This palette by brow guru Anastasia, called She Wears It Well, didn't catch my eye initially.
(image from sephora.com)
However, I became intrigued once these pictures surfaced of flash cards that were included with the palette. Not only do they give a description of the colors, they feature vintagey fashion illustrations depicting a particular look with a face chart on the opposite side to show you how to achieve it.
Anastasia used old Hollywood and the glamour of the 1930s as the part of the palette's theme, but she also wanted to keep it realistic and wearable for today's woman. "Classic Hollywood glam and modern moxie. Inspired by makeup designed to sculpt, adorn and beautify the women of the 1930s, Anastasia created her She Wears It Well Eye Shadow Palette to bring the drama and beauty of Hollywood's golden age to the modern girl."
You can see the mix of the two vibes in the first card, which combines a vintage photo with contemporary dress styles.
Here are the looks that can be created with the palette.
(images from mypinktasticlife.com)
I'm not sure which illustration I like the best – the sex appeal of the women depicted in Cat's Meow and Speakeasy, the sophisticated elegance of Eyes and Dolls, the femme fatale vampiness of Night Owl, and the girlish fun of Cut a Rug are all pretty great.
I was curious to know who did the illustrations, and a quick search yielded the name Jason Shorr. Shorr, a Los Angeles-based freelance illustrator, graduated from ArtCenter College of Design’s
Illustration program in 2010 with a BFA in Illustration. He interned for Disney and worked extensively with the Princess and Fairies team there (does anyone else find that hilarious?) According to his Tumblr, for the She Wears It Well palette illustrations he was very inspired by the works of Rene Gruau – hopefully you recognize this is the legendary Dior illustrator whose sketch of the "New Look" became the star of not one but two recent Dior palettes.
Shorr also created this cover girl for the Anastasia palette, although it ended up not being used.
Some of his other work includes sketches of celebrities, like this one of Florence Welch wearing a McQueen gown to the Met Gala earlier this year.
This one of Madonna, amazingly enough, was created using an iPad.
Shorr also dabbles in fictional characters, like Effie from The Hunger Games:
And, of course, Disney characters. This painting of Maleficent is part of a Disney villains series Shorr is currently executing.
(images from jasonshorrillustration.tumblr.com)
Due to its easy-to-wear shades, the She Wears It Well palette seems to be quite popular – it's sold out at the Anastasia website – but for me, the real treasure would be the flash cards. I could definitely see them fitting into yet another exhibition that I have flitting about in my head. 😉
Which look do you like most?