News feed
At Bec & Bridge’s sartorial soiree, makeup spoke French. Well, a dialect of. It was the Parisian winged eye with a smudge of eclecticism, synonymous with M.A.C’s Nicole Thompson.
“Oh it’s French, let’s do a flick! But we didn’t want to do an obvious flick.”
Nicole’s amendment was decidedly blue in colour – electric shock blue – and beefed up. It was chunky, thick and mighty, with a theatrical kick.
“We wanted to keep a soft shape, so we’ve essentially done two rounded edges. It’s quite a thick line, then we’ve rounded those edges so it’s even on the inside and outside and that way it has a softness to it. We don’t want it to look too cyborg-y, too harsh. These girls are meant to look fun, flirty, sexy – the collection’s called Meow Meow, it’s all very French, so red and blue. We wanted it to look very playful on the face. Once again, intensity of the eyeliner against that beautiful bare skin, so just having it all pop off.”
A crafty combination of Chroma Cake in Marine Ultra and How Royal and Zinc Blue eyeshadows, to get that “magic blue”. But how? “The two eyeshadows over the top pressed on with a flat brush to hold it on there – and that just gives it the intensity that we want, so it really looks like a sticker,” Nicole stated.
“It’s all that sort of feeling—you can’t look too overdone. French girls don’t do that.”
It was white-out en masse at Esber, with Napoleon Perdis coating lids in a chalky lemon with graphic flair. Skin was kept fresh and minimal, and in this duality the eyes became the star. Matte and stodgy, a heavy-handed application across the eyes made for an edgy, architectural look, not dissimilar to Esber’s designs.
“It’s artistic, it’s feminine and there’s a kind of a textural element to it as well, and a nod to the eighties.”
It took a village (of product) to create the colour, a fusion of the Violet Femme Loose Dust, White Gel Liner and Contrary Canary, “which is gold mixed in with the white liner so it’s quite pasty and you get this whole pasty feel all over the eyes,” explained Napoleon.
Part intergalactic, part experimental, models had that gamine charm. And to try the look at home? “Only a twinkle of a colour – maybe as a liner!” noted Napoleon.
Play French girl with a punky spirit, or go space cadet with a streamlined white – either way, the graphic eyes have it.
