Get Her Looks: Ciara at the Billboard Music Awards

While some of the stars at the Billboard Music Awards went for over-the-top glitz as a nod to the event’s Las Vegas venue and others took the opposite direction for the summery evening, Ciara made no such concessions. As a co-host with friend Ludacris, the singer was glamorous and gorgeous without excess — though she did manage to change her outfit and hair six times.

“Nothing is really different for this event,” makeup artist Yolonda Frederick-Thompson told Yahoo Beauty. “We are very consistent in her look in general, so we usually stick to natural glam with a pop on either the eye intensity or the lip color. … The goal for me was to cre-ate a stunning but not over-the-top makeup look that could be tweaked throughout the evening to coordinate with her many hair and wardrobe changes.”

Related: Ciara’s Futuristic Flapper Look at the 2016 Met Gala (Exclusive!)

She began by prepping Ciara’s skin with Estée Lauder Take It Away LongWear Makeup Remover Towelettes, RèVive Moisturizing Renewal Eye Cream, and Laura Mercier Foundation Primer in Radiance Bronze “to give the skin a supple and radiant quality needed for a smooth and flawless makeup application.”

Photo: Jeff Kravitz/BBMA2016/FilmMagic

Next, Frederick-Thompson evened out Ciara’s complexion with Laura Mercier Candleglow Soft Luminous Foundation in Chai and highlighted her T-zone with Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage in SC-4. Ciara’s bone structure is perfection on its own, but Frederick-Thompson did some light contouring along her nose, cheekbones, and forehead with the Laura Mercier Flawless Contouring Palette. She applied MAC Sheer Se-lect Loose Powder in Peach and Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder to set the look in place. With Laura Mercier Crème Cheek Colour in Canyon on the apples of her cheeks and Laura Mercier Face Illuminator Powder in Seduction on the perimeter of her face, Ciara’s look was given a little warmth. Frederick-Thompson added a bit more glow with Laura Mercier Mineral Illuminating Face Makeup Powder in Candlelight on the cheekbones.

She defined Ciara’s brows with Laura Mercier Eye Brow Pencil in Soft Brunette. Then she prepped her eyelids with Mac Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Layin’ Low. With Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Tuxedo, Frederick-Thompson lined the crease of her lids and lash line to give the shadow depth. Then she layered on Laura Mercier Extreme Neutrals Eyeshadow Palette in Rock on the lids, followed by Dust on Ciara’s brow bone. She dotted the inside corners of her eyes with Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Moonlight. Three coats of Yves Saint Laurent Volume Effet Faux Cils in Black made those lashes stand out onscreen.

Related: Get Her Braid: Ciara

Ciara’s lips were lined with Laura Mercier Lip Pencil in Chestnut, filled in with Laura Mercier Velour Lovers Lip Colour in Embrace, and highlighted in the center with Laura Mercier Crème Smooth Lip Colour in Brigitte. Frederick-Thompson said she subtly al-tered Ciara’s lip color throughout the night to match her many outfit and hair changes.

As for her hair, stylist Cesar Ramirez revealed how he transformed her look so many times. First, he cre-ated that not-quite-finished ponytail for the red carpet by prepping her hair with Mizani Foam Wrap Fast-Drying Foam for texture and hold. He brushed it, pulled the loop halfway through the band, and added Bunny&Skull handmade clip-on bangs in FauxFringe. Mizani HRM Humidity-Resistant Mist held it all in place and blocked out humidity.