Why have I fallen in love with it in such a big way? It’s the perfect size for applying undereye concealer as it is just the right size to fit in that hollow under the eye where those dark shadows breed and play. It’s made of nylon, which as a synthetic is just right for moving concealer to where you want it to go, and not smearing it everywhere.

Cosmetica is a genius Australian brush line available from the chemist – the chemist I tell you! – and it has a full range of brushes, I think 23 in all. These brushes I could comfortably take and do the European shows with, the shapes are so good and the line so comprehensive. Most are natural hair although some are synthetic, and the best part is the price – at least half what you’d pay at MAC, three quarters less than you’d pay for other prestige lines such as NARS, Laura Mercier or Shu Uemura. So especially for people looking to build a decent set of makeup brushes without forking out thousands, these are the perfect way to do that. (I’m always amazed by the number of private clients who will show me Vogue and say why can’t I do that? When I ask about their brushes and they show me 5 fingers and a manky cotton bud, I can tell them right now, It’s Not Gonna Happen. Not until you get some decent brushes!)

And these are decent, they are more than decent. The other thing I love about them is they have brushes that are hard to find everywhere else. The spooly brush to comb through brows? Even MAC goes out of stock on this, and do you know how much the Cosmetica one is? $3. That’s less than a latte.

They do the equivalent of MAC’s duofibre blending 188 brush, for $17.95, which you’d need to have been living with a swami in the wilds of Tibet to not know is the best blending brush ever. AND (this is the big one) they do an eye blending brush (called Rounded Blending Brush) that is almost the same as the MAC 217. But less than half the price.

I’m sorry for my overseas readers as you can’t get this range online, but if you ask nicely in your best Australian accent, a friend in Oz may send them to you. To help you with your Aussie accent, here’s a video of Kath and Kim – if you don’t speak like that, we can’t understand you.

Available at Priceline, Big W and selected chemists in Australia.

Which is good because I have a new mascara that I’ve fallen in love with! I’m quite a tough mascara tester and have been through a LOT over the years, but the new Revlon mascara, Grow Luscious, has rapidly taken pride of place in my kit.

It’s my favourite type of mascara – it’s soft and pliable and strokes on like a dream, creating full, fluffy lashes. It can be layered without clumping and I’m yet to do a makeup where it goes into Stick Lash (where your lashes all coagulate into nasty little points so instead of lush fringe, you have three sticks, ugh). It doesn’t flake or smear, and the brush is nice and big – not as big as DiorShow, which in my opinion for a lot of makeups is too big, but it’s a generous size with good soft bristles that coat every lash.

Now the other amazing thing about Grow Luscious is supposedly it makes your lashes grow longer! For anyone who has lashes that could do with some extra growth (er-derr, like pretty much every woman on the planet) this is the mascara for you.

Unfortunately I can’t test this on myself as I have developed an allergy to my cats so mascara is off the menu for me at the moment – which is awesome, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about it. But thank goodness I can still use mascara at work as I would start hyperventilating if it was out of my life completely.

Now the next mascara I can’t wait to get my sticky paws on is the Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping mascara – all that lovely lash growth PLUS fat fluffy lashes, I think I may already be in love with it.

revlon.com

 And because I’m a sucker for Revlon commercials – it must be all those years of Cindy Crawford and Brooke Shields telling me that they’re the most beautiful women in the world (and they aren’t wrong) – here’s the lovely Jessica Alba for Grow Luscious:

Bobbi Brown Beach Bronze Cream Eyeshadow

I do love Bobbi’s cream eyeshadows, they are some of the best on the market. This has to be my Numero Uno favourite one. It’s a gorgeous gilded bronze-y colour which is magnifique on its own, or thrown into the mix with other browns and coppers for the ultimate, summer-y smoky eye.

Clinique Black Honey Almost Lipstick

I have had this in my kit FOREVER, and it used to be one of my favourite lipsticks back in the day (let’s just say that TLC’s Creep was featuring heavily on my mixed tapes when I used to use this particular number). But it is the strangest thing – it’s a deep wine colour that really does look good on every skin tone! Now due to its iconic status, Clinique have expanded the Black Honey range to include a new Black Honey powder blush. And I think it’s time for Black Honey to come out and play again. (Maybe not the mid-90’s RnB, but you never know).

Tom Ford Illuminating Face Powder

This is a fantastic pressed face powder for those with oilier skin (such as my good self). It is heavy enough to blot down what it needs to take down but without dulling the skin. I’m actually using it in place of foundation most days, as without powder my forehead looks like it’s been laminated (such a good look!) It also has a yellow tone to it, which I”ve always liked to carry in my kit, and I’ve found it’s like a better version of T Le Clerc’s powder in Banane. T Le Clerc might be needing to find a new place to live this month.

Blistex Lip Balm Ultra Protection SPF 30+

This high protection sunscreen lip balm really comes into its own on beach shoots when it’s 30 degrees and keeping the model from frying like a lobster (and her makeup looking pristine) is of paramount importance. This is my favourite lip balm with sunscreen that I’ve found recently, and I’m hoping I’ll get to use it on a few more beach shoots before the end of the season.

Estee Lauder Verite Calming Fluid

This is my current go-to moisturiser as it’s a very light fluid that hydrates the skin beautifully, leaves a gorgeous sheen on the skin and is the perfect base for sunscreen – which is just mandatory at this time of the year. This is from Estee Lauder’s fantastic Verite range for skins with rosacea and a tendency to redness (such as mine), so it helps subtly correct your skintone at a skin care level before you even get to foundation.

Chanel Blazing Gold Single Eyeshadow and Liquid Liner in Or

I’m totally keeping these for a beauty story as I’m really feeling gold at the moment (and shimmery stuff in general). The liner is an opulent liquid gold liner which is perfect for adding a festive sparkle to the inner eye corners or for a more dramatic statement liner, and the gold shadow is a pressed powder eyeshadow and just right for layering over cream gold eyeshadow for statement eyes. Apres-beach or après-ski, tres sexy!

NARS Joyous Red lipstick

This colour didn’t actually grab me when I first tried it, but it’s been growing on me over the holidays. It’s a bright red with an amber tone to it – normally a colour that I don’t gravitate towards (depending on your skin tone) as it can be difficult to wear. But there’s an oddness to this colour that has been haunting me, and I’m desperate to do some editorial that I can bust it out on. One of the things that I love about NARS colours is they do all the standard “beauty” colours – great reds, beiges, peaches etc – but also incredible shades that are outside the mainstream and just not like anything else. Bravo NARS for consistently pushing the beauty boundaries and including so many lovely different types of colours in your range.

Ooooh now I’m all excited and raring to get back to work and get deep back into the makeup mines. There’s more than just gold to discover!

PS I’m on holidays again next week, but just for a week (such a lady of leisure!) So MM will be back on the 24^th of January.

What Santa could bring in his sack for me this year:

NARS Holiday – This is probably my pick of the season and has me more excited than I’ve been about a new collection in a while. At first glance I thought – nice, but not that exciting. Don’t let these little Christmas crackers fool you – they are the type of rich, complex colours that NARS does (I think) better than any other brand on the market. Colours that once you have them you don’t know how you lived without them, and that no other brand does. This is why (like Orgasm and Jungle Red) they rapidly become iconic cult beauty items. Anyway, I digress – why you need some new NARS this Christmas:

Multiple in G-Spot – At first I thought I had a colour pretty similar to this with Malibu, an old but much loved favourite NARS Multiple of mine. But no, this is Malibu’s sweeter teenage sister, more pinky-raspberry and flecked with gold. Even in my two boxes of blushers in the Vault I don’t have anything like this. Gorgeous on cheeks and lips and I fell in love with it on a recent shoot.

Cream eyeshadow in Ponderosa – my stand out colour from this collection. Rich black bronze with a purplish sheen to it, I love this as a liner or as a base for a smoky eye. NARS cream eyeshadows aren’t cheap but they are lovely and the colours are amazing. I have quite a few and I use them a lot – this is my new cream eyeshadow obsession.

Stila Dream Catcher eye shadow palette – Almost too pretty to use, this palette contains 35 different eyeshadows, including the top seller Kitten. In fact, this palette inspired a dream about Jeanine Lobell, the creator of Stila back in the 1990’s when I first got addicted to the brand. (And yes, I am aware that it is quite scary that I dream about other makeup artists but you can’t accuse me of slacking off when I sleep. Top UK makeup artist Lisa Eldridge has also blogged about this beautiful eyeshadow palette for Xmas, and I love it a) as it’s as beautiful as a work of art and b) it’s super-handy for work as I can have it on my work table and dip into it when I’m in a hurry and need a colour quickly, without rummaging through all my palettes. You could not go wrong with this one, there are colours for everyone.

Stila Lip Glaze set – This little number actually made me drool – a box of 8 Stila Lip Glazes in mouthwatering lipgloss colours. Pinks, peaches, luminous milky creams – yum, yum yum. Stila is back on my radar of late after a bit of a hiatus (although a constant devotion to their divine cream blush Convertible Colours is always at MM HQ).

Jonathan Ward Candles – I first came across JW Candles through the incredible British Beauty Blogger in London – this lady has introduced me to more makeup finds than Vogue, and these beautiful bespoke organic paraffin-free soy candles are no exception. This year I would give (and happily receive!) J W Candles in White and Verte as they are so chic and eco-friendly. They are available in the UK at Selfridges and in Australia through http:.//www.ecoluxe.com.au

Tom Ford – Right Santa, just back the truck up, that little sack of yours is not going to cut the mustard as I will be needing all, I repeat ALL of the Tom Ford collection. The whole thing please, (including brushes and skincare). I have yet to find a dud product in this new line that has breathed life into an occasionally jaded product junkie.

Aesop Gift Boxes – this year I’ll be snapping up the Celestial Mechanics set as it contains my favourite products – Fabulous Face Cleanser, B&T Balancing Toner (the only toner I like), Camellia Nut Facial Hydrating Cream and Primrose Facial Cleansing Masque. Plus the box that they come in are the greatest thing for your makeup kit. As in ever. You cannot have too many of those!

Kiehl’s is a brand of skincare that I love and I’m well aware that it’s not been getting the MM love that it deserves (more on Kiehl’s in 2012). My pick of their gorgeous Christmas sets is the Holiday Icons set, which includes Kiehl’s Crème de Corps body moisturiser (which I use on celebs and for serious body shoots), the Kiehl’s Number 1 Lip Balm and the Ultra Facial Cream which is my go-to basic cream in my kit for normal skin.

NARS and Stila are available in Australia through Mecca Cosmetica, and in the UK through Space NK,
Tom Ford is available at David Jones in Australia and Selfridges in London.

Today I am super, super excited as Kay Montano’s new makeup blog is live! Filled with gorgeous How To videos, interviews with cream of the crop experts as well as A-list celebs, breakdowns of her superstar clientele and proper Tips and Tricks (not the usual run of the mill ones we’ve all seen a zillion times before), plus a peek into her gorgeous archive. Oh and did I mention pics of real beauty icons (like Catherine Denevue?) This is a proper glimpse into a top makeup artist’s brain, one who has been there, done that and got the t-shirt to prove it. And yes, she does talk about what products she REALLY uses – and I know it’s all true as I know what’s in her kit!

Get on board the world’s newest and best beauty blog! www.kaymontano.com

Arizona Muse

I am so into pink at the moment. Pink eyeshadow, cheeks, and definitely lips. Don’t ask me why – I didn’t get it from the recent show season but perhaps a spot of pink is in the air, as October’s Paris Vogue features this divine pic of Arizona Muse looking, well, Pretty in Pink to say the least.

Maybe because it makes you fresh and amazing, even when you roll out of bed looking half-dead. Maybe because it suits everybody and we associate it with the bloom of youth, and flowers. Or maybe because it’s an excuse to post this video of a film I watched MANY times back in the 80’s, when we all wanted red hair and a pink wardrobe like Molly Ringwald:

So my picks for Best in Show. First let’s be clear, in all my years of makeup I’ve not had a pink moment before. So my pink stocks are low. Dangerously low. Worryingly low. Which I’m in the process of rectifying at the moment, but it’s taking a while. For some reason I’ve always got by without an extensive collection of pink lipsticks – I have a few and I just kind of cook stuff up out of my cream makeup or my pencils. But now I want flirty pinks, 60’s pinks, lady like pinks – hell, even scary nanna pinks can be great if you rock them with the right attitude (and wardrobe). So without further ado, here’s what I have been experimenting with in the pink department:

Chanel Rouge Coco Lipshine in Boy – Boy oh boy is all I can say. This one is going in my kit AND in my handbag as it’s the perfect little nothing mouth – insouciante but done at the same time. That ladylike polish you want from a lipstick when you don’t want to commit to full on colour. Now I know what the fuss about the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines is about. Sheeny, moisturizing, not pearly but gives your mouth a lift. It’s a grey-ish pink as opposed to a full on one, but I happen to love that (so there).

Chantecaille Powder Blush in Laughter. Chantecaille blushes are awesome and I’ve been meaning to blog about them for ages. This one is gorgeous as it has a gold shimmer in it, so the cheek area gets a very subtle iridescence (indisputably flattering). This has been in my personal makeup bag for awhile.

NARS Baby Doll Lip Lacquer – No one understands baby doll pink like NARS – this gloss in a pot has been around for over a decade yet it’s still as fresh and fabulous as when it was launched. Do use if you want your lips to look like sweet, shiny petals.

Chanel Blush in Rose Ecrin – the latest addition to my Chanel wardrobe arsenal, and these make my job hard – as in hard to choose which ones to use. This is the perfect mauvey pink which is surprisingly flattering – and gorgeous for those with blue eyes. It’s quite a sophisticated pink so I think this might be my blush colour for Christmas parties (although I haven’t quite decided yet. I’ve penciled in some time to think about it over the weekend).

Chanel Poudre Tisee in Brompton Road, from the current Knightsbridge collection. Strawberry pink and shimmering pearl powder luminser, mm-hmm, oh no you DIDN’T. Oh yes Chanel did. Kay Montano sent me one from London but it’s too gorgeous to use. I can’t bear to ruin the sweet texture of it and those interlocking C’s. I may have to get drunk to do so. I don’t have to use it to know it’s divine. (Plus now with the magic of the internet I can see swatches from other bloggers and it is heaven in a compact).

Illamasqua Collide Nailpolish – One of the things I love most about Illamasqua is their hot nail colours, and a hot nail is a great look for the summer party season, which is just around the corner. This is an amazing shocking pink.

Bobbi Brown Creamy Lipcolour in Dry Rose – This is one of my favourite lip colours of all time for your lips but better – it looks like nothing special in the tube but when it’s on, well you know about it. I’m a huge fan of Your Lips But Better (wow, I may trademark that) lip colours. Laura Mercier’s Baby Lips is another nice one.

Revlon Mock Snob Top Speed nail colour – my favourite colour of the season! Speaking of crazy nanna colours, this is just the one. It looks like a polish colour from 1963, a shrimp cocktail peachy pink that would look perfect poolside in a Frank Lloyd Wright home overlooking LA. Imagine Betty Draper in Season 4 of Mad Men (her nails, not the brittle vindictive crazy).

NARS Schiap lipstick – the best fuchsia around. Exactly the colour of Schiaparelli’s Shocking Pink – she invented it, don’t you know. I love this lipstick quite matte without gloss and a simple, elegant eye for tout le soirees de Noel.

But I’m still on the look out for more pink divinity – if you guys have any pink favourites, please comment below!

chanel.com

illamasqua.com

revlon.com

bobbibrowncosmetics.com | bobbibrown.com.au

esteelauder.com | esteelauder.com.au

NARS and Chantecaille are available at Mecca Cosmetica in Australia and Space NK in the UK.

I love them because their faces encapsulate my youth – a time when my bedroom walls were plastered with their faces. Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington in Chanel in St Tropez. Claudia Schiffer’s tiny waist was clad in acid wash for Guess jeans and the lens of Ellen Von Unwerth, Cindy C cavorted on the beach for Herb Ritts and Arthur Elgort, and Elle McPherson was on the cover of Time. I loved them then because they were the ultimate in all that a woman could be – strong, and powerful and beautiful in an Amazonian but still attainable way. There was a wholesomeness to them, a girl next door quality that also promised a life beyond your wildest dreams. They were business women, who built empires and fortunes and offered a world where your wardrobe was Chanel and Gaultier, and you partied with Madonna at Gianni Versace’s mansion. They were the original superstars, the top models who reinvented the glamour of the celebrity world we know today.

Having been lucky enough to work with a lot of them whilst in London (Claudia, Yasmin Le Bon, Kate Moss, Elle McPherson, Kristen McNenamy), I can attest to the fact that getting older does not mean losing anything in any way. If anything, it’s about gaining – wisdom. Self knowledge and grace. And designers and advertisers are listening, as the original Supermodels speak to us in a way that a fourteen year old never can. Harpers Bazaar UK has five of the original Supers on their latest cover – and let me tell you, if I look anywhere near that good at forty five I won’t be complaining.

And now as we all grow older, and women my age look ahead to their middle thirties and beyond to their forties and even fifties, middle age is being completely reinvented by them too. They are still beautiful, and powerful, and strong. Their empires have grown and away from the camera they now helm massively successful businesses and prove that women can have children and fortunes and wealth and beauty. They provide a stunning antidote not only to traditional notions of what happens as you age, but also to the legions of undernourished teenagers that currently populate our magazines and runways. May the tide turn permanently and bring back real women. Maybe we can have a return to the ideal of the amazon woman from my girlhood, where women had power and strength and beauty and grace. Long live the Supermodels.

Here is a beautiful trailer from the 1991 film by Peter Lindbergh, simply entitled “Models”. The Supers at the height of their beauty: www.peterlindbergh.com/#FILMS/10

“Really? Really Christabel? Another mid-toned brown eyeshadow with sparkle? Do you need it?” To which I reply (in my head of course, not out loud because that’s what crazy people do. Isn’t it?) “But that one is so good as a liner when you layer it with a pencil. I’ll get rid of the others.” Sure enough though, when sparkly brown eyeshadow 2, 3 and 4 roll around, what do I get but more justifications:

“This one is perfect on green eyes as it has the right amount of red”.
“I layer this one for editorial looks”.
“This is good for a quick smoky eye when I don’t have time”
“That one’s in a palette that I like so I can’t get rid of it” And so on and so forth through shades of tan and camel, mid tone and dark, shiny and matte etc etc.

And yet, with all those brown eyeshadows (in the dozens, I’m ashamed to say, although I have my reasons to love all of them) I have a new one that I can’t get rid of either. It’s MyFace EyeTouch Trio eyeshadow in Whole Latte Love. It has a neutral matte cream colour (always handy in your makeup kit), and a great nutmeg-y colour which is perfect as a base shade, and then the piece de resistance which is a shimmering brown/plum taupe. It’s delicious on all eye colours although I’m yet to bust it out on a very dark skin tone. However it’s been in pretty heavy rotation in my makeup bag lately on private clients and beauty shoots.

This little gem has not had to justify my love. And just as an excuse to slide in a bit of vintage Madonna, here’s the clip for … well you know what it is.

myfacecosmetics.com

- Kate the Great. ‘Nuff said

- Longchamp make beautiful bags

- I love the house that they shot in – it’s an incredible home in West London that someone actually lives in and it’s full of the most beautiful little objects and nooks and crannies. I assisted Kay Montano there when she was shooting with Ellen Von Unwerth. It is the ultimate location home.

- Alasdair McLellan directed it and not only is he one of my favourite photographers, he’s a lovely guy. Can’t get enough of his gorgeous campaigns at the moment.

- Katie Shillingford styling. Odile on hair. Tom Pecheux on makeup. Need I say more?

For work I use them a lot at the shows as they are quick and easy and great when the models are running late. For heavier removal I still stand by my Crealine remover and Lancome Bi-Facil eye makeup remover for when the going gets really tough, but my first port of call in the de-scrubbing stakes is still a makeup wipe.

What I like about the FOA ones above all the others I have tried is that it really does take makeup off in pretty much one go, but without stinging or irritating the skin and eyes (yes, it does eye makeup as well! So it’s perfect for holidays or those nights when you really, REALLY can’t be bothered taking off your makeup, not when that bed looks so appealing and the room is spinning…)

Face of Australia or FOA as it’s abbreviated in Australia (pretty much everything is abbreviated in Oz) is a fantastic range of makeup you can get at the chemist, and it’s really the only makeup in Australia that I think has properly drugstore prices. All the others – Maybelline, CoverGirl, my beloved Revlon – are priced a lot more expensively than they are in the UK/US. I couldn’t really tell you why as I don’t know, but that drugstore thrill you get from being able to hit the chemist and buy a bunch of stuff – you can do that with FOA makeup. And the wipes? $4.50. So for the price of a soy latte, you can have super soft, squeaky clean skin for 20 days. I know right? Don’t say I didn’t tell you.

faceofaustralia.com

Makeup by Kay Montano

My mentor and international celebrity makeup artist Kay Montano worked with the lovely actress Amber Heard again doing Press for her new movie starring Johnny Depp, The Rum Diary – the film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s alcohol soaked vision of Puerto Rico in the 60’s.

As Amber was swapping her premiere evening gown for a tailored suit Kay went for a glamorous day time look. Here’s what she used:

Foundation

• Chanel Perfection Lumiere in 20 Clair

Powder

• Chanel Loose Powder in Fair

Contour

• Hourglass Bronze Light Crème to Powder Bronzer Duo

Eyes

• Chanel Soft Touch eyeshadow in Magic Night
• Chanel Inimitable mascara

Lips

• MyFace Vintage Pink Gigabyte lipstick

Comprehensively I believe that NARS has the best blush selection on the market. They cover all skin tones, from the incredibly pale (Angelika and Amour) to the deepest, richest mahogany (Taj Mahal, Exhibit A and Taos are all divine on black skin). They do a huge range of powder AND cream blushes, (48 in all! Which should keep even the most blush happy amongst you more than satisfied), especially when you throw into the mix their amazing Multiples, which truly are the fast food of makeup – chuck them in your bag, swipe them on your cheeks and lips and bingo! Instant pretty.

The powder blushes come in a gorgeous array of tones and finishes, and have good colour pay-off. They even do ones that are more like powder luminisers, like Albatross, Nico and Miss Liberty. I have been collecting NARS blushes for years, and the hardest thing is deciding which ones to take on a job. A quick count of the Vault and my kit has revealed a pretty staggering 30 NARS blushes to choose from, so you can see I’m a fan from way back.

The cream blushers are also beautiful and can be applied with fingers or a brush, and if you’re feeling really crazy, you can layer them with the powder for long lasting wear.  They have reduced how many creams they have in the range now, which is a shame as they are beautiful, but with a range as expansive and constantly evolving as NARS, I guess things have to go periodically to make room for new makeup lushness.

I love the black rubberized packaging courtesy of master designer Fabien Baron (still so chic, seventeen years on! That’s the hallmark of truly great design), and the names. After all, who else could get away with calling a blush Orgasm and Super Orgasm but NARS?

And even though there are a bazillion shades already available, they just keep coming up with more covetable colours. How is that even possible? I have boxes and boxes of blushes and yet still each season I keep finding another NARS must-have shade. Currently on my radar to add to my collection – after all, a girl really can’t have enough blush, no? – Enchantment, Sex Appeal and Douceur. Do I need them? Hell to the no!  Do I want them? Bet your ass yes.

Also if you can ever get your sticky blush-loving paws on some of the discontinued shades, there are some crackers there too.

Monsieur Nars, thank you for the best range of blushes in the world. I am however still waiting for an invitation to your private island in Bora Bora to enjoy the shade of the palm tree that my NARS habit has funded over the years. Next year around March works for me if that’s good for you?

narscosmetics.com

Makeup by Kay Montano

Amber Heard is quite the up and coming Hollywood star – I first saw her when she reduced Jeremy Clarkson to a giggling mess on Top Gear. A hot girl! Who loves muscle cars! Then she was in every magazine as the new Guess model, shot as a modern Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop by the iconic photographer, Ellen Von Unwerth. And THEN I saw her last week at the premiere of her new movie, The Rum Diary, after international celebrity makeup artist Kay Montano had done her makeup and suddenly she’s gone from gorgeous starlet to blockbuster Hollywood star. Even Johnny Depp, her co-star in the new film, remarked at the premiere “I’ve never seen Amber look more beautiful”.

After I saw the pictures of Amber on the red carpet, I had to find out from Kay what she used.

Foundation

• Chanel Perfection Lumiere in 20 Clair
• Chanel Bronze Universal bronzer

Highlighter

• Chanel Lumiere Sculptee Highlighting Powder

Powder

• Chanel Poudre Universal Libre in Clair

Blush

• Chanel Blush Duo Tweed Effect in Tweed Rose

Eyes

• Chanel Ombre d’Illusion in Mirifique smudged softly all around the eye
• Chanel Ecriture de Chanel Liquid Eyeliner on upper and lower lashlines
• Chanel Inimitable Extreme mascara in Noir

Lips

• Chanel Levres Scintillants in Maline

This is an interview that Kay did with Vogue.co.uk about Amber’s look:

What was the general look you were going for with Amber?
She says herself “you can get the girl out of Texas, but you can’t get Texas out of the girl” so with this in mind, and because I’ve worked with her enough to gain her trust, she said, “so long as you let me have some individual false eyelashes and some highlight on my eyes and skin, do what you want”.
To give her a London premiere version of Hollywood ‘by way of Texas’, I went for a ‘dewy-skinned, slightly rock, movie star’ look.

Working with someone as beautiful as Amber must make your job easier?
Indescribably so!

How hands-on was Amber with her make-up look – did she have a clear idea of what she wanted or did you suggest the look?
She has a highly sophisticated understanding of make-up and hair and knows exactly how to articulate it. Because she’s become a regular (we first met on a Teen Vogue shoot with Bruce Weber), she’s got to know and trust my taste so it was a collaboration.

Since I’ve had his genius Shade and Illuminate palette on constant rotation in my kit and have used it on almost every job since I tried it, I just can’t wait to see what the handsome Texan has in store for us cosmetics junkies. In the meantime, here’s what he told Style.com at the US launch:

London makeup artist Kay Montano did two looks for her, one during the day, and one for the premiere in the evening. Here’s what she used:

Day Look

Foundation

• MyFace MyMix Foundation in Med/Dark 02
• Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturising Balm in Dark Tint (on cheekbones and forehead)

Concealer

• Armani concealer under her eyes in 40GD

Powder

• Jurlique Rose Silk Finishing Powder

Blush

• L’Oreal True Match Blush in True Rose

Eyes

• L’Oreal Colour Appeal Chrome Shine Eyeshadow in Brown Lame
• L’Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Mascara in Black

Lips

• L’Oreal Glam Shine Reflexion gloss in Sheer Peach

Night Look

Foundation

• MyFace MyMix Foundation in Med/Dark 02

Concealer

• Armani concealer under her eyes in 40GD

Powder

• Jurlique Rose Silk Finishing Powder

Blush

• MyFace Costa del Sol blush

Eyes

• L’Oreal Studio Secrets Eyeliner in Black (top lid only)
• L’Oreal Contour Kohl in Iced Chestnut (bottom lid only)
• Chanel Illusion d’Ombre in Ebloui on lid
• L’Oreal SuperLiner in Black

Lips

• Shu Uemura Supreme Shine lipstick in RD 165

Wow, how can it be twenty years since Bobbi Brown first hit the makeup scene with her revolutionary take on neutrals and her fresh approach to beauty? I remember stalking her counter in London (she was only in the big cities in those days), in the early 1990’s, and the idea of foundation for not only yellow skin tones but ALL skin tones from the palest through to the deepest, was seriously revolutionary. Her ethos of enhancing what one naturally has is something that’s important in my own makeup work, embracing one’s own beauty instead of masking it.

To mark her 20^th anniversary, Bobbi has released a new scent, aptly called Party Fragrance, and it’s part of her Party collection due out in November. Regular readers will know that I can’t wear perfume due to olfactory changes and pregnancy (which was quite a while ago now). I do keep trying to wear perfume and I guess it’s better than it was, but there are far better judges of perfume than me out there.

What I CAN show you is this absolutely beautiful film, shot by Bruce Weber to commemorate Bobbi Brown’s twentieth year in the business of making people beautiful. Bruce is my all-time favourite photographer, and I was fortunate enough to work with him in London whilst assisting Kay Montano, one of his long-time collaborators. This video has all the hallmarks that I love about Bruce’s work – gorgeous people, lovely music and lots of divine dogs. Enjoy!

bobbibrowncosmetics.com
bobbibrown.com.au

Why no more mazzy in the House of Mole? My eyes have rebelled, and they hurt when I wear it. No more contacts, no more eye makeup for me. Which was sad for awhile but now I find it strangely liberating. And of course I still get to layer it on at work, so that does compensate. As a consequence I’ve not been inspired to blog about mascara or much eye makeup lately, but I was cleaning my kit yesterday and thought it was high time I told you about my latest staple mascara – Sublime de Chanel.

This is the one I reach for when you just want perfect lashes. Not major false fringes or uber natural, but perfectly lifted, curled, and darkened. Classy lashes. Left Bank lashes. The types of lashes one might take to the Spanish Steps in Rome, or the Guggenheim in New York. Every girl needs a mascara for those days don’t they? This one delivers as it has dense, inky pigment which doesn’t flake or smear – no crumbling under hot lights or one too many cocktails! So it’s perfect for real life, it just does what you want it to do. And even though I can’t test it on myself anymore, I’ve used it often enough on jobs to keep on pulling it out, time after time. J’Adore.

chanel.com

Supremely chic, as the girls walked round the fluorescent light filled room, it had a sporty feel to the collection. The girls’ foundation was kept super minimal using a little MAC Studio Sculpt, and then the fun began! Using MAC Lip Mix in Yellow we blended a tiny bit on areas such as the creases of the arms and back of knees to give a bruise like feel. Then using a special effects’ product that was melted down in hot water, we created oblong shapes on parts of the body.  Each girl had an individual look, so some had shapes on their face and some on their legs and arms. Once it set on their skin we dusted MAC pigment in Reflects Teal, a pearly white, which was barely visible until they hit the fluorescent lights on the catwalk, giving flashes of light. Gorgeous girls, perfectly suited to Tait’s wonderful collection.

When I heard he had moved into cosmetics with his collaboration with Estee Lauder a few years ago, I died a little bit and yes I will confess to quite a bit of feverish eBay buying to get my paws on parts of that collection. So when he created his beautiful lipstick line in 2010, the progression from clothes to makeup felt complete. But it wasn’t…yet. Now he has a full line of Tom Ford cosmetics that has just been released in London, and true to form, it is perfection in every sense of the word. The initial images featuring Lara Stone and utilising the not inconsiderable beauty talents of renowned English makeup artist, Charlotte Tilbury were tasters of what’s to come, and having tried the Shade and Illuminate contouring palette, I WILL be making room for more of his products in my kit.

The contour palette is available in two shades, a lighter version and a darker one (important as not everyone is one colour! One person’s shadow is another’s dirty GT racing stripe). I have it in Intensity 1, which is perfect for quite fair complexions. I used it on two shoots last week and fell more in love with it every time. It’s just a great, great colour, as it’s quite tan with a little bit of red in it, so it looks like a shadow but a glamorous shadow, if that makes sense. (Only Tom Ford could make shadows glamorous). If contour colours get too grey they can look muddy and dirty, but this one walks the right side of warm brown to create perfect, sculpted hollows just where you want them. It’s a very light cream so that it’s buildable, and has an almost transparent quality to it, but enough heft to give you cheekbones Scavullo would have loved. It works equally well with a brush or fingers, and blends gorgeously.

The pan size is huge so unless you’re doing serious Mount Rushmore work on your face every day it should last you ages, and it also has a clear white highlighter in the palette, so you can make those cheekbones pop. I love the highlighter too as it’s the same transparent cream and it has a gold effect to it as opposed to a pink pearl base which a lot of highlighters have. The whole effect is shimmery, amber-y gorgeousness. I also love that the packaging is so light – I know lots of bloggers have been finding this annoying as the price tag is high, and presumably they expect expensive makeup to feel like a block of obsidian. Thank you Mr Ford for not making it so! As a makeup artist, I actually have to take out luxe but heavy items (cough, Burberry, cough) as weight is an issue when you take a suitcase full of products with you to work every day.

It’s not cheap. But it’s about the same price point of other premium brands such as Chanel, Dior, Burberry, YSL etc. When you are buying a little slice of heaven you can expect to pay for it, but for me the quality is just so good I will be skimping on other things (like food, utilities, new shoes) to pay for it. This is a range worth getting in hock for, and I rarely say that! (Oh alright, when the new Chanel collection comes in I generally do, but who needs shoes or food when you can have new season designer makeup gorgeousness?)

I literally cannot wait to try the rest of the collection. Kay Montano was emailing me about it from London when she had a private viewing of it at the Dorchester (as you do, obvs) as it was just so amazing. Kay has tried pretty much every product on the planet and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of beauty, so for her to say that is a pretty big call.

tomford.com
Tom Ford Beauty is available now at Selfridges in London, and will be exclusively available at David Jones Sydney and Melbourne from November 13th, 2011.

The only drawback with it is the shade range which only comes in three tones. This I’m sure will be increased in future, as great skin lovers come in all shades of the skin spectrum. Also as it comes in only three colours you might find you are somewhere in between and need to blend two together – I’m a Bare 01 but only just and as I get subtly darker over the summer (it’s impossible to prevent, even if you use Wednesday Adams as your role model with regards to sunscreen, like I do) I will probably end up wearing a mix of my current one and the next step up. Oh, did I mention that it has an SPF of 15? So for those who dislike wearing separate sunscreen, that part is done for you. Love a multi-tasking product!

And for my oily ladies – please do try this before you buy as it’s super glowy due to being very emollient, and if you’re already channeling the greasies I think it will be too rich for you. I would try Laura Mercier’s Oil-Free Tinted Moisturiser instead.

So if you’re in the market for natural, perfect skin and the product that can deliver it, Liz Earle Sheer Skin is my new top rec.

lizearle.com

Makeup Director Wendy Rowe | Report by Celine Bopp

“Every season for Burberry the girls grace the catwalk with elegance and style, the look is effortlessly beautiful. Makeup Director Wendy Rowe created the look using Burberry’s own make up range. The girls all wore a very well blended light smokey eye using Burberry Eyeshadows in Almond and Taupe brown. A little mascara in Midnight Brown was used on each girl. The skin was kept fresh only given a tiny bit of a warm base where needed using Burberry’s Sheer Foundation. A gentle sculpting was used on the cheek, and Burberrys Lip Cover in a rose shade was applied very sheer on the lips. Absolutely divine.”

]]> http://www.makeupmole.com/new-beauty-breakdown-%e2%80%93-lfw-burberry-prorsum-springsummer-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.makeupmole.com/video-kay-montanos-rulebreakers-for-because-london-glitter-is-just-for-kids/ http://www.makeupmole.com/video-kay-montanos-rulebreakers-for-because-london-glitter-is-just-for-kids/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:49:08 +0000 The Makeup Mole http://www.makeupmole.com/?p=2101 Über makeup artist Kay Montano shows us how it’s done in her gorgeous new tutorial for Because London, in a video with more than a nod to Josephine Baker. Love the model, love the modern take on metallics, and yes I WILL be most definitely needing those new Armani Eyes to Kill shadows, thank you very much.

Helmut Newtown 1977

If you fancy a little bit of this in your life - You need a bit of Revlon Fire.

At the moment I am loving high octane glamour – full on, no holds barred, take it to the edge over the top Alexis Carrington style glamour. The type of woman who oozes diamonds and confidence in equal measure. I love red lips, expensive hair, and a blood-red nail, as epitomized in Helmut Newton’s classic photographs. And I’ve found the nail polish his models would be sporting (if he were still alive, which sadly he is not. Luckily we have his incredible work archives to remember him by).

The polish is Revlon Top Speed in Fire. It’s the perfect glamorous red as it’s just on the orange side of a pure red. It is decadent, luxurious and gives a nod to the late 70’s, early 80’s which I’m all about at the moment.

I used Revlon’s Top Speed nail polishes years ago and I’d totally forgotten how good they are. They dry fast which is great at work as no one wants to sit around waiting for nails to dry when there are pictures to take, and I now use it personally as well as I always seem to be doing my nails whilst I’m running out the door/on a call/packing my kit – the curse of the multi-tasking modern life I suppose.

revlon.com

Makeup Director Sam Bryant | Sponsored by MAC | Report by Celine Bopp

One of the high points of London Fashion Week is always Richard Nicholl’s exquisite show, and this year was no exception. Here’s what Sam’s team leader Celine Bopp had to say:

“The girls at Richard, oh my word…sensational. Gorgeous lunar skinned highlighted girls, and the inspiration for Richard’s collection was from a unfinished film in the 1960s called L’Enfer. Think groovy chic, babydoll silhouettes, a simply amazing collection.

Sam created the look for the girls coming up with a 60’s feel, by taking a 60’s liner and adding a conceptual twist.

The girls had dreamy lunar skin, absolutely gorgeously highlighted, and a dewy, minimal base was created using MAC Face and Body foundation, just to cover any imperfections and give it a sheer feel. A slight contour was used on some of the girls if they needed it using a foundation shade darker than their skin tone. The lashes were curled and MAC Shell Cream Colour Base was used to highlight the girls on the cheekbones, bridge of nose, cupid’s bow, and every body part that wasn’t covered by clothes. The conceptual liner was made out of a matte black tape, cut out in exact oblong shapes and put in a titled placement on the outer corner of the eye. In the line up Sam added an extra highlight on each girl, using white iridescent powder.”

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