Brigitte Reiss-Andersen / Fashion For The Face

Gamer Girl Glam

Brigitte — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:29:31 +0000

Faith Connors of Mirror's Edge

Until recently the typical female characters in the video-game-world were a rather predictable bunch of pumped-up, under-dressed Barbarella-Barbies conceived for an audience of adolescent shut-ins. Lately however, I have started noticing some more intriguing looking avatars in the window of my neighborhood GameStop.

Supermodel style: Lightning of Final Fantasy XIII

Following a new trend from certain game producers to cater to a female audience as well, the heroines have evolved into modern day icons with current, yet creative looks. Check out the model-like Lightning from Final Fantasy in minimal makeup. Or Jade from Beyond Good and Evil with her bandana, spiky cropped hair and green lipstick. How Downtown!

Jade from Beyond Good and Evil

My favorite is Faith Connors from Mirror’s Edge. Love her cool style and rebellious demeanor as well as her graphic makeup. Is gaming going to make it to my to-do list? Who knows……..

Faith in action - don't mess with this chick!

InStyle Daily Beauty Tip: Hilary Duff

Brigitte — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:00:22 +0000

…just spent a fun three days working with the lovely Hilary Duff.

She sure is gorgeous…

Hilary with hair stylist Peter Butler and yours truly...

Gotta run!

Carrie Underwood Allure cover

Brigitte — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 02:35:13 +0000

Here’s my new cover with Carrie Underwood.

We flew down to Nashville for the day and set up camp in an historic Southern mansion. It had a lot of history and patina but not a lot of heat! But the beauty crew was not phased by a little discomfort - we plowed ahead as it if were a nice summer day. And Carrie was a super-trooper.

LINK: Click to open Allure’s covershoot slideshow…

Monsieur St Laurent and his Muses

Brigitte — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:49:30 +0000

Yves St Laurent was famous for his use of color, his extravagant and artful collections and his love of women. While he was inspired by his close friends Loulou de la Falaise, Catherine Deneuve, Betty Catroux and Paloma Picasso, the models he chose to work with on a day-to-day basis and for his runway shows were an integral part in building his collections. These girls had personality, silhouette, elegance and unlike the hordes of indistinguishable waifs that are trotting and tripping down the runways today, they inspired awe.

5, Avenue Marceau in Paris was the legendary address of the Haute Couture house of Yves St Laurent. A beautiful five story limestone building, it housed all the various ateliers needed to produce an entirely handmade collection - from suits and ballgowns to hats and shoes.

In the early 80’s the house was at the height of it’s splendor and success. On my first day as an assistant to the revered makeup artist José-Luis I walked through those doors as if I were entering the Vatican. There was plenty to feel intimidated about: the sumptuous décor, the formal staff, and the unspoken codes dictated by hierarchy and étiquette.

The “cabine” was a rather large mirrored room were the house models in their white fitted lab coats would lounge around while being prepared by hair-and-makeup people. Monsieur St Laurent worked on the collections from his studio on the third floor and when he needed to fit a piece on a real body he would send for one of the models.

In addition to design fittings, there was always something going on at Avenue Marceau: a show for a private client, editorial shoots, sittings with great illustrators such as Joe Eula and Antonio Lopez, a TV reportage, preparations for the runway shows… The girls always had to be ready and as far as I was concerned, I was getting the best education in fashion and makeup one could dream of. I was lucky to become one of the makeup assistants who was requested for the cabine literally every day for the next few years.

The Big Show: Diversity a la YSL

The group of fitting models was ethnically varied and they rotated on an “as needed” basis. As the show date would approach more girls were added, making the group even more diverse. Throughout the years I learned to recognize certain “types” that Monsieur St Laurent would gravitate to. I named them: statuesque African - European aristocrat - Asian royalty - Blonde Hitchcock-heroine type - Indian maharani - South-American wife of a president - British redhead - American heiress - Middle eastern princess.

Since Haute-Couture was an exclusive client-based business, it is understandable that YSL sought inspiration in models who reminded him of his individual clients.

The day of the show our backstage area was like a United Nations of YSL. The glamazons of the day were the Ethiopian sisters Hedia and Amalia, Guinean Katoucha, the dynamic Mounia from Martinique, mysterious Sayoko from Japan, elegant Texan Diane DeWitt, Kirat from India, Anna Bayle from the Philippines, Brazilians Dalma and Betty Lago, Spanish Violetta Sanchez, Italian Alda Balestra, the indomitable red-head Tara Shannon… Even when runway models were eventually replaced by the famous editorial “supermodels” of the 90’s (Naomi, Linda, Claudia, Laetitia etc…) the casting remained very international.

Today, as the Couture Houses are dying a slow death, and designers have become corporate brands relying on fragrance and accessories to drive sales, “types” are not needed for design inspiration. As a result, the runway is as colorful and spicy as vanilla pudding. It seems we are now back to square one - models as bland, anonymous “coathangers” in the tradition that Charles Frederic Worth started 130 years ago because he didn’t want them to distract from the clothes! For YSL, the girls communicated the collection. No coathangers, please!

Yves St Laurent created some of the most celebrated collections in fashion history, collections that were not mere pieces of art but clothes that his clients could and would wear. I doubt he could have done it without his international muses who sparked excitement and inspiration, and brought his clothes to life.

One ideal beauty? Think again…

Brigitte — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:55:37 +0000

I don’t believe that beauty can be measured by the width of the eyes or the shape of the nose, or for that matter be represented by any single ideal. That type of thinking might have held sway in ancient Greece, but it no longer applies in the twenty-first century, with our unprecedented awareness of - and exchanges with - peoples from distant parts of the world. We don’t live in a bubble any longer.

From mud villages to sprawling urban centers access to television, wireless telecommunications and the internet is booming. This makes for faster communication to be sure, and it brings with it the awareness that our western standards of beauty may not be at all applicable in other cultures.

Actually, I have witnessed this discrepancy up close and personal: it becomes very obvious while on location shoots in so-called “exotic” spots around the world.

Whether it’s a casbah in Morocco, a native people’s fishing village in Panama or River Number Two in Sierra Leone, when a photo team with models and cameras shows up, the locals always gather around to see what’s going on. And how awkward and somehow amusing it is when they point and giggle at our model (who of course would be the sought-after Über-glamazon of the moment) because they find her too tall, too skinny, too stuck up, too bland or angular or pale - in other words - plain out ugly, as far as they’re concerned. Ouch! That’s a reality check!

It’s on these trips that I have often noticed in the crowd a girl who is truly beautiful by any measure, whose beauty is not a matter of “model” standards.

It reminds me that a well-groomed young woman who has a slender (not scrawny) figure, radiant skin, natural thick hair, white teeth and a sparkle in her eye will be considered beautiful by most people across the globe.

My conclusion is that one measure of beauty is certainly tied to place and culture. Local folk snickering at our model are in fact simply saying - “you are not our fashion”. This can even be true from one neighborhood to the other in a big city!

On the other hand, there is the kind of beauty that transcends borders and cultures because it speaks to the human heart and spirit. We just have to open our eyes to see it, and open our minds to recognize it!

Beauty

Special thanks to photographers Helga Ni, Sean Hawkey, Eric Lafforgue and rudenoon for their wonderful portraiture.

A power makeover: Alexis Glick x 4

Brigitte — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:46:18 +0000

I bet you’ve heard that fair-skinned blonds should wear pastels, and dark-haired mediterranean types look best in earth tones, yes? In other words, a woman’s coloring determines the makeup she should wear, right?

But what if one brunette is a yoga instructor in Colorado and the other is an advertising executive in NYC? Or one blond is a kindergarten teacher in Maine and the other is an aspiring actress in LA? Would they wear the same makeup? Probably not! Because STYLE is as important as coloring when you choose what look works best for you. That’s a big part of what Fashion for the Face is all about.

Let me show you some examples.

Lovely Alexis Glick was the anchor for Fox Business News at the time when photographer Philippe Salomon paired us up. I have boundless admiration for this woman. Her daily show was broadcast early morning, she has two small children and she juggles a crazy schedule, all the while looking fresh as a daisy and radiating positive energy. Her multi-faceted lifestyle gave me the idea of giving her four distinctly different looks that mirror the various aspects of her different roles: mother, career woman, celebrity and occasional fashionista.

a No-Makeup look...

We began with what I call the No-Makeup Look. Many women don’t like to look like they are wearing any makeup at all, yet they want to “beautify” just the same. To achieve this clean and fresh face I used concealer, foundation, blush, eye pencil and lip gloss. It’s all in a subtle application.

the Polished look...

This is the Polished look. This classic and versatile approach is what most women want: present but not overwhelming. It’s perfect for most settings - from the office to the school bake sale. The key here is the nice balance between eyes and lips, applied with a light touch.

Red Carpet glamour

I call this the Red Carpet Look. Everyone has a Red Carpet occasion for which one channels the inner movie star to dazzle and impress: a wedding, a Bar Mitzvah, a reunion, a cocktail party with colleagues! Darken the eyes, intensify the blush and unleash the red lipstick!

fashionista inspired...

This is the Makeup Diva. The look is bold, runway-inspired and very up-to-date. Excellent for sitting in the front-row of a fashion show or being photographed for an ultra-cool fashion magazine. Big velvety smokey eyes and a pale nude lip. It’s all about drama and mystery.

Thank you Alexis for playing this makeup “identity” game! Many women can relate to the idea of being different personas throughout the days and weeks. From my point of view it’s not one woman = one makeup. Just as we change our clothes to fit these occasions we can also vary our makeup accordingly.

Be confident, be inspired.

Ad Madness?

Brigitte — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:32:03 +0000

I have never had a problem with beauty advertising. I like pretty pictures. Yes, they are retouched and yes, they sell a piece of a dream. But since a couple of years some of them seem to cross a line between being inspirational and right out campy!

At the very moment when millions of makeup fans are flocking to amateur-run blogs and viewing you-tube tutorials done in bathrooms and living rooms (can’t get more realistic than that, can it?), many advertising pages in magazines look so absurdly unrealistic they feel out of sync with their times.

If you try this at home, individual results may vary!

Consider the current mascara ads as an example. Why do so many of them feature inches-long lashes that couldn’t possibly be created with the help of mascara alone? It’s hard to believe women would aspire to lashes that evoke sci-fi spiders rather than the promise of a beautiful eye. One version features full rows of lashes that are so obviously fake (either because they actually come from a box or are blatantly photo-shopped) that it’s virtually impossible to feel a connection with the image. Do cosmetic brands choose to underestimate their customers or have they lost the plot?

Don’t they know consumers today are more aware, educated and with-it than ever before?

With the growing presence of fashion and beauty driven television shows and online, women are better educated about makeup than ever before.
They have access to easy-to-use cosmetics that look great, an excellent offering of colors for various skin tones, good quality makeup, professional grade tools at low price points and extensive information accessible to all.
They are becoming experts in their own right.

Yet, it seems that a number of makeup advertisers haven’t caught on how their audience has evolved and become very sophisticated. By producing advertising that is excessively unrealistic, they underestimate their consumer.

The response, as can be seen in the blogosphere, is: Do they think we’re stupid?

In order to distinguish themselves in a makeup landscape where sameness has become the norm, companies focus exclusively on the benefits of a product and create products that rely on gimmicks: skin products lasting 24 hours… lashes plumped into perfect rows…lip glosses on a 16-hour schedule…applicators that roll-on, oscillate or vibrate. Are we talking household appliances or makeup?

These manufacturers might just be missing a very important point: the emotional connection. How does this product make a woman feel: feminine, sexy, confident or powerful? How pleasant is the gesture of applying it? How satisfying is the “transformation” taking place in the mirror? How positive is the connection between her and the reflection she sees? Could this mean that reapplying a product is actually a pleasure rather than a chore - a way for a woman to check in with her feminine self during the day? A well deserved little “me”-moment?

Couldn’t applying a lipstick trigger a sense of celebrating her femininity, boost her confidence and make her feel invincible?

Perhaps it’s time to shift the approach towards the real woman out there.
Imagine if the quest was no longer for an unreachable, yes, unreachable ideal of perfection but for the gratification of making herself looking darn good and enjoying every minute of it!

Is makeup stuck in a time warp?

Brigitte — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:47:15 +0000

I am fascinated by the fact that there is so much outdated information about makeup and application techniques being touted in the media. I read “experts” tips in books, magazines and online that are 10-30 years past their due date. I see makeovers on television that are so old hat that the candidates look better before than after.

Do you recognize quotes such as: “the face is an empty canvas…” “start your eye makeup by applying a white base from your lash line to your eyebrows..” ?

How about the concept of “midtone, deeptone and highlight” as the holy trinity of eye shadow application? As if no other techniques had evolved since the 60’s!

Since then, our taste in music, media and fashion has evolved. We certainly look different today than we did then. Thanks to the internet, what we see and what we know is different than 10 years ago . What could make anyone think that we should apply our makeup in the same style or the same way as in the 80’s? Isn’t it obvious there are new ways to do makeup in the 21st century? In the world of beauty, products have changed so much it has opened a whole new world of possibilities.

As a fashion makeup artist I have to reinvent my approach with a couple of fresh ideas every season to complement the current fashion trends. And in fashion, if you don’t move forward you get stuck and dated. Truth be told not all looks remain from season to season, but some can transcend the short-lived hot trend gimmicks and become the new big thing that feels excitingly modern. Let me give you a few examples of trends that were very avant-garde at one point but are now here to stay: shimmer powders/luminizers, the berry lip stain, the tan face, the smudgy smokey eye……..

Therefore, I invite everyone from regular makeup users to professionals, to get out of their comfort zone and drop their habitual way of applying their makeup and experiment with another technique altogether.

Like the foundation nice and thick? Work on making it translucent and subtle.

Always used three tones for the eyes? Try a combo of smudged pencil liner and a single eye shadow.

Love a dark lip liner contouring a lighter lipstick? Get a different lip color and drop the lip liner, or pick one that matches the lipstick.

Hopefully you’ll get excited, something akin to the feeling when you get a pair of sizzling new shoes, the latest must-have handbag or a fabulous belt right out of a magazine: you feel modern and new.

You’ve finally dropped your 80’s mullet, right? You’re ready to venture into a whole new world of today’s makeup fun. That’s the idea, makeup as fashion for the face!

Puffy, Tired Travel Eyes

Brigitte — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:49:22 +0000

This morning I got on a plane at dawn and went straight from the airport to a Nashville photo studio for a shoot. Looking fresh is a real challenge in this case…

THE CUCUMBER QUESTION
What really works to remedy tired, puffy eyes? Here’s my personal lowdown on the subject.

What works:
Anything cold - ice, witch hazel you keep in the fridge, and yes, cucumber slices (sliced very thin so they are able adhere to the eye), refrigerated eye masks.

Under eye gels - I want to believe in them with all my heart. I’m not sure they work, but sometimes believing is half the magic.

Industrial strength concealer from Ben Nye or Cinema secrets. I always choose warm based colors that are pink/orange based to neutralize the dark areas. Use with a very flat brush where needed: in the groove, the red-blue inner corner of the eye, as well as the outer corner. I do it before applying foundation because I can blend it better. (It is said that doing so is a big no-no. Because one takes off the other. The trick is simply to not rub, but pat the color in.)

Concentrate your makeup on the upper eye and skip drawing attention to the lower lid altogether. If you feel naked without your dark eyeliner, just use a taupe colored shade which will give you a little definition without making the eye small.

What doesn’t work:
Concealers that are too white or too yellow

Preparation H (the formula changed)

Oily eye makeup removers (make the eyes puffy)

Applying concealer on the puffy part of the eye because it will make it protrude even more.

All about Fergie

Brigitte — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:22:57 +0000

It’s out! My cover and inside story with Fergie in the December 2009 issue of Cosmopolitan.

I have had the great pleasure of working with her on a few occasions, and not only am I a fan of hers as a musical artist but also as a person: she is über-cool, smart and funny as well as confident, relaxed and an incredible team player.

When I last saw her on a shoot for Allure, her hair was a mix of blonde and caramel shades, and her spectacular body was tan and toned. Since she was going to be photographed that time in bathing suits, it made sense to create a makeup that was based on warm shades of copper and rich golds.

Fergie for Allure, May 2009

But, this time her hair was quite a bit darker and I saw the opportunity to accentuate the sultry, mysterious side of Fergie while keeping her youthful glow.

For Cosmo’s inside pictures - where there is more creative leeway - I gave the eyes some drama with extra lashes, dark liner and cream eye shadow - but I kept the skin radiant and rosy.

extra lashes, dark liner, cream eye shadow, pink lips

There were plenty of options for the lip color since Fergie looks great in nudes, but because of the darkness of the hair I chose a subtle pink to brighten up the face. I feel that a beige nude would have made the look too drab.

Hope you agree with me: she looks Fergalicious!

Can’t wait to see her in the movie that has great glam potential: Nine.