In the days since I’ve been home with my parents, my mom and I have been comparing notes about hair, makeup and skin care. There is actually a pile of Dior, Clinique, Nars, and MAC lipsticks and mascaras on my bedroom floor right now, waiting to be played with and tested. (Truth be told: I rarely wear lipstick. But I can’t leave the house without mascara on.) At the moment, we’re both really into serums. I like them because they’re a great way to protect the face from winter climate changes (dry heat in the office, brick cold outdoors) and correct flaws. Here are a few favorites. Lancôme Génifique Youth Activating Concentrate Chanel Précision Hydramax Active Serum Laura Mercier Flawless Skin Renewal Serum
The serum boasts a long list of highly scientific sounding ingredients (the serum is actually supposed to activate your genes through all manner of innovation.) I think it works remarkably fast, leaving skin feeling noticeably softer and smoother. After using it for about a month, my skin tone was definitely brighter and more even.
My mom is a Chanel skincare loyalist. And I have to admit, the woman does look young (but that’s mostly due to genetics than anything else.) If your face is showing signs of age, Hydramax Active Serum, an ultra lightweight serum will give your skin a boost of moisture, fighting wrinkles in the process.
The formula, which includes deep sea water from Japan, speeds up cell turnover and leaves your face looking brighter and more hydrated. It works especially well for treating sun spots and hyper-pigmentation.
Well, I’ve made it to Virginia for an extended Christmas visit after a full day’s worth of all kinds of travel fun including sitting on a Heathrow tarmac for 90 minutes beside a poor soul battling the flu. Unfortunately, my suitcase, which was holding about 75% of my family’s Christmas gifts, didn’t have as much luck and is now trapped in the lost baggage* ether. It’s a good thing that I decided to make 2010 the year that I finally stop stressing out over things I can’t control. Here’s my chance to start practicing! Note to self: Stick with online Christmas shopping from now on.
-Tamu McPherson, All the Pretty Birds
While having brunch with a group of girlfriends, the conversation turned to holiday gift shopping. It seems that many people we know have either set a low spending cap or sworn off gift-giving altogether in favor of D.I.Y. presents and stocking stuffers. Extravagant, bank-busting gifts feel about as wrong as flashy, logo-riffic handbags this season. So in honor of this year’s sentiment of thrifty giving, we’ve chosen a few fun markdown items we found while combing through online sales.
What are your earliest memories of makeup? You’re well known for your work with the original supermodels Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington among others. Of the original group of supers, who did you connect with the most and why? Who do you find the most inspiring right now? Your makeup line has become so popular that you’ve become a household name and yet the brand has retained its cool cred. How do you strike a balance between the two? Over the years you’ve created some huge cult hits, namely the color Orgasm. Are you ever surprised by which colors take off and which ones don’t perform as well? You came out of retirement to do the Marc Jacobs autumn ‘09 show. How had things changed in the world of fashion shows from when you were a fixture backstage?
To the average person, François Nars is the man behind the hugely popular Nars cosmetics range. But to those who are in the sartorial know, the Frenchman is the renowned makeup artist who helped create some of the fashion world’s most iconic editorials, supermodels and runway looks. His brand turned 15-years-old this year with a series of starry parties and the recent launch of the anniversary book 15 X 15, which features his longtime friend Marc Jacobs in crimson red lipstick, among other glossy images.
The Caron powder my grandmother used in France. It had a wonderful fragrance and an amazing finish. I used to love kissing her. I remember that feeling very well. And my mother gave me the appreciation for beauty. Every month, she would buy French Vogue and I would spend hours poring over the pictures and recreating the makeup looks.
That’s a tough question. I loved working with all of them, especially Linda Evangelista. She was obsessed with makeup. We would spend two hours plucking her eyebrows! She really understood and got into the persona of what we were trying to achieve. I also loved Naomi and am still very close with her. She is such an iconic beauty and has not aged one bit since I first met her. I could do her makeup with my eyes closed.
Daphne Guinness. She inspires me to do so many things! She is the next model for the Nars fall/holiday 2010 campaign. She is the Nars woman, very creative, elegant and so high society–so very decadent with a British background. She was so much fun to photograph for the 15X15 Project and for the campaign. She is a living piece of art.
We are not afraid to be a bit different, to make shades that are bold. We don’t tell women how to look, but give them the shades, products and inspiration they need to feel and look beautiful. It’s a good feeling. I’m proud that Nars has helped give women the confidence to express themselves.
With Orgasm, I always felt that buying a blush was a good way to actually get an orgasm. So why not? And I guess women got the message. I follow my instinct and create colors that I love. There is always a doubt when you put a product on the market. Will it sell? But, I try not to worry and think about that aspect too much because I think when you believe in what you do, you can only succeed.
Over the years I think that fashion has become a media frenzy, it is constantly under projectors. Now, most shows are televised and the backstage area is captured by camera crews. So you have to concentrate twice as hard as before to work and have fun.
“You look at her video, and the writing doesn’t sync up with the way she talks about fashion. When I watched that video it smacked of this ethereal vagueness — this vacant like quality where it was like everyone was on Vicodin. Like everyone was uncomfortably dumb except for me. I’m not trying to take anything away from her — her love of fashion, her love of style. She’s either a tween savant or she’s got a Tavi team.” “What am I getting out of a 13-year-old’s opinion about fashion? How does that help me distill the collections? What am I supposed to be buying? That’s what an editor’s job at a magazine is.”
There’s an interesting discussion happening over at The Cut about the Tavi phenomenon and whether or not editors take her seriously. For the most part, they don’t. But it would be weird if we expected any grown woman to take cues from a 13-year-old. ELLE’s Anne Slowey compares her fascination with the tiny blogger to the public’s old obsession with JT Leroy and points out the difference between Tavi’s writing and speaking style in the Rodarte for Target video. A few excerpts:
Oh snap. I agree that there seems to be a noticeable disconnect between Tavi’s written and verbal fashion analysis. But whether or not she is her own invention, I just find it fascinating that she exists and has reached the celebrity that she has. On one level, Tavi is another example of how the Internet has become an equalizer of sorts within fashion. Just two years ago it would be unthinkable to see a random guy from Manila sitting front row in Milan (that guy being current blog star Bryanboy). But these days, it’s the outsiders who are the most enthralling. It’s kind of beautiful to see the old guard give way to new and different points of view. On the other hand, the whole Tavi thing exemplifies how the Internet is basically turning us all into a pack of lemmings, rotating from one Next Big Thing* to the next at a faster and faster rate. That and the fact that we’re in a stage where the public seems to value point of view over expertise. In an odd way, Tavi reminds me of Twitter. You can try and dismiss her, but it won’t change the fact that she signifies major change afoot.
For the past few seasons we have been obsessed with the youth internet-driven phenomenon. Partly because we (grown-ups) are looking for inspiration. (1) Our traditional sources have dried up. (2) This begets a critique of society on a whole; celebrity blogging, after all, is an extension of reality TV (without the drama and hysterics of course) or at least its psychological influence on society. Without the Internet, neither Bryan, Tavi, or Jane would exist–or at least not until they graduated from college and started their careers. So the point is that in order to find the next big thing we have to exploit every possible source of content, i.e. fashion obsessed/informed youth on the internet.”
