Maybe it's all the planning and research I'm doing for my trip to Paris next year, but I'm drawn to anything French these days. Naturally when I saw this collection I had to have every item, especially after finding out the illustrations were done by French artist Nathalie Lété. Each one shows a Paris landmark or neighborhood.
Rose D'or blush, featuring the Eiffel Tower:
Argent, with the Opera Garnier:
Beige Rose, with a little map:
Violet Absolu, featuring the Place Vendôme:
Noir Precieux and a lovely view of the Seine:
Sadly, Asos.com was out of stock of one of the eye shadows (Blanc Diaphane, which has an awesome picture of the Arc d'Triomphe) and 2 of the blushes (Lilas D'or and Ambre D'or) and Ulta doesn't seem to be carrying them, so I wasn't able to get my hands on those. (A note about ordering from Asos: it must be some weird UK thing that allows you to place items in your cart only and submit your order, only to get an email a few hours later telling you your items are out of stock. The same thing happened with my fiance when he ordered some Grenson boots from a UK site – he was able to hit the submit button but got a notice later saying they weren't available. It's VERY frustrating! I'd rather know up front the items aren't available rather being able to add them to my shopping cart.) Anyway, here are stock pics of those:
(images from asos.com)
Whenever an artist collaborates on a collection I'm anxious to see their regular work to see if there's any resemblance between what they created for a brand and their own oeuvre. After looking at her website, I don't think there was anyone more appropriate to do illustrations for this historic French brand than Parisian Nathalie Lété. She seems to have struck a perfect balance of whimsical and chic, playful and sophisticated, and so much of her work pays homage to her hometown. Some examples: the
notebook on the left shows the Montmartre neighborhood along with a duck cheerfully pulling a butterfly on a string. The rug on the right depicts a cloud of butterflies soaring among the Eiffel Tower, which has a French flag sitting
atop it. Both works are imbued with passion and pride for Paris.
You can also see her affinity for nature in these lovely prints ("Botanica")
and this rug, simply titled "Jardin". These stylized flowers and
butterflies definitely made their way into the Bourjois collection.
Finally, these chocolates have a similar concept overall to the Bourjois collection:
(images from nathalie-lete.com)
All in all I'm very impressed with this collection and think Bourjois did a sensationnel job in their choice of Lété. I do hope to acquire the rest of the collection at some point.
This MAC collection is right up the Curator's alley! The company collaborated with three artists – Richard Phillips, Marilyn Minter and Maira Kalman – to create products inspired by their art. Here are the images each came up with for their collections.
(photos from maccosmetics.com)
I like that there was actual substance behind this collection. All three artists were interviewed by MAC to find out what their inspiration was and how they came up with the colors they did. Of course, I'm sure they were tweaked by the company to make sure they sold well, but it's nice to know that artists seemed to think carefully about how they wanted to express their work through cosmetics. I also liked that the names for the products (like In the Gallery, Private Viewing and On Display) fit too. Now if only they had come up with some nifty packaging with an image from the artist!
The Curator is positively beside herself with excitement! I first laid eyes on these about a week and half ago and was dizzy with joy. Shu partnered with Japanese manga artist Moyoco Anno for a new set of limited-edition cleansing oils, along with a brush set and train case. Since I collect all the limited-edition cleansing oils I knew I had to have these. It's been a few years since Shu last did an entire set of oils with an outside artist, so I was really pleased to see them make a return.
Moyoco Anno is a top manga illustrator. If, like me, this is the first time you've heard the word "manga" and are wondering what it is, manga are a type of Japanese comic/cartoon, usually serialized into magazines of 20-40 pages. There are all types of genres, from horror to romance to sci-fi. Moyoco Anno primarily draws Josei manga, the Japanese equivalent of what Americans refer to as "chick-lit" , but also created several very popular series for girls aged 13 and younger. I love that the majority of Shu's outside collaborations have been with women artists – first Ai Yamaguchi, then Mika Ninagawa, and now Anno.
Here's a pic of the oils in their boxes (excuse how crooked the picture is – Ansel Adams I am not.) From left to right: Tamaki (enriched), Katsura (brightening), Matsuno (premium), Sakurako (fresh), and Tsuruha (advanced). The names are not the names of the cleansing oils themselves, but rather the character that Anno created for each one. "Kamon" refers to a Japanese family crest and each design corresponds to the personalities of the different women. For a good description of each one, check out this article from Lifestyle Asia.
Out of the boxes:
The E-bay seller I procured these from was truly amazing – he threw in tons of skincare samples, along with an adorable Taiwan-exclusive traincase keychain (or so he told me – you might be able to get it elsewhere.)
Close-up of the keychain:
Finally, a note about availability: I called Shu to find out whether these would be available in the U.S. While the rep told me that these would not be coming stateside, a number of blogs across the globe have covered them – besides Hong Kong, Japan, and the Phillipines, I've seen online blurbs about the collection in Vogue Australia and Vogue France, complete with pricing info in their respective currency. So if the collection will be available in Europe, Australia and Asia, I don't see why the U.S. market would be shut out. If you're like me and simply cannot wait to see if these will make it to the states, there are a couple of items on E-bay, but I'm speculating that the collection might make an official U.S. appearance in the fall…keep your eyes peeled!
The Curator is very late to this party (as I don't follow non-U.S. brands as closely as I should), but this collection is definitely museum-worthy so I am writing about it several months after its release. Korean brand Laneige released a spring line with illustrations done by Finnish designer Klaus Haapaniemi. The collection was "inspired by delicate splendid snow crystals" and the designs were meant to represent the "fairy-tale image of snow", in keeping with the brand's namesake. Whimsical without being juvenile and colorful without being garish, the designs encapsulate what the artist is best known for: a fun, modern twist on traditional Scandinavian folk art.
Haapaniemi's work is influenced not only by the art of his home country but also Russian and Eastern European cartoons. He also gets inspiration from the prints his theater costume designer grandmother used. He has collaborated with many companies including Diesel, Cacharel and Dolce & Gabbana. Hmm, maybe D&G could hire him not just for their clothes but for their new makeup line!
(photo from joseibi.com)
One of my very favorite things about Shu Uemura is how frequently the company collaborates with outside artists to create truly unique and beautiful packaging. This holiday season Shu teamed up with photographer Mika Ninagawa, whose photos of flowers and exotic fish adorn the packaging for the limited-edition collection. What I love most is Ninagawa's exquisite use of color – every photo used for the collection is chock full of bold, sharp color, but it's still delicate rather than garish.
A very generous donor kindly bestowed all three palettes upon the Museum in honor of the Curator's birthday. Here's the Adorned Marguerite palette:
Gift of GGD
Luscious Rose:
Gift of GGD
And the Winter Sakura palette:
Gift of GGD
So why Mika Ninagawa and why flowers? Given the company's history of working with Japan's top artists, it wasn't much of a surprise that they'd work with Ninagawa. According to Vanity Fair, Mr. Uemura, as a longtime fan of her work, approached the photographer in May 2007 about collaborating on the project. As for the flowers, the artist explains in the video at Shu Uemura's website that her attraction to them is based on a flower's fleeting beauty: "flowers wither…but with photographs I can trap the beauty." (The name "Mika" also means "blooming flowers" in Japanese.) I was also struck by her thoughts on the collection itself. To her, it was created for women who "pursue their own vision" and "dress up for their own beauty." Given the array of colors in the collection – the Luscious Rose palette, for example, contains a couple of basic neutrals but also a dark blue and purple – women can indeed "pursue their own vision" no matter what that vision is, since the range of colors allows for so many possibilities.
Finally, the last reason I'm so taken with this collection is that unlike the other artists Shu collaborated with, Ninagawa is vocal about her healthy appreciation of cosmetics: "Wearing makeup is so special I can't imagine life without it." Amen!
Graphic artist and creator of Tokidoki, Simone Legno, collaborated with Smashbox in the spring of 2007 and came up with a whimsical, playful collection for the company. All of the limited-edition items featured Tokidoki's signature illustrations as well as Italian names such as Bella (the cream blush stick), Stellina (the mirror outfitted with small silver stars) and Modella (one of the eye shadow palettes.) In this way it fuses Japanese and Italian cultures.
Here's the Modella eye shadow quad:
Here's the compact opened – a nice little surprise awaits on the lower-left corner of the mirror:
1 "Designs Reveal Artist's Personality", Nadine Kam, January 11, 2007. https://starbulletin.com/2007/01/11/features/story02.html. To watch an interview with Legno, click here.
