Beauty Look: Marc Jacobs Spring 2011 Ad Campaign

Fashionologie posted images from the new Marc Jacobs spring 2011 ad campaign, shot backstage at the designer's spring show, and so I know you will all want to know how to get the look. The image above is cropped to focus on the makeup aspect.

The photos by Juergen Teller have a strange wash of color, but I have a general idea what the colors look like in normal light.

So obviously. No. Blush. At. All. Or if you must use some and will feel naked without it, you should only use a few dabs of blush in Nars Orgasm.

The most striking part is that the lips are not completely made up with lipstick. You will probably not want to go out looking like this, but it is interesting how the bare or un-lipsticked areas highlight the contours of her mouth. The effect is very seductive and kind of Man Ray too.

You can apply a deep lip color only in the inner parts of the lip to copy the effect entirely. Or you can apply lipstick with a lip brush across the whole mouth, carefully tracing the "v" in the upper lip. I used L'Oreal Endless Platinum Lipstick #240 in Glistening Berry, but another alternative is Nars lipstick in Fire Down Below, which is redder and less purple. (Some gals like to draw lipstick beyond the natural lines of the lips, but I think that would ruin the effect.)

Next, apply a strong gloss such as Dior Addict Lip Polish or, for higher shine, any shade of Clinique Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss. With the L'Oreal lipstick and Clinique gloss in Black Honey, my lips look almost exactly like the photo. Good work, Charlotte!

The last part is not for the faint of heart. Eyes like that take work. Apply a basic concealer to your eyelids. Bobbi Brown's concealers are never too matte, so I recommend them.

Line the eyes with Clinique's Quickliner For Eyes in the black/brown shade. Then, use Stila's Smudge Pot in the sparkly Black Cat shade, and with a thicker eyeliner brush, trace the eyes once again, with an emphasis on the lower lash line. Trace the lower lash line several times.

Then, dip your brush in water and carefully blend this area underneath the eye with the brush and lightly with your fingertips to get that sexy raccoon effect. Allow the makeup to dry. You really need a creaseless eye area to wear this much eye makeup, but young women who are around 16 or in college can absolutely get away with it.

Then, you can apply several sweeps of DiorShow mascara and toss on, well, a really hot Marc Jacobs dress, of course. Or a vintage glitter tube top!

To Note....

• Click to read the full item on Fashionologie: First Look at the Marc Jacobs Spring 2011 Campaign
  
• Hunky Usher was kicked in the face.
• My December post on another proponent of smudged makeup: Lady Gaga.

James Coviello: Backstage at New York Fashion Week

Vintage-inspired dresses ruled the runways at James Coviello backstage. Models were trussed, preened, and even crimped. This mad hatter model's eyes were thoroughly plucked (Tweezerman, $20-$30) and cheeks duly accentuated.

So be a copycat!
Runway to Real Way

Prep

1. Freshen up your skin and make it glow like a supermodel with Aromatherapy Associates Rose Hydrating Mask ($50) or a mask your skin likes.

Moisturize.

Then, blend a thin layer of foundation, and if you absolutely need to, hide any imperfections with more foundation or a liquid concealer. (Cream concealers often appear cakey, and draw too much attention to what you were trying to cover up.) Think fresh!

Cheeks

2. Look at the photo closely, and you'll see her blush begins just past the crease of her smile (over that hill your lips make when you smile wide).

Try applying Smashbox Skin Tint cheek stain in Infrared. With your steadiest hand, paint the color in a diagonal direction on the area just below your cheekbones and blending a little above the cheekbone, as well.

If you have a similar face structure, you can blend the tint so it forms a dramatic, slanted leaf-shaped wash of color.



Eyes

3. Get those eyelids ready by adding a neutral primer (Clinique's Touch Base for Eyes). This will even out any discoloration around the eyes, and prevent eyeshadow from slipping away...



Almost done! Go for it by tracing a circle around your eyelids with a smoky, perlescent mauve eyeshadow. Eyeshadow Government recommends L'Oreal Eye Quad in Subtle Berries.



Lips

Make lips look like rubies with Benefit Silky Finish lipstick in Guilt Free. (I wish!)




Now it's that special time to whine...But what about that fun but very expensive dress she's wearing?

The perennially preppy J. Crew has unveiled some "polished" hippie dresses. They're loose enough to play tennis in--just kidding!





Buy it: Tweezerman ($20); Aromatherapy Associates Rose Mask ($50), Beauty Habit; Smashbox Skin Tint in Infrared ($28), Sephora; Clinique Touch Base for Eyes ($13), ; L'Oreal Eyeshadow Quad ($5), Walgreens; J. Crew Schiadre dress (about $350), J. Crew Campo de Fiori Dress ($175), J. Crew.

Pump It Up: L'Oreal Voluminous Volume Building Mascara and Vincent Longo Eyeshadow Trio

A girl can't say "no" to Fiberwig mascara, but she can also say "yes" to L'Oreal Voluminous mascara. When it comes to mascaras, double-dating is perfectly acceptable.

Transition into night by lining your eyes with the dark, star-kissed shade from Vincent Longo's eyeshadow trio.



Buy it: L'Oreal Voluminous Original Volume Building Mascara ($8), Longs Drugs; Imju Fiberwig ($22), Sephora; Vincent Longo Stella Untold Eyeshadow Trio ($30), Drugstore.com.

Blades of Glory: Strike A Pose

Eyeshadow Government's beauty icon of the day is Jon Heder. It's rare for a man to wear bubblegum lip gloss with such grace, style and humility. On ice skates too.

To really wear the Blades of Glorious Look, we toned down the candy colors and found some muted shades for a "wearable" daytime effect. Try Dr. Hauschka Lipstick in Adagio for a tender pink pout as a base, and layer with L'Oreal Hip Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss in Dreamer. Or splurge and make your kisses do figure eights with Nars Lip Gloss in Harlow.




Buy it: L'Oreal Hip Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss in Dreamer, drugstores; Dr. Hauschka Lipstick in Adagio ($21), Whole Foods;
Nars Lip gloss in Harlow ($23), Sephora or www.beauty.com.

Sweet On You

Valentine's Day celebrates love, sighing and hearts, and so it's totally cool by us. Some people get down on this holiday and its commercialism, but seriously, talk to the hand. There's love! mittens to punch anti-Valentine-ettes and ex-boyfriends.
All good Valentines get red lipstick to smooch in, and sweatshirts for cuddling.



Buy it: Wooden Ships Valentine's Day! mittens ($48), Kitson; L'Oreal Colour Riche lipstick in Drumbeat Red ($8), your local drugstore; Rainbow Heart Sweatshirt ($30), Fred Flare.

Elongates eyelashes and shortens leg hair!

You know, I was wondering if spending all this time reading blogs and eating crackers was making me stupider, and I think I have definitive external evidence that it is. (See, I need the external evidence because my mind is too cracker-logged to evaluate itself. I am like, at the level of a smart-end-of-average pig, probably.) Anyway. I got a new mascara, and it's NOT FLEXTENCILS. It is this new Lancome mascara, L'Extreme, and it is supposed to have special elongating worker-bunnies and patented eyelashening fiber bits and I'm sorry, but this is crap. It is sticky and dumb and so not eyelashening. And I spent money on it because my stupid French class is near stupid Bloomingdales and what, am I supposed to NOT go in? And then I want the shiny ladies at the makeup counter to touch my face, because I love having my face touched, especially by shiny ladies, and then I feel bad not buying at least the mascara from the shiny face-touching lady although they probably get locked in the basement at night and the money I paid goes to the parent company which probably uses it to develop more efficient baby-crushing-machines and I am being HAD, but it keeps happening. Average-to-smart pig, I'm telling you. Ha, know what, I would be fucked if I were an average-to-smart pig, because word on the street is that Lancome's parent company, L'oreal, is not exactly ahead of the let's-not-test-on-animals curve.

Of course, I don't know how up to date this info is or anything, and my views on animal rights are nuanced (underdeveloped). Still, in honor of a) the fact that this new mascara is very expensively not doing anything for me and b) my love for my dog, here are some good (and tested-on-Violet) mascaras made by companies that don't test on animals.*

Almay One-Coat Lengthening Mascara: Nice and natural and drugstore-cheap, I think this is what I am going to buy when my current stock runs out. Almay is owned by Revlon, and I don't know what their practices are, but the Almay branch is a-ok.

Chanel Extracils: Chanel, of course, does not fuck around. Still, this is not as dark as I wish it were. Chanel also owns Bourjois, which makes the SPARKTOCKULAR Coup De Theatre (pardon the lack of accent marks, I'll get it figured out) and very fun top-coats, including this one. Multiple steps of mascara application are not what I want to deal with in the AM, though, so these do not make good everyday products for me.

Clinique High Impact Mascara: Actually dark enough for me, though not as lengthening as I wish it were. Nothing has been yet, so I guess that's not really points off. (Clinique, and a whole lot of other companies, including Perscriptives and MAC, I think, are all owned by Estee Lauder, and are all ok animal-wise. Of course, they may have all sorts of other issues. Or not! Who knows! But we're talking about animals today.)

There are others, but I don't really care to reveal how wantonly I purchase (even animal-friendly) mascara, so that will have to do.

*NB, my research is how you say, MINIMAL, so if buying products not tested on animals is really important to you, double check these. Also, I am sure there are plenty of animal-friendly companies that make lovely mascaras that I have never tried. Not so sure, actually. Still. These are not those.