Orange Vibrations - How To Recreate the Makeup Look from Giorgio Armani Prive Spring/Summer 2017

I often get emails from the high end beauty brands I work with, outlining how they did the makeup look for this or that starlet on the red carpet or, more excitingly, looks that are fresh off the runway. Show makeup is always my favourite. Particularly when it treads a careful and thin line between wearable and fantastical.

Giorgio Armani Prive SS17 was exactly that; a peachy pretty look that is not dissimilar to a marriage between the Igari makeup trend and something plucked from a sci-fi film. The dewy skin, rose-petal lips and light brows are all important but the key element is the orangey-pink blush tones carried around the eye and over the tops of the cheeks. For Spring/Summer, it is an incredibly light, sweet, suitable and somewhat fairy-like look.

Best of all? It's actually pretty wearable (IMHO). In fact, I followed the steps and wore it out to a friend's birthday dinner the other night.

Linda Cantello, International Makeup Artist at Giorgio Armani describes it as "A new take on orange" and goes on to say that it offers "a fresh vibrant Summer face."

@ Kevin Tachman for Armani Beauty

Here are her steps to recreate it for yourself.

1. Prepare and massage skin with the Armani Prima Glow-On Moisturizing Balm (or any rich moisturiser you have on hand), ensuring the cream is absorbed before adding the base.

2. Use a concealer and foundation to correct natural skin tone, matching it to the color of the neck. Cantello suggests pairing their High Precision Retouch and new Power Fabric foundation.

3. For the main action, apply some Lip Maestro Notorious (In the shade #301) or any peachy cream blush widely on  cheeks & eyelid, making sure the angle from the brow bone down to the cheek is clearly defined. If needed, redefine the shape with a concealer.

4. Fill in the eyebrows creating a straight line.

5. Intensify the eye by adding a slight shadow from the inner corner to the brow with a taupe-coloured brown gel product such as the Armani Eye & Brow Maestro in 02 “Wenge Wood”. Then add a thin line of black eyeliner as close as possible to top lashes. Use finger to extend outer corner.
Apply a mascara such as the Eccentrico mascara in “Obsidian Black” to the top lashes only.

6. Mix lip shades in peach and rose tones such as the Lip Maestro Notorious shades 301 and 515 and gently dab onto lips.

7. Finally, powder at the end using a product such as the Luminous Silk Compact for a matte finish.

@ Kevin Tachman for Armani Beauty

@ Kevin Tachman for Armani Beauty

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Armani Launches for SS15 with Thoa Tran - II - Tips and Tricks

When you're watching a make-up artist at work who expresses personal knowledge about the things that "Mr Armani" likes and dislikes, you pay attention not only to the products that she is showcasing, but the gems of wisdom she casually drops into conversation. When you see her transform an, admittedly very pretty, girl into someone who could easily blend into the Giorgio Armani SS15 runway line-up in less than half an hour, you realise just how good she is. So, here are some tips, tricks, trends and titbits that Thoa Tran let us in on at the new launches event a few weeks back.

1. Want to look like an Armani girl? Ditch the winged liner. I know, I know. A difficult thing to process. Seemingly impossible to let go of. But Mr Armani prefers a straight line. So, now you know.

2. Speaking of straight lines, that's the brow shape that's going to be all over the place. Apparently Victoria Beckham has been in the process of growing hers like that for years. And they're Armani-approved.

3. Now that we're on the topic of brows...want to enhance yours? When using powders or gels to fill in your brows, first apply the product against the growth. This way the hairs will pick up the product better and look fuller.

4. The further boost the look, apply concealer all around the edges of the brows, defining them clearly.

5. P.S. Thick brows are back and bigger than before.

6. Armani is all about the glowing look. To look sun-kissed, glamorous and like you fit right in with the old Italian stalwart of style, ditch the blush and put the emphasis on good contouring instead.

7. The new launch, the Eye Tint, is multi-use and gorgeous. It is primarily a shadow but can be used as eyeliner in an awesome range of shades if applied with an angled eyeliner brush. And, number 12, also makes a mighty fine highlighter.

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Well, just wanted to share these little gems instead of leaving them hanging out and useless in my notebook! Any you'd try yourself?

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Armani Launches for SS15 with Thoa Tran - I

I turn up to Brown Thomas on a Thursday afternoon and one of the very kind girls at the Armani counter hands me a glass of sparkling juice. I perch on the edge of a seat and, then, magic happens. Right before my eyes. Face designer, Thoa Tran, is showcasing Armani's new cosmetic launches for the season.

Among these is the latest addition to the Les Eaux collection for Armani Privé, Pivoine Suzhou. Normally, these scents are inspired by Mediterranean gardens but, in this case, the starting point came from Asian gardens. In fact, it is the ancient tree peonies of China that the fragrance attempts to emulate. With notes of peony alongside, raspberry, tangerine and patchouli, pink pepper and musk, the scent is feminine, opulent and fresh. It is sold exclusively at Brown Thomas in Ireland and retails for €115 for 100ml.

Also launched is the Armani Runway Palette with a translucent powder and a trio of eyeshadows beneath in taupe, golden beige and silver. A very pretty but highly luxurious product, it's another BT exclusive and retails at €130.

However, the launch that most impressed me was the Eye Tints. Created backstage at the Armani shows, these products apply as a liquid but dry into a solid and work well as both shadows and liners. They blend beautifully and are highly pigmented, true shades - what you see in the bottle is what you get on the eyelids. They come in twelve shades from blue and green to natural and nude tones and retail at €32 each.

Some photos of the master at work with the products and a the results.

Gorgeous, no?

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Poetry in clothes.

Giorgio Armani once described the work of Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto as "poetic". Gwen Stefani names him explicitly in her song, Harajuku Girls;

"Super lovers, tell me where you got yours 
(At the super lovers store) 
Yohji Yamamoto 
I'm hanging with the locals"

Those are two pretty amazing references in my book but, by no means, are these Yamamoto's only admirers. And, frankly, the clothes speak for themselves. While I can't say that I would wear every single piece of his A/W 2012 collection, I admire every piece and would gladly accept most of them into my wardrobe! Which is more than I can say even for some of my favourite of designers. That's the thing about collections, not every piece is your cup of tea but the general aesthetic or feeling of a designer is what endears them to you. 

I love the ambiguity of his work, that you never know what to expect. It moves from feminine to masculine, from demure to sexy and the references and influences are many yet they are all clearly from the same collection, same hand. These clothes are impeccably made and never too much but always visually stimulating. You are always surprised by what next appears on the runway. 

His colour schemes usually revolve around dark colours with splashes of vampy reds and purples which happen to be the colours I often live in - must be fate - and this season, some khakis and a wonderful  jumper-dress-thing in a pink that I am very fond of. I love that there are goth and alternative influences all over the place but appreciate how grown-up and haute they are. Yamamoto takes that undercurrent of goth influence in Japanese fashion and makes it more adult, more wearable and infinitely more interesting and, importantly, never loses that sense of poetry that Armani pointed out to us. 

Hey, Santa? I wouldn't mind finding all this under my tree come Christmas. It's probably gonna be another cold one and what better to wrap up in?