I've been so excited to post these palettes but diligently waited till June. As I'm taking a stroll down the aisle myself next year, I'm especially happy to share these! These were a Japan-exclusive release in the summer of 2006.
I like that the bride is wearing pink instead of traditional white, and that the bridesmaid has a little flower in her hair:
The interiors of both:
I'm not sure if these were meant to be marketed to brides-to-be. I know I bought them well before I was even engaged, just because I have to have every palette with a Stila girl on it! But if so, I think the colors in the bride palette are a nice change from the usual neutral tones meant for brides (i.e., Bobbi Brown's bridal palette or the recently released Nars palette) – the blue eyeshadow could be the bride's "something blue". 🙂
The graphic designer I hired (okay, he's my fiance) has come up with a truly fabulous logo for the Makeup Museum. He presented it to me in a range of awesome colors…and then informed me that I now owe him $3,000 for his work. I can only assume he was joking! In any case, I am very excited to share these.
#1:
#2:
#3:
#4:
#5:
While my favorite color combination is yellow and grey, I'm thinking the Museum needs bright red, reminiscent of a great lipstick shade. So I'm having him work on weaving that in somehow, along with making me some business cards. 🙂
Which one is your favorite? Post in the comments section!
Yesterday's post got me thinking about another coral-inspired makeup item: Chantecaille's lovely coral highlighting powder from spring 2007. A portion of the proceeds went to Reefs of Hope, run by the Pew Institute of Ocean Science.
But the real collectible is this little gem by designer Jay Strongwater, who teamed up with Chantecaille to create a limited-edition, hand-lacquered refillable compact. Unfortunately I lacked (er, still lack) the $420 (!!!) necessary to purchase this, but I would love to get my hands on this for the Museum if it were still available. Just another item that got away!
(photo from neimanmarcus.com)
MAC followed in Prescriptives' footsteps and released its own rose-embossed blushes as part of their Rose Romance collection. While I did enjoy the Prescriptives palettes, I like that MAC sculpted a rose in the powder itself rather than choosing to do a two-dimensional rose overlay like Prescriptives.
Here's Blush of Youth beauty powder (there is another one called Summer Rose, but seeing as how it's essentially the same powder, just in a different color, I didn't buy it since precious Museum funds could be used elsewhere):
This collection was released only a few weeks ago, but MAC has already come out with a Museum-worthy collection – Style Warriors. Stay tuned!
Through New Curator I have just been alerted to the fact that it is International Museum Day, according to the International Council of Museums. Here's to all the established, traditional museums (think the Met and Louvre) and of course to the smaller, kookier ones like the Makeup Museum and others. If there is an entire museum devoted to clocks and watches, surely there's room for a beauty museum!
It just goes to show I'm not totally crazy – here is a bona fide exhibition about beauty and cosmetics! Via Art History Newsletter, I learned that the Musée National de la Renaissance in Ecouen, France, presents Le Bain et le Miroir: Soins du corps et cosmétiques à la Renaissance. Alas, I cannot understand French and the website doesn't have an English option, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with beauty and cosmetics. From what I can gather (did you know Google has a translation function?), included are combs, perfumes, mirrors and I believe even some makeup. There are also paintings and sculptures depicting ideal Renaissance beauty to put these objects in context. The exhibition is in conjunction with another exhibit focusing on beauty in from antiquity to the Middle Ages at the Cluny Museum. What's really amazing about that one is that L'Oreal analyzed the cosmetics to understand their composition. How cool would it be to research what people used back then for makeup?
L'Oreal is also partially funding the exhibition..I'm thinking I should get in touch with them to see if they want to have a contemporary beauty exhibit stateside. 🙂
For spring Chantecaille released these lovely palettes. Five percent of sales will go to the International Union for Conservation of Nature to help save the whales. I think what I like most about these isn't the abstract waves formed by undulating lines, it's the little baby whale swimming below the larger one.
Eyes:
Face:
I'm happy Chantecaille is continuing its trend of putting out palettes with endangered species – it's another way the cosmetic industry can do some good. If only the packaging itself were eco-friendly. Sylvie better get on that. 😉
I was surprised and pleased to see this little number from Laura Mercier's spring collection. Normally this understated line doesn't go into patterns on their items (with the exception of a basic diamond pattern on their shimmer blocs) so this is a nice change.
I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, however, given that the brand had previously released violet-embossed eye shadow palettes last spring.
While I sort of think roses are a tired motif (see Lancôme, Chantecaille and Valerie Beverly Hills), I was pleasantly surprised to see this palette from Prescriptives. I believe this is the first time the company has come out with an embossed palette. Below is the cool blush (it also comes in warm, which has peach shades):
While I don't think the design is anything outstanding, I thought it would be nice to have Prescriptives' first venture into pretty packaging on hand. Plus they had a friends and family 30% off sale online and that sealed the deal for me!
While it isn't an actual art object, I'm sure this item will come in handy for future exhibitions:
It's removable which means it won't hurt any of my objets d'arte, and it works on wood, which is what my shelves are made out of.
Big thanks to City Girl for this very thoughtful gift!! Be sure to check out her blog.
