I found this lovely video on Nowness of Chanel’s Creative Director, Peter Phillips, talking about his career and working for Chanel. If you read MM on a regular basis you know my enduring love for Chanel and for their constant creativity and the incredible luxury and performance of their products, all whilst maintaining and strengthening the extraordinary heritage and the ethos of Madame Coco Chanel.
This post is slightly cheating – really it should be “Best Eyeshadow Ever”, but I just couldn’t pick one brand. I have too many eyeshadows that I like – MAC and Dior and NARS and Illamasqua and Chanel and my old Stila ones and Myface and Laura Mercier – oh, and Bobbi Brown! It would be like Sophie’s Choice but with about 50 kids to choose from. Horrible, and too distressing to contemplate. So instead I decided to cheat and start with Eyeshadow Quads. Chanel win those hands down. I was doing makeup for a private client at the weekend and I got seriously back into them.
I have loads! I have at least nine that come with me on every job. Old ones that have been discontinued for years, and newer ones (like last year’s delicious Kaska Beige), and they all get a regular work-out. The colours are super-flattering and can be mixed beautifully, either from within the quad or with others in the Chanel range – or if you’re feeling crazy, from other brands!
Yes I know, the pigment pay off on other brands can be superior, but the finish is so beautiful! And the colour ranges are gorgeous, and go together so well. And yes they are expensive, but you wouldn’t expect to get a discount Ferrari would you?
One thing I have found though is that I much prefer the US versions of the quads – I just prefer the texture, and the texture is markedly different to their UK/European/Australian versions. But sill I love all of them, no matter where I bought them from. And the packaging, well, there is no substitute for that elegant black lacquer.
The only downside is that they have terrible tendency to encourage you to want more – as in new ones every season, as every new collection is more delectable than the last. Ombres Perlees de Chanel for Spring? Don’t mind if I do!
I’ve posted this breakdown before but I couldn’t resist posting it again, as it was on the cover of the Observer magazine in the UK this weekend. It’s such an extraordinary photo, and an extraordinary makeup – done by none other than Kay Montano! Here’s what she used on the world’s biggest pop star.
Kay Montano on the Hello Kitty Shoot: “Gaga art directs everything! She is a stream of ideas and suggested I paint Japanese cartoon style eyes on her eyelids which added a surreal edge to what would otherwise have been a cutesie look.”
Base: Chanel Vitalumiere in No. 20 Clair
Powder: Chanel Traslucent powder to create the perfect base
Eyes: Make Up For Ever Flash Colors 12 color box of crème makeup to paint exaggerated green Japanese eyes on her eyelids, with MAC Prep+Prime to set
Eyeliner: Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink
Mascara: Chanel Exceptionnel mascara in black
Lashes: 2 sets of MAC eyelashes, one on the browbone to create false top lash
Lips: Chanel Coco Pink lipstick (US exclusive), then silver (Fardel silver powder mixed with water).
Makeup by Kay Montano
I have another Beauty Breakdown treat for all you little makeup munchkins today! For the first time, one of my favourite actresses, Thandie Newton, has allowed a film crew in to catch her preparing for an event. And not only do I have the fabulous footage (seen here exclusively for Beauty and the Dirt), but I have a breakdown as well, courtesy of her long-time makeup artist, Kay Montano.
Thandie looks phenom, as always – seriously I have never, EVER seen her look anything than unbelievable. Here’s what Kay used:
Foundation
Powder
Eyes
Lips
Kay’s been in a busy lady, getting not only Thandie Newton ready for the BAFTAS last night but Amy Adams as well. I love me a bit of Amy Adams – Sunshine Cleaning was one of my favourite movies I saw last year, and anyone who can pull off being not only Amelia Earhart, but Amelia Earhart as Ben Stiller’s love interest is a true star in my book! A new mum, she looked radiant on the red carpet in a peach Elie Saab dress.
Here’s what Kay used:
Skin Prep
Foundation
Powder
Blush
Eyes
Eyebrows
Lips
Because this is the site with no shame, and because I haven’t had any cheesily fabulous 80’s music on here for awhile, here’s some Spandau Ballet to ease you into this season’s hottest trend for holiday parties – Gold.
Now that I’ve blown your mind with some feathered hair and ostentatious guitar chord playing (check around the 1.23 mark if you’re into that sort of thing), it’s time to get down to business, how to shimmer like a star this Christmas.
The best way to wear golds is generally on the eyes – although this season there are some ace gold nailpolishes around too (but more on them later).
Gold suits every eye colour and in fact every skintone, and metallics in general are huge this season.
My fave way to wear gold on the eyes is to layer a cream with a powder, and for full-on Midas eyes you can’t really go past Illamasqua’s Solstice Liquid Metal with Pure Pigment in Marvel. This is what Alex Box used to create the Golden Goddess look for the Myer show in Sydney this year, and I can attest to its – well, golden-ness. I love these because the gold isn’t too yellow and fake looking, and they have a burnished quality when they catch the light (golds that are too fake and yellow looking make me feel, quite frankly, ill. So cheap and nasty!)
If you fancy something a little less full-on, Laura Mercier does a lovely gold metallic crème eyeshadow in, aptly enough, Gold, and Chanel do a beautiful gold powder eyeshadow. It’s also, funnily enough, called Gold.
There are a few tricks to making metallics work. Firstly you need to apply your shadow, then line your eyes right at the base of the top lashes with a black liquid liner or gel eyeliner. This defines the eye and makes it much more party-worthy. Black or brown pencil liner on the inner rims is optional, depending on whether you really want to get your sexy on. I like MAC’s Boot Black liquid and Bobbi Brown’s Black Ink gel liner for this purpose. You can either just do a wash of gold on the lids, or you can use a nice matte brown shadow to wash into the crease to give some good depth and definition (I’m currently loving NARS Bengali as a great all round chocolate brown eyeshadow). Two coats of your favourite mascara (my current fave mazzie is L’Oreal’s Volume Million Lashes mascara for a party lash), and false lashes are optional but always a winner for parties. MAC and Shu Uemura are great for expensive ones, Ardell if you’re saving your pennies.
You can keep the rest of the face simple by using the minimum of foundation and powder, some bronzer and keep the lip a delicious nude. I love YSL Rouge Pur in 132 a gorgeous golden pinky beige. Golden-beige gloss on top, something like Chanel’s Beige Guitare.
Nails
Nails are also a key place to go for gold. Myface L’il Bling is an amazing new range of metallic polish, and their gold polish is particularly lovely (it’s called Gilt-y). For the ultimate gold nail though you should check out Nail Rock. Nail Rock are individual nail wraps in different patterns, including metallics, that you heat up with a hair dryer onto the nail. They do take a bit of getting used to, but for a true Midas touch, you can’t go past these. They are the creation of London manicurist Zoe Pocock and they last up to 7 days on nails and 8 weeks on the toes, plus they are inexpensive (£6.50 per set), so there’s no excuse for not going for gold. (Feathered hair and ostentatious guitar playing are optional).
www.illamasqua.com
www.chanel.com
www.narscosmetics.com
www.lauramercier.com
www.maccosmetics.com
www.yslbeautyus.com
www.myfacecosmetics.co.uk
Nail Rock are available from www.asos.com or Topshop, and Sportsgirl in Australia.
