Mary-Kate and Ashley aren’t the only twins taking the fashion world by storm—Haya and Sama Khadra were “scouting” collections for their mother’s store in Saudi Arabia, The Art of Living, long before The Row was a glimmer in the Olsens’ eyes. The identical street-style stars and University of Southern California students have been making the rounds and refining their aesthetic since they were teenagers—often tagging along on buying trips around the world. First spotted on the sidewalk in Paris by photographer Scott Schuman (whom they didn’t recognize, as noted in Interview, until he mentioned that he shot for Style.com), they’ve since become the coveted subjects of those capturing the action outside the shows. Here, the duo with Boticelli-esque curls and consistently amazing manicures—that live and tweet in tandem—jointly reveal their beauty must-haves and the 6-year-old they cite as their icon.
—Tara Lamont-Djite, Style.com
I hear you’re both huge fans of nail art. What are some of your favorite designs for the summer?
We base our nail designs on our current vibe, or if there’s a pattern or design we like from artwork or a piece of clothing. One of the nail designs we did for summer was a tidal wave based on Hokusai’s piece The Great Wave Off Kanagawa. We also once did a dinosaur pattern from some Giza sneakers, a Japanese brand.
Any tips on how you keep your long hair healthy?
We use Davines Love Conditioner, and sometimes apply coconut oil. Our hair isn’t hard to maintain, so taking care of it is pretty simple. We don’t straighten our hair a lot and we’ve never dyed it or done any sort of [process] to it other than the occasional conditioning treatment.
You’ve both grown up around fashion and in the industry. Did you pick up on any beauty trends? If so, which ones were your favorites from last season?
The Dior gold brows for Spring 2014, the eyes for Fall 2014, and the Spring 2013 Couture show. We adore Pat McGrath—she’s a genius! Peter Philips is another favorite—his work for Chanel [was] always so cool. What he did with Raf Simons for Jil Sander was also beautiful. We love Raf Simons’ runway collaborations with makeup artists—whether it’s for Dior or Jil Sander, it’s always so fresh and graphic. We’ll never forget the day that the fuchsia lipstick walked down the runway at Jil Sander for Spring 2011. We remember being at the showroom the day after the show and asking what they used. They gave us this bright pink eye pigment from Makeup For Ever that they [put on] the lips because it was matte and the color was more concentrated. Although it wasn’t easy using an eye pigment on our lips, we both wore it for a while!
How would you describe your style? Do you have any favorite designers?
The essence of our style is us from ages 5 to 8. We were always beach kids and spent all our summers in Ibiza—so super-nineties, lots of crop tops, little accessories, chokers, mixing and matching. We’re also really inspired by nineties hip-hop fashion and early-nineties Chanel. Our style also depends on what city we’re in. Our favorite designers range a lot—we love Japanese designers like Sacai and Toga, but also like ordering cool pieces online from various small designers.
We’ve noticed that you have quite a collection of rings. Who are some of your favorite jewelry designers and whom are you wearing at the moment?
We love rings. We’ve been wearing a lot of Jacquie Aiche for the past two years. We really love delicate jewelry for every day, like the Dannijones Dannijo/Rashida Jones collaboration. A lot of our bolder pieces are from the Cartier Panthère collection—that’s definitely our favorite collection in terms of higher end jewelry. We also wear a lot of colorful bracelets, and most of them have sentimental meaning—the more they don’t match the better; that’s the nineties Ibiza beach kid in us.
Do you have any vacation plans for the summer, and what beauty essentials are you packing?
Yes, we were just in the Maldives, one of our favorite places in the world. Our home in London is our hub, and once you’re in Europe it’s easy to move around. We can’t live without our Lancer skincare and Davines hair products.
Is there a beauty trend you are loving at the moment?
We don’t wear much, but we like eye makeup a lot so we’re experimenting with that. We had a phase where we would always wear dark eye makeup at night just for fun. Right now we really like the Marc by Marc Spring 2014 blue eye-shadow look—we’re thinking of trying it.
Do either of you have any beauty icons?
Our mom and little sister are definitely our beauty icons. Our mom has five kids and people still think she’s our sister! She rarely wears makeup, but she’s all about being beautiful and pure from the inside out—I guess that’s her beauty secret. Our little sister [Baby G] is our beauty icon for the same reason; she’s the most gorgeous little girl and it definitely comes from within because she has the most charming personality.
