Brighter days ahead
FACE, MEET ZARA’S FIRST FULL MAKE-UP COLLECTION. WITH 130 COLOURS AND COUNTING…
At long last, Zara is moving into the make-up market, with its first fully comprehensive beauty collection hitting virtual and in-store shelves on 12 May – just in time to refresh our re-entry make-up bags. Not a brand to do things by halves, the collection (which has been a lengthy 18 months in the making) is going all-out, with an incredible 130 colours in the launch line-up (and so much more to come). ‘It’s a complete collection for eyes, lips, face and nails, and it’s made with the highest-performing ingredients, with cruelty-free, clean formulas and refillable packaging,’ explains Diane Kendal, legendary make-up artist and the creative director of Zara Beauty.
Aside from the environmentally conscious credentials and pleasingly affordable price points, Diane says the biggest appeal of this launch was the way it embraces diversity. ‘The collection celebrates what I believe to be most important: that there is no beauty, only beauties. It’s a real celebration of colour and life.’ And what better time to launch a mood-boosting make-up range, when (after a year of skincare stealing the show) we’re finally rediscovering the wonders of our make-up bags, dusting off our brushes and heading back out into the big, bright world wearing our game-faces once more. ‘Beauty is self-expression. And within the Zara Beauty line people will be able to have that self-expression, they will be able to find that perfect lip colour, their perfect shadow palette – they’ll be able to experiment,’ says Diane. ‘Coming out of the pandemic, people will want to celebrate things – life, doing things that make us feel joyful – and make-up can play into that.’
You’ll be able to scoop up the products in-store at Zara’s London flagship (333 Oxford Street) or add to your online basket with the help of a hi-tech virtual service that allows you to try on all 130 colours from the comfort of your sofa. If you’re still overwhelmed by the sheer choice and don’t know where to start, take Diane’s advice: ‘I’d say the stiletto lipsticks and the duo eyeshadows will be future cult classics, as well as the nail polishes.’ (Which, FYI, come in 39 shades.)
The impressive breadth of the collection is the latest example of how important personalisation has become in beauty. The Zara Beauty collection includes customisable eyeshadow palettes that let you mix and match your favourite six shades to create a bespoke palette, which comes in refillable sleek white casing. ‘We’re really excited about this element because it’s very personal,’ says Diane, who used the palette to create the pastel-toned, feelgood makeup looks you see on these pages.
Diane reveals that the 130-piece launch is only the beginning. ‘There are loads more products in the pipeline, including foundations, mascaras, a tinted balm.’ So why wait? ‘We wanted to launch with the products that we could find really amazing, high-quality formulas and ingredients for, that actually deliver the colour payoff we wanted,’ Diane says. Which is exactly how it should be.
SHEER HAPPINESS
‘LESS IS MORE’ IS ONE OF DIANE’S MAKE-UP MANTRAS. ‘I DON’T MEAN LESS COLOUR, BUT LESS PRODUCT . THESE FORMULAS ARE PURPOSEFULLY BUILDABLE, SO YOU CAN START WITH ONE SHEER LOOK AND BUILD UP FROM THERE INTO SOMETHING BOLDER.’
COLOUR THERAPY
THE ONLY THING BETTER THAN ONE BOLD EYESHADOW IS FOUR. BECAUSE, JUST LIKE A VIVIDLY COLOURFUL OUTFIT, IT’S HARD TO FEEL BLUE WHEN VIEWING THE WORLD THROUGH EYES MADE BRIGHT BY MULTI-TONED HUES. .