Just before NYFW, Britt tossed me a teal Estée Lauder mascara (see the entire collection in today’s Style section) and told me it would look good on me. We all know I love products, and I love color too.
But when it comes to my makeup (especially my eyes) I rarely vary from my regular routine: black liner on the inner rims, black mascara, Tarte Cheek Stain, and my ever-revolving bold lip color of the moment. That’s typically it. While I appreciate and ogle brilliant and daring makeup in editorials, on the runway, and in life, I realize that I’m a bit of a bore.
Continue reading Breaking the Routine…
This week of fashion parties continued with last night’s celebration of Ruffian’s new book, Ruffian Inside Out.
Though the book, written by Style.com’s Executive Editor Nicole Phelps, officially launched in April, we’ve been loving it since their AW09 show in February. Jamie Isaia’s photographs of Brian Wolk and Claude Morais are basically fashion porn.
Thus the party was a celebration not just of the book, but of the talented designers themselves. John Demsey, Group President of Estée Lauder, played host, even offering up his own home for the night and we spotted everyone from Simon Doonan and Rachel Roy to MAC ûber makeup artist James Kaliardos.
MAC has a special relationship with the brand and the book — they created a limited edition, just-for-Fashion-Week, not sold in stores lipstick shade for the Fall 2009 show called Ruffian Red, (which Britt obsessively rocked throughout Fashion month) that they so generously handed out again last night.
I also got a sneak peek at those fabulous Jin Soon-created polishes we mentioned last month and I can tell you, judging by the gorgeous orchid shade I saw, the collection is going to be fantastic.
—MEGAN MCINTYRE
During Oscar season, many beauty types speculated that Estée Lauder would snag girl-of-the-moment, Freida Pinto as their next spokesperson.
And we were kind of loving the idea of seeing her co-star in a campaign with our beloved Gwynnie.
But, alas, L’Oreal has signed Freida along with Elizabeth Banks and Evangeline Lilly as their newest leading ladies.
These three make a lot more sense to us than the Jessica Biel/Revlon situation. Even though Evangeline hasn’t done a lot of film, obviously Lost has way more cred than 7th Heaven.
But this begs the question, what actress do you think deserves one of these lucrative beauty contracts who doesn’t have one? Or should they all just go to the models, anyway?
Stila’s been saved.
The indie makeup brand faced bankruptcy a few weeks ago, canceling online orders and putting the entire staff on vacation.
Yesterday, they announced they’d been bought by venture capital firm Patriarch Partners LLC., the company’s first foray into beauty. It’s Stila’s third owner in as many years, Estee Lauder sold the brand to Sun Capital in 2006 and they just withdrew their financial support last month.
Meanwhile, we love Stila but always thought the brand occupied an awkward place in the beauty market. Their packaging is editorial eye-candy targeted at a youthful audience and accompanied by very adult price tags.
But, they’re one of the lucky few companies to find a buyer before reaching the financial point of no return, which means they’re doing just fine.
I have a love/hate relationship with cream shadow.
I love the way it glistens on my lids and how smoothly it blends and I hate the inevitable half-moon crease that comes mid-day. I’ve tried using powder shadow to set it, but it defeats the purpose, ruining the sexy, dewy effect that’s the whole reason to use creams in the first place
Needless to say I was eager to test out the batch of waterproof creams launching this month. I hoped these versions would deliver the effect I wanted with the staying power that I needed.
Full test and results, after the jump.
—MEGAN MCINTYRE
Continue reading Trend Test: Waterproof Eyeshadow …
We thought Gwyneth Paltrow’s July Bazaar cover was just a very delayed reaction to Iron Man - turns out it’s part of a 40-page Estée Lauder campaign that continues within the magazine, just barely disguised as editorial.
The cosmetic giant placed the four faces of their new perfume, Sensuous, throughout the issue, even though the actual ads don’t debut until fall. The move means a priceless Gwyneth cover for Bazaar and an insane amount of advertising for Estée Lauder before their ads, (which also feature Elizabeth Hurley, Carolyn Murphy and Hilary Rhoda), even hit.
This weekend, The New York Times asked if the partnership meant Hearst, (which owns Bazaar) was selling out, before admitting that it’s actually a pretty smart move.
This morning, WWD reports an even cooler partnership between Marie Claire, (which is also owned by Hearst) and Ray-Ban. The two have commissioned five New York City artists to create billboards to promote Ray-Ban’s new colored Wayfarers. And the magazine will also run three times more Ray-Ban ads this year than ever before.
The symbiotic relationship between fashion magazines and fashion advertisements has been losing steam as circulation has slowed for print publications and more companies turn to online advertising. So while at first these ad campaigns, whether subliminal like Estée Lauder’s or in your face like Ray-Ban’s, seemed a bit desperate, we actually think they’re kind of cool - especially when real artists are getting into the mix and what used to be a boring ad gets taken to a new creative level.
We actually kind of love it, and we’re sure Andy Warhol’s probably giggling in his grave.
If you haven’t checked out Michael Stipe’s installation at the Rogan store on Bowery - go now. It’s awesome.
And if you don’t live in NYC, we’re sorry. But there’s another cool collaboration coming your way.
Stephen Burks, the American industrial designer who works in furniture, packaging and fashion, (including Calvin Klein, Missoni and Estee Lauder), was chosen by Tod’s to build window displays for twenty of the luxury brand’s international flagships.
The displays will be built of transparent layers inviting the viewers to see, “not just the merchandise in the windows, but the entire shop floor”.
There were overly made up models dancing in the windows of Armani Exchange in Soho last night and they made us want to run the other way.
But a talented designer in the windows of a beloved Italian house? Sounds much more promising.
We’ve never understood vibrating toothbrushes. We’ve always wondered who these people are that won’t do the up-and-down brush motion with their hands, and need an appliance to actually do the brushing movement for them.
So when we read in WWD this morning that Estée Lauder is coming out with TurboLash All Effects Motion Mascara, a battery-operated, vibrating mascara, the same questions popped into our heads:
Why does it need to vibrate? Couldn’t you just do the sweeping motion on your own? How will it get those tiny lashes in the inner corners? Can you poke your eye out? Wouldn’t you just end up going over the TurboLash’s work with a dry brush to spread the mascara out evenly? And won’t our boyfriend look at us like we’re crazy when we get ready in the morning?
Lauder claims that there’s “a relationship between vibration, length, volume, separation and curl,” and that lashes separate for perfect mascara application the instant the vibrating brush touches your lash line.
As unlikely and unnecessary as this all sounds, we know we’ll probably be at Saks sometime after it launches there exclusively in July. We’re suckers for “mascara technology.” But this product goes for $30, a full $7 above the mascara we’ve considered to be the best for several years, DiorShow.
Are we really ready to go there?
Remember that NYLON party we went to a couple weeks ago?
Well, I walked away with the prettiest glass bottle of Chloé perfume. The smell, however, wasn’t nearly as nice. But I tried it, just in case. Natalie said, “all wrong” and “too woodsy”.
I tried again. My roommates loved it, and so did my boy neighbors. And the woman shopping in Jumelle. And the girl who stopped me on the street today to ask what “divine” scent I was wearing. Even Natalie asked, “Wow, what is that?”
I know scents vary depending on the person, but do they vary on the same person from the first spritz to the third? Did my skin somehow adapt? Is that even possible?
Ruth La Ferla just wrote about bloggers and the dramatic way in which they’re changing the fragrance industry. They’ve cracked open the world of niche perfumes to an audience that’s used to learning about new scents in People or the billboard above their gas station, giving giants like Estée Lauder and Coty a mini panic attack.
Natalie is indeed prompted to smell a new perfume based on a positive review whereas I’m influenced by the print ads, (ridiculous, I know). And yet we’re both aware it’s impossible to form an opinion of a scent without wearing it repeatedly.
If I’d read Chandler Burr’s scathing review of the Chloé scent and trusted my initial sniff, I would have kept Chloé as a pretty paperweight. Instead, it’s replaced the YSL Homme I’ve trusted for almost a year.
Do you read scent reviews? How do you determine which perfume is right for you without wearing it for a bit? And more importantly, has an offensive scent ever become your fave?
Want perfect lashes, like Gabriella?
We’ve finally figured it out, thanks to Charlotte Tilbury and the other M.A.C artists backstage at the Tents:
They told us that the best way to avoid clumps is this:
Take a tissue or a piece of toilet paper, and gently wrap it around your mascara wand.
Pull the mascara wand through it with a little bit of tension in your fingers.
The excess black gunk will ooze off the wand, and then when you apply the mascara to your lashes, it’ll go on smoother and with no clumps.
We’ve tried this every day for a week and it hasn’t failed yet, so go to it!
Also: Weirdly, our new favorite mascara is the one from Estee Lauder’s Beauty Bank. You can get it at Duane Reade, or steal it from the Charlotte Ronson store if they’ve got any samples left.
In August, we reported that Heatherette was in talks with a makeup line for Estee Lauder.
Now that it’s sealed and dealed, here’s the rest of the story:
Their collection will be for M.A.C and it debuts in March, just after their Fall ‘08 runway production.
The line includes nail polish, eyeshadow, lipstick, and pancake base, and comes packaged in day-glo hot pink plastic. While there won’t be an ad campaign for the line, there will certainly be promotional photos and cute makeup counter displays, so keep your eyes peeled for Miss Lydia Hearst, who’s modeled for M.A.C in the past.
Meanwhile, other fashion brands are also releasing new cosmetics this season: Calvin Klein just resurrected their entire beauty division, which has been in hibernation since Gwyneth and Brad were engaged.
