Get your rocks on
BEAUTY GURU LISA ELDRIDGE TURNS HER HAND TO HER OTHER PASSION...
ANYONE OBSESSED with the world of make-up will know Lisa Eldridge. They will also know her rings. Because in every video tutorial she posts to her 1.8 million Youtube subscribers, or on Instagram to her 887k followers – be it a dewy transformation of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley or prepping supermodel Natasha Poly for a Versace party – she always has fingers full of rings. ‘And people were always asking me, “Where are they from?”’
Not only are said rings part of her trademark look, they are also the latest venture for the make-up guru. ‘I’ve been fascinated with gem stones my whole life. For me, it’s always been about make-up and jewellery working together,’ she says. ‘Like these smoky stones would look amazing with a big golden eye.’
We are perched on stools in her North London studio, which is wallpapered with magazine tears – a combination of her more experimental editorial work and inspirational mood boards. Wearing simple black trousers and a white shirt, her face – up close – is immaculate, with a red lip and a bold wing of eyeliner. She opens a bijoux box of coloured gem-stone rings. ‘I have my favourite combinations, which I’m calling duos or trios,’ she says, plucking out a large translucent pale blue amethyst. ‘Kate Winslet loved this one, so we’ve called it “The Kate”. It looks so great with “The Betty” [after her cat, a British Lilac Shorthair]. ‘ This is “Sophie” [because her friend, the writer and former model Sophie Dahl, zeroed in on the pink tourmalines], and I named this one “The Liz” after Elizabeth Taylor, as the deep, violet-blue reminded me of her eyes… Oh, and Taylor Hill’s hasn’t arrived yet…’
Named after family, friends and muses, each oval stone is set in simple silver or gold, which can be stacked to maximum effect. The packaging is equally special and ties into Lisa’s first love – make-up. Or rather, vintage make-up, of which she has a museum-worthy collection. Pulling open drawers, she reveals antique compacts and lipstick holders that resemble miniature jewellery cases more like works of art. A 1920s blush container inspired the packaging for each ring in her debut collection: a small cylindrical box made of pink vegan ‘suede’ comes complete with a replica rouge powder puff. ‘ That was the most difficult part of the process,’ she laughs of ‘puffgate’ – sourcing and making the rouge puffs, constructed from vintage lingerie, Bakerlite sequins and beads.
The entire process has had ‘an attentionto-detail factor of 150%’. To that end, the mini powder puffs are produced in Crete, the boxes in Norfolk (‘the same business that makes jewellery boxes for Cartier’) and the rings are cast, polished and set in artisanal workshops around Cornwall, Hereford and Mayfair. ‘And my friend, William Welstead, a stone collector, has sourced all the jewels [ largely from Nepal and India]. I’ve known him for 20 years, since he sourced my engagement ring,’ she adds, flashing a large diamond.
So why rings? As Lancôme’s global creative director, surely brands have been queuing around the block to make her own beauty line? In fact, her jewellery ‘hobby’ was fast-forwarded into a business when she discovered two companies in the US had been so inspired by the rings she wears in her make-up tutorials that they were selling their own ‘Lisa Eldridge rings’.
‘I phoned them up and they asked if I’d like to place an order and I said, ‘Well, no, Il’misa Eldridge!’ Under each ring they sold there were hundreds of comments. ‘It just showed me how popular they were, which spurred me on. Only mine are much, much better quality. My thing is attention to detail and creating a whole world that is 100% me.’
As for wearing jewellery, she says, ‘I’m not a fanatic – and it’s the same with clothes – I don’t have a lot. I’m not a big fan of trends, I love simple things that will last forever, so when I buy anything, I wear it for life.’ And so should we all…