vanessa Traina before each show, and is also a makeup maven who has been featured on Into The Gloss, and has contributed to such publications as Vogue.com and Style.com. Now Kwong is pledging her allegiance to François Nars’ eponymous line, declaring herself to be a NARSissist in a new video.
In the film, the philanthropist is shown reading the morning paper and a stack of magazines before applying makeup, getting dressed, and walking into a snow-covered Central Park. Her morning ritual alludes to her social awareness, a result of her non-profit work—done in collaboration with her father—for the tech company Nuvana. A recent initiative, sponsored by the Nike Foundation, includes a series of online games focused on finances, leadership, and personal health and designed for teenage girls. Here’s a look at Kwong’s morning makeup routine, a ritual she performs whether she’s in Mill Valley or Manhattan.
By Elizabeth Varnell
Pictured: Lily Kwong
Photo and video courtesy of NARS