Like many longtime Simpsons fans, I was extremely pleased to see this collection from MAC. I've been watching the Simpsons since I was 11 (even titling a previous blog post with a Simpsons quote), and while I've been disappointed in the more recent seasons, those first few were comedy gold. MAC's collection pays homage to Marge Simpson (née Bouvier), the long-suffering and very sweet wife of lovable buffoon Homer Simpson.
I'm amazed at the sheer volume of characters they were able to cram in on the outer packaging. However, I don't see my favorite bit character – can anyone spot Ralph Wiggum? He has to be on there somewhere, I just can't find him.
I picked up Pink Sprinkles blush, Nacho Cheese Explosion lip gloss (couldn't resist a shade in the signature Simpsons yellow!) and Itchy & Scratchy & Sexy lip gloss, along with Marge's Extra Ingredients eye shadow palette and the nail stickers.
While I liked the outer packaging, I was less enthralled with the plastic cases. Something about yellow plastic read very kindergarten to me – the rounded, raised corners of the eye shadow palette in particular made it look like a pencil case my 5 year-old niece would carry. Granted, it's difficult to execute sophisticated packaging for a cartoon-based collection, but it's not impossible (see MAC's sexed up Hello Kitty collection and these Simpsons/Mondrian-inspired wine bottles). It might have been better to do a black background for the plastic cases. I could be totally wrong though, as package design site The Dieline loved the concept.
I'm glad there was also an imprint of Marge's visage on the blush and eye shadows.
I can't bear to use these nail stickers but I'm certainly tempted.
(If you want to see swatches of all products and some great Simpsons quotes, check out this epic post at XO Vain.)
And now, I thought I'd share my top 5 favorite beauty and makeup moments from the Simpsons.
5. From "The Girly Edition", season 9. Bart has just wrapped up a super schmaltzy segment for the children's news show, Kidz Newz.
Lindsey Naegle: "Bart, look up here. This is where the tears would be if I could cry. But I can't. Botched face-lift."
3. From "Lisa the Beauty Queen", season 4. Lisa and Marge are getting makeovers at Turn Your Head and Coif, one of Springfield's leading beauty salons.
Lisa, as a stylist breaks out a blowtorch: "Isn't this dangerous?"
Stylist, donning a welder's mask: "Don't worry, I am well protected."
2. Same episode as above. Lisa and another contestant are at a rehearsal for the Little Miss Springfield pageant, looking at previous winner Amber Dempsey.
Pageant contestant: "She's about to bring out the big guns…eyelash implants."
What do you think of this collection? Are you a Simpsons fan? Overall, I thought it was nicely done, and the colors were spot-on.
Makeup Museum (MM) Musings is a series that examines a broad range of museum topics as they relate to the collecting of cosmetics, along with my vision for a "real", physical Makeup Museum. These posts help me think through how I'd run things if the Museum was an actual organization, as well as examine the ways it's currently functioning. I also hope that these posts make everyone see that the idea of a museum devoted to cosmetics isn't so crazy after all – it can be done!
Since my last MM Musings post on what a permanent collection display might look like in an actual beauty museum, I've been thinking about ideas for special exhibitions. But I kept getting overwhelmed with the details of a specific exhibition's themes. After a while I realized my usual musings style wasn't going to work for a post on special exhibitions, so I changed tactics to bring you something much more interesting and enlightening than my usual reflections: an interview with Ashley Boycher, Associate Exhibition Designer at the Walters Art Museum here in Baltimore. Yes, I got to chat (email) with a real-life exhibition designer at one of the top museums in the country! Enjoy.
MM: What is the basic process of exhibition design? Does the curator tell you which pieces they want and you go from there? Who else do you work with besides the curator?
AB: Although sometimes exhibition ideas come from the public, certain museum trends, conservators, and/or museum educators, the seed of an exhibition is almost always planted by the curator, and the curator is academically responsible for the exhibition throughout the process. Once the seed is planted, the curator writes an exhibition narrative and begins to make a list of objects that s/he believes will best illustrate that narrative. Then there are lost of talks with conservators about which of the objects are in good enough shape and/or can be made into good enough shape for the exhibition given the timeframe. Also, when applicable, there are talks with registrars, who are responsible for the handling and logistics of moving and storing objects, and other institutions' representatives about the feasibility of bringing objects to our institution for the exhibition from other places. This happens with almost all large scale exhibitions and the negotiations with the other institutions often includes logistics about traveling the exhibitions to those institutions as well. In fact, grant funding is often dependent on the ability to collaborate with other institutions and travel the show domestically and/or internationally. Once many of these things are worked out, the curator and I begin conversations. This is usually about 18 months out from the exhibition opening. We do some preliminary ideation about object groupings and the look and feel of the show. During that time, the curator is also talking in a preliminary way with a museum educator about different didactic and interactive elements that might enhance the exhibition experience. At about a year out, the three of us come together and begin to really hash out the meat of the show. We also bring in representatives from the other museum divisions: IT, marketing, development, security, etc, when we need to collaborate on things like how we will advertise the show and what technology, if any, will benefit the exhibition message, both outwardly and inside the exhibition itself. All of the details come together in about 8 months, and for the last 4 months of the development process we are in production mode – labels being edited, graphics being printed, cases being built, walls being painted, etc – along with any straggler details that we miss beforehand, which always happens.
MM: Do you do some kind of prototype before the exhibition opens?
AB: It depends. Sometimes we're not exactly sure how a paint color will look in the space, so we'll slap it up on the wall and look at it for a few days and adjust where necessary. That is, if we have time. Often art is coming out of a space only a week before other art is supposed to go in, which means we don't always have the opportunity to do this. Other prototyping sometimes happens when we are trying out a weird or new display type. And we almost always prototype interactives, both low tech and high tech.
MM: Do you have experience with designing decorative object-based exhibitions and if so, how does it differ from designing exhibitions for other types of art?
AB: I've never designed a show that was purely dec arts objects, but they have been a part of shows i've designed. The new installation that opens here in October has lots of dec arts in it. I would say that in my experience one of the main differences is that many dec arts objects are heartier than other art, in better shape, and often made of less than precious materials, which means that conservation does not always make us put them under a vitrine. In this way they can help to create the look and feel of a space rather than just being purely on display. I suppose that was their original function anyway. 🙂
MM: What are some of the latest, cutting-edge developments in exhibition design?
AB: Well, unfortunately the latest cutting-edge development design aren't really happening at many art museums. Science museums and natural history museums are the ones that are usually on the cutting edge when it comes to design and technology. This summer I visited the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, and one of their exhibitions had this amazing custom theatre system. It was made using custom craft carpentry, crazy projectors, and bit mapping. You can see a cool video about the making of it.
MM: What was your favorite exhibition you designed and why?
AB: That's a really hard question! The reason I got into exhibition design was because I was interested in too many different things to pick one thing to continue studying (I'm also just not that much of an academic eve though I really loved school). Working on exhibitions awards me the opportunity to learn about another fascinating different thing with each new project. So I guess my favorite is always whatever the latest project is. I suppose I have shiny thing syndrome.
MM: If money wasn't a factor, what would your “dream” exhibition be?
AB: When I was in graduate school, one of my big solo projects was an exhibition about the art, science, and history of tattooing throughout time and across the globe. I am fascinated by tattoos because they have so many different facets: cultural heritage, technology, biology, taboo, straight up beautiful artistry, the list goes on and on. I think a well planned and designed exhibition about tattooing could be interesting to just about everyone for one or more of these reasons. I'd love to be on a project like that.
MM: Do you have any ideas or suggestions regarding exhibitions that would have lots of small objects, i.e. makeup? I promise I'm not asking you to work for free – I'm just looking for any sort of general advice or tips off the top of your head!
AB: The hard thing about showing a bunch of small things is that the displays always want to look like retail rather than museum quality. My biggest advice would be to make sure you single out your best pieces. Put them on their own pedestals, maybe give them a bigger brighter pop of color, or a few more inches in height. Just make sure they actually stand out in a way that tells your visitor, "hey, you want to make sure you look at me and only me for a sec." If you want to do a display of a bunch of things together for impact or to get a certain point across, especially if it's several examples of one type of thing, make sure you save your 2nd and 3rd tier objects for those displays.
Thank you so much, Ashley, both for the peek into the life of an exhibition designer and for the invaluable advice!! (And I think we both have "shiny thing syndrome" – more literally for me).
Last year on a whim I picked up Chanel's aqua mascara from their summer collection (still kicking myself for not getting the bright yellow shade as well), and I also got the sparkly bronze mascara that they released for the holiday season. Having experimented with both I can safely say I'm now a convert of non-black mascaras. I think they're the easiest way to get some color on your face if you don't want to cover your entire lid with a crazy color or if you don't have time to carefully line your eyes. You just sweep on a coat or two and voila! Your face of the day (or night) is instantly fun but subtle. If you're still hesitant let this guide at Elle magazine help you determine what color will be most flattering and how to pair it with a coordinating shadow. But be sure to wear it for YOU, not because it's one makeup trend guys like (WTF, Allure?)
Will you be partaking in this trend or have you tried it out already?
I thought I'd open this post with my absolute favorite Pulp Fiction scene (sorry it's in two parts – I couldn't find a video of the Jack Rabbit Slims scene in its entirety.) So. Many. Great. Lines.
I could sit here and type out every single Pulp Fiction line from memory, but I'll spare you and focus on the glorious Urban Decay collection instead. As you may know, Pulp Fiction is the Curator's all-time favorite movie so I was beyond excited to see this collection devoted to Mia Wallace, just in time for the film's 20-year (!) anniversary. I picked up the palette, lipstick and nail polish. There was also a glitter eye liner and dark red lip liner, but I passed on those, choosing to focus on the most Mia-esque products.
I squealed with delight when I noticed the band-aid on the bottom back of the packaging, an ode to the famous bandage Marcellus Wallace sported on the back of his head (which, incidentally, appeared simply because actor Ving Rhames had a scar there he wanted to cover up – there was no hidden meaning behind it).
I also liked that quotes were included.
Since the collection is based specifically on Mia, I personally would have gone with the following on the back of the palette instead of Jules's speech: "I do believe Marcellus, my husband, your boss, told you to take me out and do whatever I wanted. Now I wanna dance, I wanna win, I want that trophy. So dance good!" And then put different ones on the insides of the lipstick and nail polish boxes, like "I can keep a secret if you can" or "Cooties I can handle." Maybe Urban Decay couldn't get the rights to include any other quotes besides Ezekiel 25:17.
Sadly one of the eye shadows crumbled in transit.
There was a cute little "get the look card" – now anyone can be Mrs. Mia Wallace!
The colors for the lipstick and nail polish are great, but I think it would been cool to have been a little more creative with the names. Both are called Mrs. Mia Wallace…how about working in some quotes of hers? The lipstick could be Two Shakes, as in "Go make yourself a drink and I'll be down in two shakes of a lamb's tail" (especially because there's a close-up of her lips as she's saying it.) And maybe we could call the nail polish Fox Force Five.
Overall, I think the collection was nicely done, although I don't think the colors are exact dupes for the original shades. It's common knowledge that Uma Thurman wore Chanel Vamp nail polish – but then again, why would you a create a collection that consists of essentially the same colors as existing ones? I suppose Urban Decay had to forge their own path.
And now a little bonus that I couldn't resist including in this post: my very spiffy, oh-so-official Pulp Fiction gift guide. If they're not into makeup, you can get the Pulp Fiction addict in your life another little trinket so that they will have happy memories of the 20th anniversary of the movie.
Finally, I must give a shout-out to my dear old dad, the movie buff who took me to see Pulp Fiction in the theater when I was a wee lass of 15. Now, my dad didn't make a habit of taking his young daughter to see films filled with graphic violence, but he had seen it a few weeks prior and loved it, and somehow he just knew I would too. His hunch was spot-on – I was instantly intrigued and to this day, no movie has quite spoken to me the way Pulp Fiction has. And since we both love it so much, one of our many treasured bonds is quoting lines together, as silly as that sounds (and if the husband and I had gone through with the idea of dancing at our wedding, my dad and I were planning to break out the Jack Rabbit Slims moves as our father-daughter dance!) I don't ever think about Pulp Fiction without thinking fondly of my dad, probably one of the other reasons it remains my favorite movie.
So…what do you think of the Urban Decay collection? And are you as rabid a Pulp Fiction fan as I am?
Today I invite you check out what goes on behind the scenes of the Makeup Museum's exhibition installation (see part 1 for the more general blogging aspects.) I provided a brief glimpse into exhibition setup with Sweet Tooth, but that was for a one-of-a-kind show. This post will cover the process of setting up the basic seasonal exhibitions using the summer 2014 exhibition as an example.
In terms of "curation" I generally start thinking about the seasonal exhibitions months in advance. I don't just go pulling objects out of museum storage willy-nilly the day I install and photograph the exhibition – it's planned over months. I draft a blog post and list newly released items I want to include. Based on those, I work in items from previous years, and if it seems like I need to add more (I need to have enough for 16 shelves, after all), I start poking around for vintage items that would make good additions. I usually have no idea what objects will go on which shelves, but I always know the items and any additional materials (ads, pictures, etc.) that need to get installed prior to the actual installation. I also have to get the label text ready in advance, which is trickier than it sounds since most of the time when I write a post about an object I don't use the formal name of the product, so I have to go hunting it down. And sometimes for older items for which I can't remember the release date I have to look that up too. I put everything in a Word document and the husband lays out the labels in InDesign with the Museum's logo – how sweet is that?
Now let's look at how I physically install the seasonal exhibitions. First things first: I need to remove the items from the previous exhibition that are still on the shelves, and for that I employ some good old white cotton gloves for handling the objects. This way they don't get all fingerprint-y. Down with spring 2014, up with summer!
I arrange the objects into various piles either on the shelves or on the floor according to where they're stored. For example, all brands from A through G get stored in the top drawer in the master closet so I group them together.
All other brands except for Paul & Joe and Stila go in the hall closet, so here's that pile.
Then I take the labels off the shelves. As you can see, years of using double-sided tape to secure the labels have left a ton of residue which I can't seem to remove. (Any suggestions that won't take off the finish?)
Then I start gathering the objects I plan to use in the upcoming exhibition.
I print out any collateral materials and the labels in color.
Any pictures that are included in the exhibition are printed out on regular paper and then spray mounted to a sturdier cardstock.
And this is where the husband comes in (again). He's amazingly crafty – I'm not sure whether it's because he's a designer and has a lot of experience or because he's just naturally skilled, but he's very good at assembling the collateral materials. Here's the spray booth (and our little labbits!) located beneath the cork board in the office:
He sprays the picture backs with glue and then affixes them to the cardstock. When I try to do this it's always crooked or lumpy, and it takes me forever. He can do it perfectly in a matter of seconds.
Going over it with the roller gets it nice and smooth.
He then cuts out the pictures very straight with an Exacto knife. Again, when I tried to do this myself it was a disaster. Not only did I cut everything crooked despite using the ruler, I nearly chopped off a finger or two.
The labels don't get spray mounted since they will be attached to the shelves, so they just get cut out.
Et voilà!
So once I have everything – items, labels and pictures – I start putting stuff on the shelves. Some of them I know will have to be on the highest shelves due to the height of the pictures or ads. There was no way I could cram that Max Factor ad on a lower shelf!
This is the hard part. I generally spend about a half hour to 45 minutes rearranging the objects so that the format is both visually appealing and not repetitive in shape, theme or brand. For this exhibition, I wouldn't want the Armani and Dior next to each other (too much couture), and I wouldn't want the DuWop shell compacts and the Benefit shell compacts next to each other because they're too similar. And I didn't want mermaids sitting next to each other, and I don't like two items from the same brand next to each other. I make an exception for Shu cleansing oils, however – I don't mind having two on one shelf and two on the shelf next to it if they're from the same collection, as you can see from the spring exhibition. Anyway, I play around and sometimes I don't even have a reason as to why I want the items arranged a certain way. I just know when it looks "right".
Once I get everything in place, I start setting it up to be photographed, i.e., taking everything out of their boxes and attaching additional pictures to the wall. Depending on the height of the objects I can lean the picture against the wall behind it, but if it's an open palette that will block it, I have to tape the picture above it.
Generally speaking I prefer to hang up the vintage ads with metal clips. However, for the vintage ads used in the summer 2014 exhibition, those were cut and spray mounted because they were included in much larger magazine pages, and they looked better by themselves than being surrounded by text.
I make any final tweaks and once I've decided I'm satisfied with the placement, only then do the labels go up. Then I open any palettes that need to be opened and start shooting. The top row is difficult to photograph since I have to get on a ladder.
Here's the finished product. If you'll notice I switched the Wet 'n' Wild palettes and the Laduree items…the shapes (open round compacts) of the Wet 'n' Wild ones were too similar to the Chantecaille palettes to have in the same row. At least, that's how it seemed to me.
After I photograph everything I don't put it away. I close any open palettes and put them back in their boxes so they don't get dusty, but I just leave all the items on the shelves instead of putting them back into storage. The labels stay up until the next exhibition as well.
And that's how it's done! Questions? Comments?
I didn't think Paul & Joe could top their delightful yellow and grey dolphin printed blotting sheets from last summer, but their latest offering proved me wrong. How adorable are these multicolored shells sporting shapely legs?!
This print is so quirky and fun I was hoping to see it on some of the summer collection items, and Paul & Joe delivered. I'd be happy to have either of these two tops in my summer wardrobe, although I am partial to the yellow shell. I especially love the contrasting print on the sleeves.
I love how it's styled here but I would also totally wear this with white skinny jeans and flat sandals.
The shells also made their way into a anemone-laden under-the-sea-print on multiple pieces.
In looking at this dress more closely I think I need it in my closet – appropriate for a wannabe mermaid, yes? Plus I have the perfect pair of corally-red wedges to go with it. Still, I'm short so it would probably be to my ankles…but I could always get it hemmed.
The rest of the summer collection, which has ice cream theme, didn't really do anything for me. It's a shame because it's a great idea and I could see so many cute things – ice cream cone-shaped lipsticks, little ice cream cones embossed onto powder, etc. – as a result of the ice cream inspiration. However, I think the blotting sheets make up for the lackluster remainder of the collection (even though shells have nothing to do with ice cream).
What do you think?
UK-based artist Susan Merrick is a woman of many talents. In addition to her work as a doula, Merrick produces oil paintings, book illustrations, and "bump" art. While I do enjoy her oeuvre in general, what intrigues me the most is the art she creates using makeup.
Last summer Merrick embarked on a street art project, making a portrait of a pregnant woman using only cosmetics. Her goal was to question what we put on our skin.
Her inspiration for the project came from a somewhat unsettling place: new recommendations from the Royal College of Obstreticians and Gynaecologists (an organization akin to our American version) vaguely advising women to be more aware of skincare and cosmetic ingredients, and reducing their use during pregnancy. In an article for The Mother Magazine, Merrick notes that this "raised many questions…whether the recommendation was necessary, if it was underplayed or overplayed and what is actually known/reported about the ingredients of cosmetics." She added, "For me personally it raised the issue that regardless of pregnancy, I should be aware of what am I putting on my skin everyday! I realised that with or without clear research, perhaps we should be paying more attention to what chemicals we are exposing ourselves to." Indeed! Admittedly I never look at ingredients except for skincare, and that's just because I want to see what the concentration of active ingredients is – I'm not looking for potentially harmful things. Anyway, I thought that the street art project was an excellent way to bring attention to what we're slathering on ourselves every day. It also led to some other interesting projects, like going makeup-free for a month (you can check out her detailed experiences at her blog – definitely worth reading) and using up some of her old products to create more makeup paintings.
I love how she manipulates the makeup to mimic acrylic – in this way cosmetics and paint are interchangeable. And in the portrait below, the notion of painting one's face becomes literal.
Merrick will also now be able to add entrepreneur to her ever-growing list of work titles, as the above painting is available at her Etsy shop as a print. (There's more on the way so keep your eyes peeled!)
What do you think of Merrick's work? Do you read cosmetic labels or avoid certain ingredients?
In lieu of showing shiny new things today I thought I'd share a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes at the Makeup Museum. Part 1 will cover the basics while in part 2 you'll see how I install my little home exhibitions.
So this is where the blogging "magic" happens – our home office. The big monitor belongs to the husband since he's a fancy schmancy graphic designer. I work on the laptop, which I hope to replace this year. You might remember the Marcel Wanders table that I didn't recognize despite working at it for years. I also just realized I still haven't removed the labels from the fall 2013 exhibition, whoops.
Our cork board, filled with silly bits of ephemera we've collected over the years:
On the adjacent wall is the Chairman – he keeps me on task, the bastard.
Here's the windowsill where I take pictures of the Museum's objects. Yes, it looks worn…the reason is that the building is over 150 years old and the historic association fights us every time we ask about getting new windows.
I attempt to use this very nice Canon camera that I acquired last year. I really wish I could figure out how to properly take pictures – it's a good camera but it's useless if you don't know what you're doing. Methinks I need a photography course. I leave the instruction booklet out with the vague hope that one day I'll actually learn to use all the settings.
As for actual writing, I am ALWAYS in my pajamas. I mostly blog at home, and while there I'm never actually dressed unless we have people over…plus I need to be comfy! (The pajamas shown here are seersucker ones from Anthropologie but I'm partial to the printed ones from Old Navy.)
While I write it's not unusual for a staff member to wander in and ask me what I'm doing.
They try to help but every time they end up googling cookie recipes and pictures.
"Typepad? What dat?"
I don't have a formal writing process. I generally have a basic idea of what I want to say when I start typing, but it takes a while to flesh it out and make it coherent. I will say that I have difficulty writing a post about an object without the pictures in the draft. I'm not sure whether that's an effect of this increasingly image-based culture in which we're all immersed or whether I'm just particularly in need of visuals, but it's much easier for me to write when I have the photos in the draft post. I'm also prone to falling down rabbit holes – researching one thing will lead me to many other things I find interesting or relevant, so it takes a fair amount of time for me to get a post finished. Finally, I'm always reminded at how vastly different blogging is than writing an academic paper, even though I've been blogging for years. I enjoy blogging but I would give anything to write a formal paper again.
Where and how do you blog? And do you have any tips?
– Speaking of anti-aging, a new study confirms what we already knew: teens are so fickle when it comes to products there's no point in trying to hook them early with anti-aging claims.
– I was intrigued by this very interesting point/counterpoint between Slate and Jezebel on the politics (?) of not wearing makeup. I'm inclined to agree with the latter piece – sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
– Back to the good Easter stuff – my parents sent me a truly obscene amount of candy. If you don't hear anything from me in the next few days it's because I've slipped into a diabetic coma.
How was your week? If you celebrate Easter, what are your plans tomorrow?
