Paul & Joe's spring 2016 collection is sheer prettiness. This year the company borrowed a page from children's books and created two adorable pop-up palettes. We've seen these before with Urban Decay and Too-Faced, but Paul & Joe did a great job as well, especially since one of the lipstick cases is tangentially related to children's books (more on that later.)
It doesn't get any springier than this palette – dragonflies, butterflies, flowery vines, fruit, bunnies, and even snails are all portrayed in one extraordinarily idyllic scene. And of course, cats!
I didn't like the design on this palette as much, but it's still pretty. That weird tiled-looking background doesn't seem to go with the butterflies.
We all know how much I love free swag.
And I always appreciate their attention to detail. Even the plastic cover for the eye shadow and blush has a butterfly!
The palettes are cute and I commend Paul & Joe for doing something a little different, but the lipstick cases are what most intrigued me.
I couldn't resist picking up a refill since it has a butterfly on it.
The butterfly print was borrowed from the line's 2016 resort collection and also appeared in several pieces of Paul & Joe's collaboration with lingerie brand Cosabella.
I grew even more enamored after reading that it's an original print by illustrator Dahlov Ipcar. I had never heard of her but she does a lot of children's books and just really beautiful illustrations in general. She's still working at 98 (a fellow Scorpio, cool) and is actually on Facebook! Meanwhile, I can't even get my dad to learn how to email and he's significantly younger…anyway, I do find it strange that I wasn't familiar with her work, given my love of reading as a kid and my love of design as an adult, but I'm sure glad I found it now.
I don't want to make this post all about Ipcar because it would take forever, but I do feel the need to share just a few more pieces. I clearly need this book to put under the Christmas tree since we have kind of a woodland theme going.
But I saved my favorite for last. Mer-farmer!! That's right, Ipcar illustrated a 1961 book called Deep Sea Farm featuring a very hard-working undersea farmer. Needless to say, this book (along with the Christmas tree one) is on its way to me.
If you ask me, Ipcar deserves a whole museum retrospective (and a makeup collection!) in addition to a fashion tie-in. Even though she's had a coupleexhibitions, I would love to see an incredibly comprehensive show overflowing with her whimsical illustrations…and I think I might keel over from awesomeness if a makeup company ever put her work on their packaging. Paul & Joe's lipstick case with Ipcar's print was amazing, but I'm envisioning a much more extensive collection. If that merman farmer ever showed up on a palette my head might explode. 😉
Getting back to Paul & Joe, I think they did a nice job with their spring collection. Yes I still miss the little stories behind each one, but I do enjoy pop-up palettes and thought they tied in well with the fact that the company borrowed a print from a children's book illustrator. As always, Paul & Joe excels at walking the fine line between playful and juvenile.
What do you think?
I spotted this set at Barney's when I was plotting my order for their gift-with-purchase a while back. In honor of their new store in Chelsea, Barney's teamed up with the Kevyn Aucoin line to pay tribute to the legendary makeup artist and his old stomping grounds in the Chelsea neighborhood. While no artist's name was listed in the description of the collection, I knew the design had to be the work of an outside illustrator.
A quick search yielded the name Justin Teodoro, a New York City-based fashion illustrator. Born and raised in Canada, Teodoro graduated from the Parsons School of Design and worked for several fashion labels before becoming an independent artist. Naturally I took a peek at some of his other work.
What I find most interesting about Teodoro's work is the range of media he (literally) draws from. Artist self-portraits, TV, movies, street photos of off-duty models – all are fair game for him, and there's no one era he's partial to either. In his Instagram feed you can see images of Audrey Hepurn and Catherine Deneuve (1960s) to Cyndi Lauper and clips from Pretty in Pink ('80s) to Cindy Crawford and Seinfeld character Elaine Benes ('90s) to photos from Sex in the City ('00s). He explains, "My tastes are pretty eclectic and range from such high to low things that it’s all a pretty vast collage of ideas. I try not to shy away from that because that is essentially who I am. I’m always interested in what I see around me and I want to capture it all through my work." Fashion photography is particularly influential. See, for example, Teodoro's take on this 1978 photo by Peter Schlesinger:
And more recently, Sandy Liang's fall 2016 collection:
I think fashion photography is a key source of inspiration for Teodoro because of how he views his style of illustration: "It really is just wanting to see what I like in front of me on paper. When I was little I drew cartoon characters so they were on the page in front of me. When I see a cool stylish girl on the street today I want to draw her because I want to create that same image in my own style. I guess it’s my own form of documentation…To me the mood and the attitude was always important. Illustration became the stronger part of my design process I guess. It was fun for me to create that world where, yes it was about the clothes, but it was more about the vision and the personality of that character." He perceives his illustrations to serve the same purpose as fashion photos, i.e. to capture all aspects of a certain moment in time in addition to the clothes. But it's not simply a blind reproduction of these photos; rather, Teodoro is putting his own illustrative spin on found images.
Getting back to the Barney's collection, I was able to pick out a few photos I believe Teodoro based his illustrations on to depict Kevyn Aucoin. You can see all of them pretty well on the back of tote bag. This one appears on the top middle and lower right.
I don't feel compelled to purchase this set for the Museum (and I can't anyway, as it's sold out), but I thought it was a fitting collaboration. And I enjoy seeing Teodoro's unique take on an enormous variety of fashion influencers and icons and thought he did a good job paying homage to Aucoin. As a side note, how did I not realize there was an entire exhibition on him in 2014?! So embarrassing. I'm also kinda mad no one asked me to contribute my expertise on beauty-themed exhibitions.
What do you think both of this set and of Teodoro's work?
I don't know much about Sugarpill Cosmetics, but I spotted this lip gloss with positively adorable packaging and knew I had to feature it. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get my hands on it and it's my understanding there will be no more sold with this particular design (the lip product itself will still be available in regular packaging.)
It's pretty obvious what lured me in. MERMAID!!!
And not just any mermaid; one created by kawaii (cute) artist Bei Badgirl. Her website provides the following description: "BEI BADGIRL is an artist, designer and body positive advocate from Heaven. An expert in Cute (Kawaii かわいい), she draws inspiration from the Superflat movement, pop culture, and her own life experiences and obsessions. Her work reflects her playful attitude through 2.5D drawings and paintings of cute, sexy women, their pets, makeup, junk food and everything else they thrive on…Her hobbies include texting her besties, travelling, no chill memes, hoarding swimwear, and spending approximately zero time swimming. She currently resides between Tokyo and Sydney, and believes girls can do anything." Given that profile I was very eager to see her work. Her motto of "Just be cute and don't worry!" also piqued my curiosity.
I believe this is the original painting for the image that appeared on the Sugarpill packaging. Do you not love the little bunny face peeking out on her tail?
Naturally I had to take a look at some of Bei's other work in search of more mermaids. And she did not disappoint! So many sexy cute mermaids, many of which are painted on wood that Bei carves herself: "I notice a lot of people aren’t aware most of my art is painted, huge, and cut out of wood by me. Even some of my friends don’t realise I do all the woodwork myself, but I happily invite those bitches over to witness it for themselves hahaha. Girls can do anything, duh."
Not only does this "merbitch" have a delicious cup of coffee, she's also applying lipstick with a seashell compact. Love it.
More on Bei's style, in her own words: "I’m really fascinated by the concepts of indulgence and excess, sex and desire. I guess that’s why there’s a lot of oral fixation, sparkly things and food going on in my pieces. I also like that so much of what I’m essentially obsessed with isn’t real or tangible- the idea of falling in love with imaginary things." This is especially evident in paintings like the one below.
I think this one is my favorite – an utterly charming and girly but also foul-mouthed mermaid, which is sort of how I like to see myself. 😉
And of course there are the assorted mer-critters. I wish there were plushies of these, I think they would get along well with Museum staff.
He might just be a mer-kitten, but he's already got a little tattoo on his paw!
The curvy voluptuousness of Bei's women shows that she is indeed a body-positive advocate, although it's somewhat a happy accident. She explains in an interview, "My work totally is body positive, but kind of effortlessly. I still get caught off guard sometimes when people point out how my work is body positive because the girls are all pretty thick and have tummies. I never really thought twice about it – I was just drawing what made sense to me and what looked pretty…this is obvious, but I strongly believe in the fact that people are meant to be different. If we were all meant to look the same, we would be. It's nothing new, but it needs to be repeated as much as possible. 'Perfect' doesn't have a face, it doesn't look one way." She also tells one young woman who wrote to her asking for advice, "I got tired of hating myself and wasting so much energy on feeling bad. It’s boring. I decided to trust myself. What I’ve found the most interesting about this is that when I decided to love myself and feel confident that’s really when other people began responding differently (positively) to me as well. Do you find feeling insecure about the way you look to be counter-productive? When I began to put my energy into other things like my art etc that’s when my career really took off and so many amazing opportunities and people entered my life! It’s so much more rewarding than hating yourself and I feel so much happier just with all the things I have going on in my life, I don’t really have any energy left for negativity. I feel very grateful for my body – I see it as something separate to my soul and myself – and it’s the only body I’ll ever have so I should be kind to it and love it. It’s seen me through my teens and all the bullshit I went through, all my highs and lows, every experience, and will be there for me until I die. I always like to mention that we all have bad days, but just recognise them for what they are and be kind to yourself." It sounds trite, but Bei really does put her money where her mouth is: not only does she embrace fuller-figured women in her work, she also regularly posts pictures of herself in swimsuits and short skirts, proudly displaying, in her words, a "juicy" physique. Yasss!!
The body positivity and feminist aspects of her aesthetic is also desperately needed in kawaii culture. A student majoring in Japanese Studies at Oxford, specializing in contemporary art by Japanese women, offered this thoughtful analysis in a message to Bei: "I just wanted to say that is so inspiring that your work represents the best of kawaii culture, i.e subversive and empowering femininity, and absolutely none of the worst…your work is so significant in transforming the otherwise infantilising nature of ‘kawaii,’ on an international scale…[it] seems to represent to me a reclaiming of cuteness by and for women, with strong messages of sex & body positivity that seem to have had a significant influence on other 'kawaii’ artists, which is such a refreshing change from dominant images of cuteness in Japan." Since I am nowhere near an expert in contemporary Japanese art or kawaii, I'll take her word for it. But just looking at Bei's women, despite their skimpy attire and exaggerated femininity, I imagine they have more of a feminist edge than other kawaii images. I feel as though there's a distinct "don't mess with me" attitude about them, especially around the eyes. While some other kawaii girls sport heavy black eye makeup, the lids on Bei's figures are strangely pointed (not round) with an odd spike shape shooting out on either side and rimmed with equally spiky lashes. It's as though their makeup is weaponized, giving them a slightly dangerous look as opposed to the wide-eyed, child-like, nearly helpless vibe of some other kawaii girls. The fact that Bei also sometimes refers to her mermaids as "merbitch" and "merhoe" can arguably be cast as a feminist appropriation of these traditionally degrading terms for women.
What do you think? Have you tried anything from Sugarpill? I so wish I could have gotten my hands on this lip gloss!
This is the third and final installment of my unofficial series on zodiac/calendar themed beauty items. Today I'm sharing Estée Lauder's epic collaboration with Art Deco artist Erté (1892-1990). Erté completed a series of illustrations for the 12 zodiac signs, and in 2004 Estée rendered them in enamel to appear on their Lucidity powder compacts. Why they added clear rhinestones on the sides is beyond me, as I feel the illustrations are beautiful enough to stand on their own. Another thing I'm not clear on is when Erté illustrated these. I know the serigraphs were produced in 1982, but I don't know if that means Erté actually created them that year as well or if they existed as paintings prior to that.
Anyway, let's have a look. Here are the compacts and the artist's original illustration below. Capricorn:
Erté was born Romain de Tirtoff in St. Petersburg and moved to Paris at the age of 20. Adopting the French pronunciation of his initials as his artist's name, he initially worked as a costume designer for the opera and theater. Erté was a talented illustrator in his own right, but it was his work for Harper's Bazaar that catapulted him to fame among fashion and theater insiders. His cover art for the publication, 240 covers in all between 1915 and 1937, had an immediate and long-lasting (albeit cyclical) impact on the fashion industry. He was somewhat ignored by the art world until the late 1960s when they was a resurgence of interest in his work. That faded again until his death in 1990, then resurfaced full-force in 2004 when a gallery in London held the most comprehensive exhibition of his work since 1967. Consisting of 75 of Erté's best pieces, the show included his famous alphabet series, which had never been exhibited in its entirety (the artist had began working on it in 1927 and did not complete it until 1967). The series was to be sold as one piece, with an asking price of £2 million. The 2004 exhibition and ensuing craze for Erté's work also explains why Estée Lauder chose to release their Erté compacts then. Erté's work is still quite popular today, as a recent exhibition at the Met and upcoming exhibition at the Hermitage demonstrate.
The Financial Times has an excellent summary of Erté's life and influence, which you can check out here. There's also this informative article from the New York Times and some general articles on Art Deco design (Erté is known as the father of this style)1. Right now though I want to show you some of Erté's other work, as it's truly dazzling. The man loved taking on series – in addition to the alphabet, he covered everything from card decks to the 4 seasons to the 7 deadly sins.
Here is one illustration from the Alphabet. I think it's pretty obvious why I chose the letter G to highlight. #mermaidsrule
Number 3:
He also illustrated each birthstone – here's Sapphire. Both the Numerals series and the Precious Stones were originally produced as lithographs in 1968 and 1969, respectively.
And another mermaid for good measure. I think this is my favorite Erté mermaid. Between the shell and coral headdress, multiple fins and the fact that she's astride a seahorse and wielding a pearl-strung coral branch as a spear, she is possibly the fiercest yet chicest mermaid I've come across. All hail warrior glam mermaid! She represents water from Erté's The Four Elements series.
Erté explains his work in a 1986 interview: "It is different from everyone's…Art Deco is considered as the style of the 20th century. I was always by myself. I was influenced only in my childhood, by the on Greek vases and by a book on Persian and Indian miniatures, because of the colors. At the age of 6 or 7, I found a book in my father's library of these miniatures, and every night after dinner, I wanted to look at it." These miniatures in turn influenced his process. He never used pencil or pen; instead, he painted with gouache using a tiny brush, sometimes with a single hair. Equally impressive was his work ethic. He worked right up until a few weeks before his death at the age of 97. In one interview from 2 years before, when he was 95, he stated, "If I don't keep working, I would be bored to death."
Getting back to Estée Lauder, I seriously love these compacts. From what I can tell in photos, the illustrations transferred nicely to a compact format (except I'm not crazy about the rhinestones…while I love me some bling I don't think they added anything to the design.) Like Elgin's zodiac compacts, I feel a compulsive urge to collect them all! I also think "warrior glam" could be the latest fashion trend. Let's try to make it a thing, shall we?
What are your thoughts on Erté's work and the Estée collab?
1There has been so much written about Erté I couldn't possibly fit it all into this post. For further reading and eye candy check out the huge selection as Amazon.
As soon as I saw these new lipstick cases at Chic Profile I knew I had to have one, no matter the cost. There were only 600 Givenchy Le Rouge Kyoto leather cases produced and I was determined to snag one for the Museum. Givenchy's Artistic Director for Makeup, Nicolas Degennes, worked with master gold and silver leaf artist Hiroto Rakusho to create these beauties. They are all hand-painted with 22 carat gold, so supposedly no two are alike. I wanted to see for myself so I ended up splurging on two cases from Harrod's (which customs held hostage for over a week) and I am pleased to say that they are truly unique.
The cases are packaged in a fancy black woven box with a mirrored label.
I have to say I'm a little disappointed that these aren't numbered. There were 1,450 Dior Bastet palettes made and those had the number etched on the back. Less than half that amount was made by Givenchy, and for something they're touting as this rare and collectible (and given the hefty price tag) each one should be numbered.
Some detailed shots.
Here's the other case.
I tried my darndest to find comprehensive information on the collaboration between Degennes and Rakusho, but what I was able to translate didn't make a lot of sense. From what I could gather, Degennes and Rakusho met through a mutual friend/translator and began the design process in late 2014. Rakusho was enthusiastic to work with Degennes due to his understanding of the traditional colors of Japan, along with the fact that Degennes gave him free reign to create whatever patterns he wanted – he trusted him completely. The duo considered the possibility of making the cases from from kimono fabric or washi paper, which are the traditional mediums for Japanese metallic leaf art, but ultimately settled on leather. This decision maintains Givenchy's signature lipstick packaging and also allows for a more durable product, as leather is hardier than fabric or paper. Even though I can't imagine anyone carelessly tossing one of these cases into their makeup bag, it's still a smart move to make the case as sturdy as possible. I also think purely from an aesthetic standpoint, the leaf looks really cool against the texture of the leather – it toughens it up a bit without losing the delicacy of the leaf.
Additionally, this site had a brief explanation as to why Degennes was in Japan in the first place, as well as his original inspiration behind Le Rouge Kyoto: "Givenchy’s artistic director for make-up, Nicolas Degennes, has spent the past 15 years taking research trips to Japan to inform his own collections…in homage to the hand-painted screens of Kyoto’s ancient temples, Degennes teamed up with Hiroto Rakusho – a master of gold and silver leaf – to create unique pieces of art to wrap around 590 hand-made limited-edition lipsticks…they provide a fitting reminder of the two halves that seem to permeate everything in Japan: a rich cultural history, hiding just beneath the surface, which dances happily alongside a hunger for the bright, the shiny and the new. 'I’ve learnt a lot about [Japanese women’s] approach to beauty…how to play with textures and play with your look. What’s fantastic is how the women here can transform themselves, but in subtle ways.'"
Now a little bit about the artist himself. Hiroto Rakusho was born and raised in Kyoto. He learned the craft of gold and silver leaf application from his father, who was also a prominent artist trained in this area. In 1997 Rakusho was awarded certification as a master of traditional handicrafts from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. He is a pioneer in the technique of digitally reproducing historic masterpieces housed in museums and temples, such as these folding screens.
However, more recently Rakusho expanded his oeuvre to include his own personal art as well as collaborations with other artists and designers. In 2002 he registered his name as an independent brand, and ever since he has been exhibiting in galleries across Europe and the U.S.
Givenchy's Le Rouge Kyoto may have been Rakusho's first foray into beauty, but he is no stranger to the world of Western fashion: in 2010 he teamed up with the Chado Ralph Rucci label on several collections. Launched by designer Ralph Rucci in 1994, the Chado line's namesake refers to a Japanese tea ceremony and is inspired by Rucci's love of Japanese cultural traditions. Obviously a partnership with a master of metallic leaf art, which holds extraordinary cultural significance in Japan, was a match made in heaven. Some pieces and the original artwork:
Getting back to the Givenchy collection, I must admit that I have only the vaguest grasp of the actual application of the metallic leaf. The basic process is that gold and silver is hammered out into thin sheets, then the leaf is either glued to washi paper with a certain kind of lacquer or cut into extremely thin threads and woven into fabric, usually silk.
I guess what I'm not certain of is how the leaf is painted to make the colors on the lipstick cases. It's hard to tell from photos and I couldn't find any video of the technique. In the picture below I can see how he's attaching the gold leaf but I don't understand how the painting works…does he put the leaf on top of the paint? How is it sticking to the leather? What kind of paint is it, anyway? I couldn't tell even looking at the cases in person!
Anyway, while I'm still a little fuzzy on the details, here are some prototypes in their yet-to-be-wrapped form. Neat!
I love seeing that there were actual discussions about the collection, and Degennes and Rakusho seem pleased to be working with one another.
To conclude, naturally I loved this collaboration. Givenchy's timeless style combined with incredibly luxurious materials handcrafted by a world-class artisan is an absolute win. Not only are these cases unique, but beautiful to look at. Plain metallic leaf would have been gorgeous, but the addition of abstract, subtly colorful patterns makes them even more exquisite and lends a modern touch. Once again though, I must express my displeasure that these were not numbered editions. Also, for the price it may not have killed Givenchy to include a lipstick refill. But overall I am happy as these are collectors' pieces and so very perfect for the Museum.
What do you think?
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As soon as I got wind of this collection over at A Touch of Blusher I started coveting it. According to PJ, this was the first time Pola's BA line ventured into color cosmetics. The collection was also created in collaboration with Japanese flower artist Makoto Azuma. I figured this item was out of my grasp, then it miraculously popped up on Adambeauty so I pounced.
I'm still not sure how I feel about the design. Online it looked pretty neat, as you don't often see any sort of design in cream products. But in person I was a bit underwhelmed. The thick black borders separating the colors are reminiscent of stained-glass crafts I used to do as a kid. And I don't understand why they had to make the lip base a sickly, mucus-green color. I guess they wanted it to look like leaves, but they really should have just left it clear or even white – it's an extremely off-putting hue.
To be honest, I was more interested in the traveling flower stall that Makoto Azuma created for Pola. Azuma (b. 1976) has quite a fascinating career trajectory. In 2002 he joined forces with photographer Shunsuke Shiinoki to open Jardin des Fleurs, a haute couture flower shop offering custom bouquets in Tokyo. In 2005 he began exploring the idea of flowers as art, inventing the genre of "botanical sculpture", and in 2009 he launched his own experimental "botanical lab". His work has since been shown in exhibitions across Europe, China, Mexico and New York City. I love this story – a florist turned avant-garde artist! In addition to his private works, prior to his collaboration with Pola Azuma was hired by many big fashion names to create installations for new stores or exhibitions, like Dries Van Noten:
A "fur tree" for a Fendi pop-up store in Ginza:
Hermès store display:
Grand opening of Isetan department store in Shinjuku:
An amazing take on the Lady Dior bag for Dior's "Lady Dior As Seen By" series, which features artists interpreting the bag in their individual style (you might remember Vincent Beaurin's version and subsequent palette for Dior):
Some fun things: collaborations with Hello Kitty and macaron magnate Pierre Hermé:
Finally, I don't think this piece was for any particular company but it blew me away. I wonder how long it took to get all those flowers into jars and then arrange them into that huge square.
As for the Pola stall, I'm not sure exactly what the purpose of the structure is, like what those dials and pipes are for, but it's eye-catching nonetheless. The overall shape of the metal frame for the cart looks rather steampunk to my eye, and is unique from Azuma's other work. (But it may be a reincarnation of the vintage "paludarium" he dreamed up for Hermes, which you can see in the photos above).
You would think that the website devoted solely to the stall would be chock full of information on it, like the inspiration behind its design, its purpose, etc. Unfortunately all I found was this meager description. "On the night of the new moon, the flower stall appears. Its location – a surprise. In the woods? By the sea? Or in a tiny alley. If you're lucky you will witness its magic. Pull the lever and watch the buds burst into blossom. The spark is ignited. The flower stall brings new life." (Azuma's own website did not have any description either.)
Maybe I've been watching too many horror movies, but photos of the stall by itself, isolated from humans and in odd places, kind of creeped me out. These three pictures in particular reminded me of the image on the poster for Rosemary's Baby. It just looks so unnatural and menacing on a beach, like an evil object someone abandoned there, hoping the tide will take it out to sea.
Only slightly less unsettling was its being situated in a forest because it's at least surrounded by other plant life, but really, if I came across this while hiking in the woods I'd run the other way.
As I discovered, the unnatural placement was totally deliberate, according to the artist's website. "In recent years, Azuma has been focusing on his project arranging flowers in all kinds of mundane situations that don’t occur in the realm of nature, and continues to pursue the beauty of plants from a unique point of view." It's a great concept, but I think for the Pola stall it didn't quite work. However, Azuma's other experiments with putting flowers where they're not normally found turned out beautifully. Some examples include this stunning installation in the middle of the Hinoba-an Sea near the Philippines.
And he's even sent flowers into space! I thought maybe these pictures were Photoshopped, but apparently Azuma hired a space engineer help launch the flowers from the Nevada desert and used a Go Pro for the images. "Plants on the earth rooted in the soil, under the command of gravity. Roots, soil and gravity – by giving up the links to life, what kind of 'beauty' shall be born? Within the harsh 'nature,' at an attitude of 30,000 meters and minus 50 degrees Celsius, the plants evolve into EXBIOTA (extraterrestrial life). A pine tree confronting the ridge line of the Earth. A bouquet of flowers marching towards the sun hit by the intense wind. Freed from everything, the plants shall head to the space." I adore the idea of "freeing" flowers from their natural habitat and transforming them into alien life forms.
Getting back to the Pola stall, I liked it so much better in Tokyo. It was much less scary in an environment bustling with activity, and it allowed for human interaction.
Again, while there was no concrete information about the flower stall, there was at least a short video of it making its way through the city, which was pretty cool. People were stopping to look at and photograph the stall, and it looks like you could even buy a flower from it.
I'm assuming Pola does not have its own storefront, which is why Azuma went the mobile route rather than creating an amazing installation. Yet, I think perhaps he could have done an installation for one of Pola's department store counters or the salon in Japan. I also wish I could definitively figure out why he went with an industrial-looking design for the stall as well as his role in the palette's design. I understand why Pola chose Azuma to collaborate, however; the company has a rich history of dedication to both the arts in general and preserving and exhibiting beauty culture, so it's no surprise they wanted to team up with an artist to create a collector's piece. Additionally, Pola's cutting-edge BA line is derived from a variety of plant extracts (hence the "Bio Active" name) so it's quite fitting that Pola selected Azuma, who also thinks outside the box when it comes to botanicals. In much the same way the flower stall "brings new life" to its environment, Pola's BA line will (allegedly) invigorate and refresh one's skin.
What do you think of the palette and Azuma's work?
It's time to turn on, tune in and drop out with one of Kiehl's holiday 2015 collection. (As with the Nivea cream tins, I know Kiehl's consists of skin and body care rather than makeup, but I like to cover all sorts of beauty artist collabs.) Following their holiday tradition of collaborating with renowned artists, this year they've gone the psychedelic route and enlisted the work of the legendary Peter Max. Max created several patterns for Kiehl's gift sets.
According to the press release, the image on the above set is inspired by Max's late '60s masterpiece, The Cosmic Runner.
Peter Max (b. 1937) is one of the most influential and prolific pop artists of the 20th century. His enormous body of work is beyond the scope of this little blog, but I think that even if you have virtually no knowledge of art you'd recognize his style instantly – the vibrant color palette and whimsical subjects against a dreamlike landscape are fairly unmistakable. As for the Kiehl's collab, there was scant information on how it came about, but Senior VP Maria Gustafson states, "We feel a profound admiration for Peter Max's work. Our collaboration was magic, a real source of inspiration! Kiehl's shares a lot of values found in Peter Max's work, including love, joy, solidarity and respect for the environment." Indeed, Max's work doesn't seem to lean towards darker subject matter but rather is a hopeful expression of peace advocated by the '60s hippie movement.
Additionally, over the years Max has demonstrated his commitment to helping the environment by designing posters for Earth Day:
Overall, while I admire Kiehl's landing another great artist for their holiday collection, ultimately the packaging wasn't special enough for me to own. Max's easily recognizable style is a double-edged sword, in my opinion, in that while you know it's his, it's also hard to differentiate between his designs. The Kiehl's packaging looked just like everything else Max has done only with some Christmas motifs thrown in – nothing about it really screamed Kiehl's to me. Take away the Kiehl's name and it could be just another design.
What do you think?
Months ago I spied a holiday collaboration between Smashbox and Barcelona-based artist Yago Hortal and knew I needed to get my hands on some of the items. "Art. Love. Color." is a huge collection that includes 12 (!) individual makeup sets, all adorned with Hortal's gloriously bold abstract paintings. I of course the chose the palette that most prominently featured his work. There's a veritable rainbow of thick stripes of color that seem to pop off the surface.
Naturally I loved the little insert that was included. One side featured another one of Hortal's paintings while the other provided a brief bio of the artist.
The palette shades look just as vibrant as the artwork.
The way the outer case was printed mimics Hortal's thick brushwork – it's not totally smooth but rather has a textural finish.
Here is the original 2013 painting used on the palette, along with some of the other sets.
Yago Hortal (b. 1983) graduated with a BFA from the University of Barcelona. Even at such a young age his work has already been shown at galleries across Europe and New York City. As for his use of bold color, he says, "I think people cannot live without color…imagine a life in white and black, it would be boring. We need color, I think, to feel ourselves alive." I couldn't agree more! I loved this video Smashbox made since you can see how he created these colorful masterpieces. The packaging is gorgeous, but seeing the actual paintings on the larger, monumental scale they were intended to be is pretty amazing.
In an interview with Allure, he elaborates on his exploration of color: "My color palette is derived from pigments that make me feel strong emotions. Mostly, I use pure colors, as they have the best intensity and vibration. I mix it by instinct…I lived in a multicolored house my entire life. My parents made it a point to always repaint, again and again, up until now, actually! Living while constantly surrounded by ever-changing colors was significant to me, and it is still an essential part of my life as an artist." He also cites Kandinsky, Miró, and de Kooning as influences, all of whom I can see in his work.
Let's take a look at some of his other paintings that were used in the Smashbox collab. Here's the one used on the palette insert.
These four sets all feature a painting from 2011, which is fairly similar to the one used on the palette.
The painting for two sets was tricky to match up, as it's been rotated and enlarged so you're only seeing a small portion of it on the packaging.
Same with these two primer sets, but I was determined to find it and I did!
I have seen many a colorful abstract painting, but none quite like Hortal's. I'm not sure whether it's the thickness of the paint (I kind of want to stick my hands in it), the particular colors he chooses or the way he deftly swirls and pours them, but something about these paintings ignites something deep in my brain. Obviously, all humans react to color but I've always seemed to be more sensitive to it than most, and Hortal's work heightens this response even more – his paintings have a rather stimulating effect on me. Whereas taking in a Rothko or Morris Louis makes me feel more contemplative and peaceful, I feel energized looking at something by Hortal. As an extension of this, I think his work was a great match for a makeup collaboration as I also feel the need to go play with my makeup stash when I look at his paintings. The artist was equally enthusiastic about teaming up with a cosmetics line. "I love a wonderful pop of color on the face! I had the pleasure to meet the Smashbox makeup team at the shoot for the campaign, and I was amazed with their work. It is truly wonderful to see how makeup is such an art form, how it mimics the tones and mood of paintings and translates it to real life… [Smashbox has] a wonderful appreciation for artists and a great eye. It was very exciting for me to chat with them about the possibility of a collaboration. After some initial conversations, we decided to move forward, and now it's a reality. I am truly very happy with the result, and I am proud to have collaborated with such an awesome team. I have to say that I am very picky with the collaborations I do, as they should ultimately be a wonderful marriage between the artist’s vision and the company itself."
Overall, I'm pleased with the palette and collab in general, but I also wish I could own one of Hortal's paintings for my office to gaze upon whenever I'm feeling uninspired/bored/tired, which is basically all the time at work.
What do you think?
A few months ago I was contacted by a reader who had two brand new Sulwhasoo limited edition compacts available for purchase. The circumstances surrounding how she acquired the compacts were quite sad, but having no use for them and wanting nothing more than for these items to go to a good home, she contacted me to see if I could take them off her hands. I agreed to buy the 2014 holiday Shine Classic compact (at an extremely generous price, which was very kind of her!) to help build the Museum's collection of finely crafted compacts, as this Korean luxury brand is well-known for its quality.
According to the press release, Sulwhasoo collaborated with artist Hyun Kyung Lee to create the mother-of-pearl design. Attempts to find any of her other work proved fruitless for me, but the description of the compact is as follows: "Mother-of-Pearl signifies wealth and elegance…for the design on the case, Hyun Kyung Lee uses small rectangular fragments of the Mother-of-Pearl to envision a plum blossom design. The rectangular pieces which also represent elegant Korean women, to express a more natural and beautiful plum blossom than a plum blossom in curves. This is done deliberately to add a modern touch to the Shine Classic design. The translucent white plum blossom is placed on top of the background design to enhance the natural colors of the Mother-of-Pearl resulting in an exquisite contrast design.Pistils of plum blossoms are then placed at the center of the plum blossom to symbolize elegance and dignified beauty. Lacquer finish is then thinly applied to penetrate the background color to exude the natural bright luminescent colors of the pearl. The case design of this variant features a white plum blossom on top of a beige background to symbolize pure and clear skintone. White also represents pure plum blossoms of winter and its function to deliver clear and pure skin."
I loved the delicacy and iridescence of the tiles.
And the little pearl clasp:
Here's the powder itself, which repeats the pattern on the box.
Both this pattern and the one on the compact itself definitely resemble a white plum blossom, albeit an abstract version.
This was a wonderful find and I'm so glad I was able to give it a good home. I'm such a sucker for mother-of-pearl! I'm not sure whether I like this more than Armani's Madreperla and Ecailles palettes…they're all so gorgeous and subtly colorful.
Shu's impressive holiday collection is already out, but I still wanted to cover their fall collection. I smell a graffiti-themed makeup exhibition brewing. ;) Between this collaboration and Urban Decay's France-exclusive collection back in the summer, not to mention previous collaborations with street artists/muralists (see here, here, here, here and here) it seems cosmetic companies have gone crazy for graffiti art.
For the Vision of Beauty: Haute Street collection, Shu teamed up with New York City-based artist Oyama Enrico Isamu Letter (that's a mouthful!), whose work adorns two palettes and a lip tint. I liked that his signature graffiti was reproduced in both his usual color scheme of black and white as well as purple and pink.
This video shows Oyama at work, and also explains Shu International Artistic Director Kakuyasu Uchiide's inspiration for the collection. He notes, "In street art, location plays a really important role. In makeup it is the same: makeup and face working together to make a statement." I agree that makeup application and graffiti present an interesting parallel that goes beyond the usual face-as-canvas narrative.
Born and raised in Tokyo, in the early 2000's Oyama developed a signature motif he calls Quick Turn Structure. He explains in his artist's statement: "Graffiti is an act of writing a name in the streets. In graffiti culture, this name composed of stylized letters represents writer’s alter ego. I remove letter shapes and decorative elements to extract only the sharp fluid line, which I consider otherwise can’t fully realize its dynamism. The line is called Quick Turn and I repeat it to generate an abstract motif. Instead of inventing a name for my own alter ego, I gave the motif a name, Quick Turn Structure. QTS is an interpretation of the visual language of graffiti culture in the context of contemporary art. What was previously a name that represents one's alter ego is transformed into plain yet tight visual objects. Lines slash back, spin and interlock. Facet-like surfaces contrasted in black and white produce three-dimensional depth. Those visual objects create a complex shape through their minimal yet spontaneous expansion. Its tightly knit structure multiplies by intrinsic order and keeps growing without hardening up. The way QTS generates is based not on a mathematical algorithm, nor a random improvisation, but on a methodology that was somatically gained through the experience of numerous practices performed on various media with different scales and materials. As it generates, the stoical process of drawing Quick Turn lines emerges as the motif, and it is built up into a piece of art. Then, soon afterwards, it starts to generate towards another, as if a piece were just a trace of a move that QTS left behind."
In reading this and looking at the Shu packaging I can definitely see the process. I'm not sure I necessarily agree that he's "removing" letter shapes so much as bending, straightening and interlocking them to create an abstract design, but I do like the combination of sharpness and fluidity – his designs remind me of bent nails. I think it would be pretty bad-ass to have one of his motifs in necklace form (like this), as I'm always fond of accessories that resemble hardware/weapons, i.e., safety pins, razor blades, barbed wire, etc.
Anyway, one of the things I love about graffiti artist collabs is that it's always interesting to see their work in the original environment, and then determining whether it works on the smaller scale of makeup packaging. Here are some of Oyama's work on and inside various buildings and stores in Japan, along with a 2012 drawing.
I think Oyama's style works well on the Shu packaging, but to my eye it sort of looks like this restaurant's logo, which I see nearly every day since it's right near my work building. Obviously the design on the Shu collection is much more imaginative, complex and high-art, but it does bear a slight resemblance.
So I'm not sure whether I want it for the Museum's collection. On the other hand, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it might make a nice addition to a graffiti-themed exhibition.
(images from vogue.com and paulandjoe.com)
(images from vogue.com and paulandjoe.com)
(images from pinterest.com)
