September is here. It’s time to start making your Christmas list and buying key items that help us transition from Spring-Summer fresh to Fall-Winter flashy and glamorous.
The coming colder season isn’t about glorifying the youthful fresh face; it’s this time we celebrate the more successful, elegant and intimidating older women in their 30s and above.
Lancome’s statement for Fall 2011 is St. Honore—the Parisian beauty where less is definitely more. Dewy-clear skin, healthy, flushed cheeks, black-lined upper eyelids, and succulent, semi-matte red lips.
“The shade of ultimate seduction, pure red, the star of the collection, is made majestic by harmony of delicate nuances: taupe, brown, gray and, of course, black,” Lancome press materials say. “A resolutely chic palette contrasting beauty with the audacity of a smoldering red. Eyes gravitate to the lips which are dressed in the most passionate red, from carmine to poppy, while eyes are intensified with a tender brown or gray smoky effect, delicately outlined with a fine line of graphic black. Perfect sophistication: nails that harmonize your lipstick when they are not playing the card of mysterious black.”
Key products include Le French Touch Absolu lipstick (P1,695), a silky formula rich in Pro-Xylane, which nourishes and plumps up the lips. Its case may be smaller than that of a traditional lipstick, but its contents are identical. May even be used as creamy powder blush for your perfect shade of red cheeks.
As for color, recommended is Red, absolutely inspired by “Shaker,” the first pure red lipstick from Lancome which was created in 1945, Lancome’s Aaron De Mey has created three variations designed around this most fashionable of tints:
• 100-Rouge 29, a slightly blue blood red, swathed in mystery. Great for the very light or dark skinned.
• 102 Rouge Faubourg, incredibly rich deep-orange red in red flecks of glitter. For those with yellow undertones, this color will also look great as blush. My idea of Christmas red.
• 104 Rouge Saint Honoré, this season’s star, is a passionate and provocative red, simply laden with pigments. This will suit most women of color with its deep berry and brown base.
Another key product is Maison Lancome (P2,595), an all-over face powder to give skin a healthy flush of color. It may be used as a blush on light to medium skin.
Ombre Absolue Palette (P2,495) is the classic smoky eye created in shades of black, white, medium and light silvery gray that will add drama to anyone, regardless of skin color and age.
Artliner in 01 Black (P1,695) defines your upper eyelids with that sexy black line, which curves up at the tip with a ’40s-style graphic line, Lancome pays homage to its mythical eyeliner. It’s a tool that makes even the most novice hands skilled, able to create professional precision thanks to its easy-to-use properties. A child can actually perfect that sexy upper eyelid line, thanks to this.
The Lancome line will be available this month till December or until supplies last.