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TBF Project:Blog
Posted by Dain, Monday, November 20, 2006 7:53 PM (Eastern)
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All About Eve (1950) is one of my favorite movies of all time, the sharpest chick flick. Gorgeous makeup and clothes, witty dialogue, virtuoso performances...
Inspired by the looks of this film, particularly of Anne Baxter, who plays Eve (for a better idea of the look she wears throughout the film, check out this wallpaper).
Old Hollywood glamour is a look so classic that it still wears well today. It depends largely on perfectly groomed brows, powdered skin, black-liquid-liner-and-false-lashes, and red lipstick: features that anyone could wear at any time, though it requires some upkeep (part of being a lady, see?). It almost looks strange in this day and age, when once it was the facial uniform of a generation (cold cream, red lipstick, a spritz of JOY, oh my!). It's strange how it's now more like a costume. As it IS 2006, not 1950, I've chosen products for a modern Eve Harrington, before she steps out into the world, perfectly elegant, on the prowl. Enjoy! I've been working on this one for a while...
To enlarge, click on the pictures below.
 NARS All About Eve Duo $31: How could I resist? It's named after the movie! You scoff, especially when you open the compact and see... two nudes? Surely not worth a $31 investment. But that is exactly what AAE (as it is colloquially known) is: an investment. Like expensive lingerie, satiny and important. Like Eve in the movie, these two flesh tones are seemingly humble, seemingly simple, but with a texture like the richest silk. The colors are very similar, peachy nudes with silvery sheen: one's peachier, the other's shiner (reminds me Copacabana). Both impart a candlelit glow. It's not like you're wearing makeup, but you look infinitely more polished. All About Eve is the soul of discretion. |
 NARS Daredevil Lip Stain $22.50: Without red lipstick, what would the 50s be? I ought to recommend a sober browned red, the most wearable, the most universal choice, e.g. Sue Devitt Great Australian Bight. But I won't. Might as well pick a red lipstick that REALLY is a red lipstick, a warrior red, the perfect red rose... with thorns. Daredevil is a bit tricky to put on (I apply to the back of my hand, then dab it on with a finger), but it is such a rich, saturated hue, a dark and dramatic cool red—it looks so right. It's somber, not bright, and very, very aggressive: the name says it all. NOTA BENE: The pigment is very high quality, I don't think this will "fuschia", but I am not the one to know. |
 NARS Riviera Multiple $36.50: I think aggressive makeup choices are best worn with a sense of balance. The classic look demands contour powder, which is very dated. The alternative, a hint of bronzer for deeper skin (the gleam is delicious), and for a fair complexion, a diffuse mist of sweet pink blush. The perfect blush with vibrant red lipstick: this delicate pink shimmer (a wee bit of gold), so sheer it barely registers. |
 Kevyn Aucoin Diaphanous The Gossamer Loose Powder $62: I can't in good conscience recommend the pancake makeup of yore, but I urge you to consider loose powder. Ladies who lunch powder their noses. I remember reading an article of Mr. Aucoin's long ago, of an impromptu makeover. They used very little concealer, and "translucent powder" to even out the skin. No foundation. How can, I wondered, translucent loose powder do so much? Because this girl, her skin, it was flawless. The answer is: he probably used this product. It imparts a flawless finish, it's hard to describe... somehow it "melts" into skin, makes pores disappear, and leaves a velvety finish that eliminates shine, similar to the effect of a skin primer. It comes with a finely textured sponge (it was his preferred method), which I find difficult to extricate, but I like the method (very evenly blended application). The jar is just drop dead gorgeous: the stuff of creams. |
 Kevyn Aucoin The Precision Brow Pencil $24: In the daily routines of most women, brows I think are neglected most. I am no less guilty, though I do tweeze. Brows frame the face, and no makeup artist ever neglects them. Shun the weak brow, with the consummate brow pencil. The shade is perfect on everyone (grey-taupe), the consistency is perfect (not too soft, not too hard), and the twist-up lead is very thin, perfect for sketching in nonexistent brows. It even comes with a spoolie at the end, which is surprisingly perfect for blending away harsh lines. Even a brow dummy will manage a passably perfect brow with this pencil. |
 Andrea Modlash Starter Kit, 53 Black $5.19: False lashes are big all of sudden. Shu Uemura has lash bars. Lash extensions are finally available in the US (the glue was once illegal). J. Lo orders them in fox fur, Oprah in mink, and Madonna's come diamond studded. Bizarre. Of the once standard practices in the the beauty rituals of women, false lashes, it seemed, had really fallen out of disfavor. I'm glad they're back, though. They seem very fun. They take a lot of practice, but a good place to start: these supernatural, easy-to-use kit from Andrea. Have some black liquid liner on hand after the glue dries, to cover the band. |
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 Rescue Beauty Lounge Rosemary Pamplemousse Exfoliating Body Wash $20: This is a beautiful product. It's a sort of creamy, lathering body wash with some apricot seed grains for mild exfoliation. It's not really that exfoliating, but placebo effect is important with body products, so I think my skin is smoother for using it. It's pretty, beige with brown specks, against the teal label with gold leaves. The smell, it is, pungent: rosemary, soapy, sinus-clearing, but hardly any grapefruit (definitely not my taste in scents). Pungent is good, a positive sign of quality in body products. And the product itself is problematic. If you are comfortable with a $48 rosemary-scented body wash, by all means, stop reading here. But if not, I would submit that this goes very fast as a scrub, because it's not particularly scrubby. But if you use it as a body wash, you get no exfoliating effects whatsoever. What's the point? (It would, however, be a really lovely thing to take with you on vacation, just the thing to treat yourself with after a dip in the Mediterranean, before you sit down to a snack of fresh figs, fire roasted fish, and yogurt with honey. Like I said, bath products are largely about placebo effect, of inspiring "atmosphere".) |
 OPI I'm Not Really A Waitress Nail Lacquer $7: This works in so many ways. The shade is truly a truly classic red, with the modern touch of shimmer. A slightly berry red with red shimmer, it's incredibly flattering on everyone (it's OPI's best selling shade). And the name! Evidently the idea behind it is an undiscovered actress who waits tables to get by, dreaming of discovery. That's not our Eve, actually, but she's not really a personal assistant, either. |
 Dior Hypnotic Poison EDT $42: I got it for this theme because of the name. I'm not sure what I think of it. To me, it smells predominantly of licorice and root beer. Plus vanilla, jasmine, and white musk. A lot of sweetness to mask a lot of bitterness. Conceptually, I suppose that is the point, but it smells like baby vomit to me. And the drydown smells like play-doh. Only much later is it any good: a sort of bitter almond-vanilla-jasmine-musk "skin" effect. Sexy marzipan, anyone? |
Be sure to check out my reviews in our Online Beauty Reviews for more detailed information about these products!
Images courtesy of reflectingarea.com and filmsite.org.
Labels: beauty notebook
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