2118 posts tagged "Makeup"
A CC Cream We Believe In
Full disclosure: CC creams are starting to overwhelm us. The skincare industry’s supercharged answer to BB creams, color correctors are flooding the market like they’re going out of style (which the presumably will by year’s end). That said, it’s rare that a new CC cream elicits much excitement from us when it crosses our desk these days—which is why we were surprised to find ourselves so enamored with the latest from Amorepacific. The Korean brand’s Color Control Cushion Compact SPF 50 boasts unique packaging and an application that makes it stand out from a wealth of similarly conceived products. It looks like a regular puff and pressed-powder situation, until you open the lid; then the mind-blowing commences. Made from a 100 percent bamboo-sap base, rather than a traditional oil-and-water mix, the antioxidant- and amino-acid-rich complexion enhancer moisturizes and protects with green-tea-seed oil and camellia-flower extracts, inhibiting redness and inflammation and soothing and cooling skin in the process. Even more impressive is the cushion delivery system, which features a spongy layer that, when pressed, releases just enough product onto the corresponding hydrophilic “puff,” which contains microscopic holes to ensure that no liquid is absorbed, thus preventing it from becoming a breeding ground for bacteria. (The unique design was apparently inspired by ancient Asian stamp-and-seal practices). Available in four different shades, the compact travels quite well and delivers dewy hydration in a few easy swipes. Consider our interest renewed.
Prince, Still Charming
Between the never-ending red carpets in Cannes and last night’s Billboard Music Awards, there was an overwhelming amount of heart-stopping beauty on display across the globe this weekend. But it was Prince—not Carey, or Rooney, or Kirsten, or Nicole—who managed to stop us in our tracks. The man, the symbol, the best Super Bowl halftime performer who ever was or will be, received a Billboard Icon Award in Las Vegas, performing with a Jimi Hendrix-esque afro and mint-green-turtleneck-and-bell-bottom ensemble, as well as some very impressive eye makeup. Not only did the Purple Rainmaker line his upper and lower rims with a black kohl, extending the stroke into a smudged, elongated flick, he used a gold pencil to carefully trace the inner corners—an editorial trick that acts as a highlighter to open the eye area. Not that this was ever in question, but the guy’s still got it—don’t you think?
Pink Lips And Ponytails, Backstage At Dior Cruise
“It’s a mouth in full bloom,” Pat McGrath told our man on the ground in Monaco this weekend backstage at Christian Dior’s Cruise show. “It’s more intensely pink,” the makeup artist said, referring to the bold fuchsia color she revived for Resort following Fall’s blurred-around-the-edges iteration of the same color. Looking for a “lightness of skin” and, more specifically, a “lightness of eye—lighter than the ready-to-wear [show]“—McGrath diffused a pearly white, shimmering pewter shadow from the inner corners of the eyes toward the temples, rather than return to the precise liquid chrome pen she preferred back in March. “Raf [Simons] said he wanted to ‘feel the girl’—really see her beauty,” she continued, keeping brows groomed and skin slightly sporty with highlights on the cheekbones.
In an effort to keep things from becoming too “over-referenced,” Guido Palau went with the “sophisticated simplicity” of a slicked-down, center-parted ponytail gathered low at the nape of the neck. “There was a future thought,” he admitted, explaining that Simons did mention the 1997 sci-fi flick Gattaca, but without the theatrical undertones. A damp, piece-y texture through the lengths ensured that strands registered as undeniably modern.
Are You Ready For This Jelly?
Primers, once considered an extra step in the foundation-application process, are now fundamental to getting a smooth, flawless finish. They’re so popular, in fact, creams and liquids that fill in fine lines and wrinkles to properly prep skin for makeup are now a dime a dozen on retail counters, which make mind-blowing developments in the category few and far between these days—something that was not lost on Illamasqua. The British brand that appreciates a little shock and awe when it comes to product development (the unisex cosmetics line created “for your alter ego” already includes white foundation, green lipstick, and glow-in-the-dark nail lacquers galore) was looking to carve out a niche for itself in this growing share of the market, and managed to do just that with its new Hydra Veil. The result of actual consumer feedback that highlighted the fact that heavily pigmented foundations often appear cakey when applied to dehydrated skin, its unique gel texture is part moisturizer, part base, and all intrigue. The antioxidant-fueled formula comes with a little scooper that you actually need to help portion out a small amount of the buoyant jelly, which melts into your skin once it is spread over the face and neck. It hydrates on impact and can be applied under—or over—makeup; a light patting of Hydra Veil on the under-eye area is a clutch concealer-reactivator come 4 P.M.
Beauty And The Beat: Charli XCX Talks Britney, Baby Spice, And “Loads” Of Black Eyeliner
If you spent much of your time as a 14-year-old going to raves and staying out until 6 A.M.—with your parents, no less—you might have also wound up spending your later years in rehab, not topping the pop charts. But don’t tell that to British hitmaker Charli XCX. The well-adjusted 20-year-old and the voice behind the song that is currently stuck in our heads, a collaboration with Icona Pop called “I Love It (I Don’t Care)” (Girls watchers will remember the jam from the dance-party scene during Hannah’s short-lived cocaine addiction), Charli—short for Charlotte—is a different kind of pop princess. Accented by mounds of black eyeliner, punky lyrics, and midriff-baring T-shirts, her sound isn’t so much candy-coated as rich with rhythm-backed synth riffs that are immediately catchy. As for the XCX bit, “it was part of my MSN screen name when I was 13, and it kind of stuck,” she told us when we caught up with her in the middle of a tour in support of True Romance, her debut album that features the addictive track, “Nuclear Seasons.” Here, the “nineties chick” at heart, talks about late-night clubbing, being inspired by Britney and Baby Spice, and her unconventional secret to the perfect dark lipstick.
How did you get into music at just 14?
As soon as I saw “Hit Me Baby (One More Time),” I knew I loved Britney and music videos, and I was in awe; it inspired me to start making music. I started writing, but it was just me kind of experimenting. I posted demos on MySpace, and a guy who ran a club in East London brought me up to play these raves. I started performing and became a regular in that scene. My parents came with me. They’d drive me and stay at the parties; usually I would play at 2 or 3 A.M. and leave at 6 A.M. At the time, I wasn’t into hanging out with my parents. We’d drive home in the morning and stop for breakfast. They were really supportive. We were always the weird family at the warehouse parties.
Um…Amazing. Why is the new album called True Romance?
All of the songs are about love and my experience with relationships and how I’ve changed my opinion on love, how the relationships have changed me. In true romance, you don’t have just walking on clouds, amazing, happy, beachy moments. To have true romance, you also have to have isolating, depressing moments of crying. The songs are about both. Some are happier and some are darker; some are pop; and others are more mysterious—and that’s what romance is like in real life. “Stay Away” is about an unhealthy obsession with someone, making yourself ill over them, but I haven’t been through that, so it’s more of an imagining.
Your Icona Pop collaboration “I Love It (I Don’t Care)” is the theme song for Snooki & Jwoww—do you watch the show?
That made me really laugh. I don’t watch the show religiously, but I’ve seen it. I think Snooki is pretty cute. They’re both hilarious.