Behind the Veil - Ibiza is not the Red Carpet
Updated: Oct 20
This month I dive into the joys and tribulations of August in Ibiza, and I was lucky enough to sit down with one of the island's best loved doyennes of concierge, Serena Cook, and talk about work/life balance, the wonderful world of Ibiza and how climate change is impacting the White Isle.
Behind the beauty, the villas and the perfect photographs, August in Ibiza has a personality all of its own. There is a moment every year when Ibiza seems to tip slightly off its own axis, and this year, it felt like we got there a little earlier than usual.
Maybe it was the eclipse season, maybe it was the never ending heat, maybe it was simply August doing what August does on this island – turning everything up several degrees, literally and metaphorically. I have lived and worked in Ibiza for many years, but I honestly don’t remember a month quite like this one!
The heat has been utterly relentless and makeup melted almost as quickly as it could be applied. Skin was constantly slick and hair definitely had its own agenda. And then, just when you think you’re getting a handle on the weather, the crazy wind arrived and inky storms rolled across the sky causing even more chaos.
Which is exactly what happened on our latest BTV shoot. We shot a beautiful Argentinian actress with one of those faces that gives you absolutely everything – a huge smile one second, something completely different the next. Jérôme, a French photographer who has lived and worked on Ibiza for many years, was behind the camera, it was all there for the taking, black and white format, simple background, a gorgeous expressive face, sounds wonderful right? It wasn’t.
It was ridiculously hot. We were battling crazy heat, wind and makeup that would have quite happily have left her face altogether. Then, just as we were ready to shoot, the sky changed. A huge dark cloud appeared and suddenly the whole atmosphere shifted – and somehow, that seemed to sum up August in Ibiza entirely. The beautiful and the completely bonkers!
On one hand, I’ve had some of the most fabulous clients. I’ve driven through gates into incredible villas that remind me why Ibiza continues to attract such interesting, creative people. Beautiful architecture, art, music, families, friends – people really enjoying the island rather than simply consuming it, people I’ve utterly loved working with.
And then there is the flipside. The last minute message that arrives: “Can you come in an hour?” Well… possibly, if I could teleport. My kit is not permanently sitting in the boot of my car in 37’ degree heat. Neither are my products particularly keen on being cooked. Let’s not forget the last-minute cancellations, that very often are, well, very last minute – as in: I’m already driving to your villa at the last minute.
And quite predictably, (let’s face it we all want to look our best for the biggest parties of the season) everybody on the island wanted their hair and makeup done at precisely the same time. At one point, it genuinely felt as though Ibiza had run out of makeup artists. Great for business, but slightly less great for my nervous system.
I think sometimes we forget what this island is all about. Ibiza is beautiful, precisely because it isn’t perfectly controlled. So maybe your natural curls might frizz after being arm-achingly straightened and your makeup might not see you through until the early hours but honestly this is Ibiza, where caution can be thrown to the wind (literally) and a good time will still be had whatever the status of your hair and makeup.
You can arrive at one of the most extraordinary villas you’ve ever seen and discover there is no air conditioning in the room where you’re working, you can create the smoothest blow-dry of your life and watch the Mediterranean humidity begin negotiating with it the second your client walks outside. You can put on beautiful heels, and say goodbye to those heels just as quickly, dust, gravel, stone, sand – Ibiza really does not care what they cost.
Ibiza is not the red carpet where somebody steps from an air-conditioned car onto a controlled set, has their photograph taken and disappears back inside. This is an island. It is hot, dusty, humid, windy, wild, beautiful and totally uncontrollable – and that’s the point.
Perhaps that’s why these photographs feel so right for this episode. They aren’t about perfection, they’re about expression. A face changing from one moment to the next, light becoming dark, a smile blooming, a cloud passing. And alongside them, my conversation with Serena Cook takes us behind another version of Ibiza — the extraordinary world she has witnessed through years of looking after people who come here expecting something exceptional. Because behind every villa, every beautiful dinner, every seemingly effortless holiday and every perfectly polished photograph, there are people making it happen – the drivers, chefs, concierges, hairdressers, makeup artists, stylists, photographers and their assistants. Sometimes we’re all receiving the same WhatsApp message: “Any chance you can be here in 30 minutes?”
As August recedes to a distant memory, perhaps the lesson to be learned here is to stop trying to control everything quite so much. Weather will change, hair may curl, a heel may break, makeup might need touching up, the plan will almost certainly change.
And somewhere in the middle of all of it, there will be a moment that couldn’t have happened anywhere else. That’s Ibiza. Incredible, infuriating, inspiring and completely alive.
And I don’t think I’d want her any other way.
Words: Louise Maxwell
Talent : Chela Photography : Jérôme Ferriere
Video Editing : Gabriel
Art direction, Hair & Makeup: Louise Maxwell