COUTURE BEAUTY

Honouring the fashion house’s heritage of dressing aristocracy and Hollywood icons, the long-awaited Valentino Beauty is a modern day beauty collection that brings couture to cosmetics.

Valentino Beauty draws on the fashion house’s storied history

Whether it’s Kaia Gerber’s humongous bou ant, Swarovski crystal winged eyeliner or eyelashes dotted with real feathers, every Valentino show has an element of pure beauty fantasy. We’ve never been more primed for an overblown aesthetic, so the long-awaited arrival of Valentino Beauty couldn’t have been more warranted. “Beauty and fashion are in a constant and symbiotic evolution,” says creative director of Maison Valentino Pierpaolo Piccioli, and to create a collection that tapped into the extravagance and craftsmanship of couture, Piccioli tapped make-up artist Raoúl Alejandre for what they’re calling Human Beauty, a collection for all genders, ages and cultures. Created in colours from Valentino collections, it’s a vast, versatile selection in highperformance formulas and multiple textures, all housed in the fashion house’s signature red and embossed with the trademark V.

ere’s a wardrobe of 50 shades of pearl-blended lipsticks, in blurred velvet matte and luminous liquid satin, 40 shades of semimatte foundation tested across 5,000 women, a hyaluronic-infused highlighter, creamy blush and eyeshadow hybrids, ink-and-gel double-ended eyeliners, lip glitters, volumising mascara, and a three-in-one brow product that combines ink, pencil and brush. Couture and beauty meet in the hero of the collection, the Go-Clutch – a miniature red and gold chain clutch bag that holds a nishing powder and lipstick. It’s a visionary collection, and that’s what Piccioli had in mind: “Valentino beauty is for the dreamers.” Valentino Beauty, from €30, is available worldwide from August.