More charming prints from Paul & Joe for fall 2011. New York is great inspiration for any makeup collection, I just wish Paul & Joe had been a bit more literal with it. I think Nathalie Lété did a great job with the Bourjois Paris collection – it would have been great if Paul & Joe had done something similar for New York. Nevertheless the prints are always pretty!
The theme: "Manhattan-Autumn 2011 is an entertaining, fast paced urban experience that artfully mingles the high-fashion opulence of uptown with the edgy, alternative spirit of downtown. Take a turn and see where Eastside meets Westside with a vibrant interpretation of color, texture, structure and design. Discover why this city never sleeps and explore this metropolis of indulgent delights with Paul & Joe Beaute."
Here's the text for the face and eye powders: "Inspired from the streets of Manhattan, a place where Sophie Albou loves so much. Different blocks, different colors, Manhattan is the last place where you can get board [sic]. Two shades can be used alone or mixed together. Either way you can get a gorgeous look like the night view of the city."
Here they are – 073 (42nd Street), 074 (Empire State), and 075 (Brooklyn Bridge):
With flash:
And because I was such a good customer, spending $50 or more on Paul & Joe, Beautyhabit gave me this adorable little bag:
The same print appeared on a blouse and skirt from the Fall 2011 women's collection:
(images from style.com and en.paulandjoe.com)
There is also another part to the collection: the palettes and face powder. I didn't purchase any because I wasn't sure they were Museum material, but they have a somewhat interesting look about them.
The palettes have a pattern reminiscent of the famed NYC skyline:
The face powder was apparently "inspired by skyscrapers that soar above Manhattan…the product surface is engraved with an Art Deco design."
(images from beautyhabit.com)
It does indeed look art deco and skyscraper-ish – the curving lines remind me a little of the top of the Chrysler building:
(image from styleture.com)
So, still undecided about whether to get those. The face powder in particular might look very nice in an exhibition next to Cle de Peau's 2010 holiday vintage palette (which, mind you, I managed to track down last year along with the 2009 one so stay tuned for posts on those around the holidays!) so I am a bit tempted. We shall see.
In any case, a good effort from Paul & Joe – maybe not as ground-breaking as their cat head lipsticks from last year (or nearly as kooky) but some nice prints and inspiration.
Chantecaille's fall palette is disappointing in terms of design. If you're just going to do a capital letter, at least make it an interesting font. This looks like boring old Baskerville.
(image from chantecaille.com)
Normally I don't mind a clean design, but this looks like a business card. I think debossing letters works best on paper, not makeup. Oh well. I'm sure the quality is great, but this is not a museum piece.
I just had to share this adorable Beautyhabit.com catalog. MERMAIDS!!! You may remember me telling you how much I love them in an earlier post. Here they are swimming happily:
Here's one admiring her long luxurious mermaid hair:
And this one looks like she's trying to catch a snack?
I don't know who the designer of this catalog is, but my hat goes off to that person for creating such a cute summery mailer!
I didn't think that interior designer Marcel Wanders' collection for MAC was all that interesting until I read this National Post article. Sure, it was design-y and sleek and more or less what I'd expect, but was there any real thought put into it? As it turns out, there did indeed seem to be a concept, at least for the colors involved and why Wanders wanted to foray into makeup design. He was inspired by the works of Vermeer.
“'I was looking at a painting by Vermeer,” Wanders says. “The colours and the textures and the light, and the women. I thought of Vermeer’s brushes, I thought that he is painting the picture the way that women are painting themselves with makeup. I thought it was a very beautiful idea, and I wanted to explore that.' Though Wanders didn’t design the actual cosmetics, he directed their creation and the M.A.C & Marcel Wanders collection takes colour cues from Vermeer. Powders are pale, like the women in the Flemish master’s paintings; lipsticks are either pearlescent or dark, reflecting both the ladies’ complexions and their charcoal-suffused surroundings. The cases he created are the same dark shade as the background of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Gesina, Catharina, Gertruyd — he named pieces of the collection after women from Vermeer’s world."
Nicely done. We have the inspiration of not one but two Dutch artists in this collection! What really struck me about the collection was that Wanders really knew how to brand it and make these HIS pieces. It was supposed to be a collaboration with MAC, but I feel like his imprint was much stronger than when MAC teamed up with other designers. Case in point: his visage, complete with iconic gold clown nose, on the inner packaging:
Here's the so-called "mystery powder." The real mystery about this, in my humble opinion, is why a black shiny plastic was chosen for a face compact. It's just going to get all finger-printy! Not the smartest move considering this was conceived by a world-class designer.
Again, the same clown-face imprint on both the puff and the powder itself:
With flash:
Incidentally, the refill powder that came with the compact also has the same imprint. I was glad MAC didn't cheap out on that. 🙂
I didn't really see a lot of influence from his other work in this compact. The closest thing I found was the "Bonomi" series of bathroom fixtures:
However, the flowery scrollwork is definitely in keeping with his designs:
(images from marcelwanders.com)
Now for the lipstick – I got Catharina.
I love how the shape mimics the legs of many of Wanders' furniture.
New Antiques Low Chair:
Two-Tops table:
Finally, a funny side note: I was staring at the above table at Wanders' website thinking about how familiar it looked, and not because the table legs look just like the MAC lipsticks. I felt like I had seen that table a million times. I asked my designer husband if he knew anything about Marcel Wanders because the table at the website looked so familiar…and he had a good laugh explaining that the reason it looks so familiar is that we OWN said table.
It's in our home office and has been there for years. It's where I blog, for crying out loud! How did I not realize it was the same table?! My descent into senility continues. 😛
I spotted this in the Saks fall catalogue and was immediately intrigued by the elegant silver packaging. Here's the description from the Bergdorf site: "In celebration of its 75th anniversary, Lancome is introducing French Touch Mini Rouge Lipstick, a limited edition collector's item that harks to Lancome's glamorous past. In a nod to Lancome's founder Armand Petitjean's vision of jewel-like lipstick holders, French Touch is encased in a mini silver package etched with a pattern reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower. The original inspiration was a similarly etched lipstick from the Versailles collection of 1949, originally created in Lancome's jewelry workshop." I managed to track down a picture of the original lipstick (right).
I think the new one is more Eiffel-looking, with the pattern stretching ever more vertically – I like that it's not literally in the shape of the tower. Yes, $40 is steep for a lipstick, but the packaging truly is a stunning piece of modern design. Might need to get this to add to the French-themed exhibition I'm thinking of doing. 😉
(images from bergdorfgoodman.com and prodimargues.com)
When I first saw this palette (or rather, all 6 of them, each named for a Guerlain boutique in Paris) I didn't think much of it. It's a pretty cut-out pattern, but nothing spectacular or all that interesting. After doing some investigation, however, I discovered that Guerlain had collaborated with Paris-based designer India Mahdavi, and that she had put a rather unique spin on a typical makeup case. According to this interview, she wanted to create an object that "had weight, both visually and physically," and the cut-out design was actually a mashrabiya, to capture the idea that one could "observe without being seen." It's nice to find out than rather just a pretty pattern, the cut-out had a a traditional Middle-Eastern architectural concept behind it. And now that I know all this, I'm beginning to think this palette may be museum-worthy!
(image from sephora.com)
Aha! I had long suspected that Sophie's (creator of Paul & Joe) favorite animal was the cat, given that it's made so manyappearances in her past collections, but with the new Clair de Lune collection we have confirmation. From the website: "Cats are temperamental – just like the moon. Sophie Albou's most favorite animal, the cat, is now sculptured on the lipstick itself." Indeed! Fortunately for her, cats are all the rage this fall in the makeup world.
From left to right: Clair de Lune, Over the Moon, and Moon Shadow lipsticks.
With flash:
And here's a close up:
While this is certainly an ingenious design, cat fans' and beauty junkies' feelings alike are mixed. While some thought it was simply adorable, others thought it was downright "creepy", or felt it was impractical. And several commenters on a cat lovers' blog indicated they'd feel remorse at slowly wearing away the cat's face with repeated applications.
What do you think? As a collector, of course, I am in love. Yes it's a little weird, but that's what makes it interesting!
p.s. A post about the rest of the Paul & Joe Clair de Lune collection is up next. 🙂
This is the first time in a long time I liked Benefit packaging enough to buy the product for the Museum. Named after the daughters of Benefit co-founder Jean Ford (who started the company with her sister Jane) the Maggie and Annie boxes feature unique psychedelic-looking designs.
We'll start with Annie.
Beneath the "lesson" booklet are the eye shadows. Here they are in natural light and with flash:
Maggie:
Here are the eye shadows in natural light and with flash:
I'll be frank – I have zero interest in the makeup itself. What grabbed me about these palettes is the fact that they look like a cross between the iconic Bob Dylan poster by Milton Glaser and a painting by post-Impressionist Paul Signac. Here is the Dylan poster, completed in 1966:
(image from friendswelove.com)
And here is the 1890 Signac painting, titled Portrait of Felix Feneon Against the Enamel of a Background Rhythmic with Beats and Angles, Tones, and Tints (quite a mouthful!) As you can see, Paul Signac took after Pointillist Georges Seurat.
(image from buzzsugar.com)
Interestingly enough, you can see both of these at MoMA. Now I'm curious to know who designed the Benefit palettes and what their inspiration was, and why they chose this particular style for them!
Last year Sonia Kashuk released a set of brushes made to look like coral. This year she ups the ante with bamboo-shaped brushes made from, well, bamboo. They also fit neatly into cork bags.
(image from soniakashuk.com)
This is a great concept that I wish more makeup companies would adopt – not only are the brushes unusual looking, they're made from green materials. I mean they don't have to look like bamboo or be made from it necessarily, but brush design seem to be the main thing cosmetic companies tend to overlook – the handles are always a plain shape and there's very little color (with the exception of Sephora's and Lancome's limited-edition colored brush sets.) I have to say I'm really digging the cork bag too, although it kind of makes me want to stick push pins in it. ;) What do you think?
Not much, but these are just a few of the icons Tarina Tarantino has up her sleeve for her new collections. I covered the regular line previously, but now several limited edition collections have been released. Here they are with their Sephora descriptions.
The Bibarucci collection: "Bibarucci was inspired by two of Tarina's Tarantino's favorite fashion
icons combining sexy, playful designs from the Disco era, with '60s
rock 'n' roll decadence featuring black, gold, and leopard print with
Egyptian accents. "
Candy Cameo: "Taking a colorful inspiration from her grandmother's vintage jewelry
box, Tarina's Candy Cameo Collection features neon-colored cameos with
glossy hearts and bows, accented with black lacquer beads. Each piece
is playful with vibrant colors mixing harmoniously to create a
fantastical, yet nostalgic, feel."
Tokyo Hardcore: "During her first trip to Japan, Tarina found herself immersed in a
futuristic culture of cuteness that immediately inspired her to create
a collection celebrating the high-tech style in Tokyo, including
"Hardcore" fashion, and cosplay (costume play inspired by Japanese
Anime). The neon colors represent Tokyo's skyline, which she watched
from her room at night."
Victorian Punk: "Inspired by Gothic style and 70s punk rock, the Victorian Punk
Collection references Tarina's love of turn-of- the-century
haberdashery and dress. These influences appear in hand-printed,
scrimshaw skull cameos surrounded by Swarovski crystals, then layered
with charms and pearls. The rich Victorian colors of red, black, and
purple combine to create a story of romance and gothic fantasy."
Electric Butterfly: "Tarina found inspiration for the Electric Butterfly Collection from
acid bright, op-art posters from the '60s and Art Nouveau illustrations
from the early 1900s. The art from these eras, with their highly
stylized images and curvilinear shapes, references the patterns in
butterfly wings, accentuated through vibrant, colored-crystal accents."
(images from sephora.com)
So there you have it. What do you think of these? And which is your favorite (if you like them!)? I'm still on the fence…I like fun packaging but these seem more like products meant for little girls rather than women. However, I do like the theme behind each one, with Victorian Punk being my fave.
