EYEING the future
Masks are here for a while, so power up your peepers
Wearing a face mask has become a new normal way of life. As it covers up the face’s lower part, more than ever eyes are the windows to the soul.
As doing eye make-up can be tricky, Guerlain created its Mad Eyes collection for effortless application as well as caring for peepers’ delicate skin.
“Today, it’s unthinkable not to take skincare into account when designing new formulas. Everything starts with care and protection, then comes embellishment,” said make-up creative director Olivier Echaudemaison. “Many of the ingredients from the skincare world can be found in make-up. In fact, it’s only really the amount of pigment that’s different.”
The four-step eye make-up routine starts with styling brows via a hybrid formula that suspends micro-fibres in a coloured gel while nourishing brows with beeswax, cotton extract and D-panthenol.
The Brow Framer further features an ergonomic rubber brush that shapes the brow line and helps uniformly distribute the brow hairs.
“On the first sweep, hold your hand lightly and draw the line gently. Then repeat if you need more depth,” said Echaudemaison.
Brows are essential to any eye make-up look as they highlight the eyes and give them more character.
In the second step, eyelids sparkle with colours, rendered by double-ended Contrast Shadow Duo, whose complementary shades are in either subtle or bold, matte or iridescent hues.
The creamy texture allows a smooth layering onto eyelids or under the eyeline, once applied pigments won’t budge for staying power.
“Traditional eyeshadows can often be hard to apply. That means we only use them for big occasions, but this duo is a nice-touse make-up tool,” he said. “To make eyes look more youthful, use the lighter shade to brighten the inner corner of the eye, then play with the darker shade on outer edges.”
Thirdly, eyes can be defined in various styles with two new liners. The cat-eye look can be easily drawn with Precise Liner, by drawing a flick at the outer corner of the eyelid, then complete the line across the eyelid.
The liner pen gives a matte tattoo-like finish while Intense Liner provides an opaque finish through its rich and thick formula, applied with a calligraphic brush.
The last step transforms lashes through a new mascara that also functions as a serum containing the same skincare ingredients as in Brow Framer. The fibres of the calibrated brush are arranged in a clover shape across the wand, to boost the amount of mascara applied with each sweep.
The Mad Eyes campaign stars Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova, whose blue eyes are intensified by Guerlain’s eye make-up
“Natalia has unique, fascinating eyes. By loading up the upper lashes with the black mascara, the pupils become very bold looking,” Echaudemaison said. “On one hand, the eyeshadows melt into this sultry look, and then on the other, the brightness opens the eyes without making them look too severe.”