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· August 14, 2007 4:43 PM by
Colleen Shirazi
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Posted by Dain, Tuesday, August 14, 2007 3:07 AM (Eastern)
It seems appropriate, since I've written a couple (but by no means comprehensive) articles on French style, to turn to a Frenchwoman for a makeup aesthetic. I'll admit, I've not looked at her line seriously before, because it came into being at a time when makeup-artist lines were dime a dozen (they have stopped, of late, I wonder what's next?), but it is a good one. Her colors are sensitive and refined, and have not lost the integrity of some other makeup artist lines I could name (*cough* Stila! *cough*). Here is some biographical information: it seems that Mercier began as an artist before turning to makeup, and studied and worked in France, helped start American Elle, worked with various campaigns and celebrities, and put out her eponymous makeup line in 1996.
Mercier is famous for a few things, but most of all, for her "Flawless Face" technique. If you want more detailed, personalizaed information from Mercier herself, I suggest checking out her book, The New Beauty Secrets (I haven't read it myself, but I'm writing from a consumer's perspective on an individual's influence, not about her theories). It is, all told, a time-consuming routine, but an intelligent one. She has two excellent, yellow-toned, pigmented foundations, Oil-Free and Moisturizing, which were and still are favorites of other makeup artists—which makes sense, how can you propose such a thing as a "flawless face" without offering excellent foundation? For those who don't need much coverage, or prefer a more laidback approach, there is her Tinted Moisturizer, which is a tinted moisturizer par excellence, with a cult following. And her concealers are equally famous—perhaps moreso, for on them, Mercier built her name—Secret Camouflage. Mercier made coverup, once an adjunct to foundation's primary role, the essential technique for a flawless face. Though many makeup artists have noted that concealer, judiciously applied, is often better than the allover coverage of foundation, Mercier had the ingenuity to offer two shades at once, to blend together into one's perfect shade. Apply to strategic spots like undereyes, the sides of the nose, blemishes, etc. in feathery strokes, then pat to blend, top with powder. Again, time-consuming, but highly effective, so much so that Secret Camouflage inspired dozens of copycats, but Mercier's highly pigmented formula is still probably the best. The concealer's dry texture, however, made it necessary to blend with eye cream, so, due to popular demand, Mercier introduced Secret Concealer, a creamier formulation for specific use under the eyes. She now offers Undercover: a combination of Secret Camouflage and Secret in one pot. The final touch, Setting Powder. When it comes to blush, all her shades are flattering, and Mercier recommends them for a more youthful look.
Mercier focuses on the skin, with good reason: good skin, or at least the appearance of it, is far more important than any color cosmetic. Not even the most colorful, artistic eyeshadow in the world will hide the fact that you have bad skin. But in spite of the importance of the Flawless Face, Mercier offers excellent color products, as well. They are largely shades for a classically natural look; ornamentation is not Mercier's primary interest. She's been made famous a couple of times because of her Lips collection, a selection of sheer liptones, for an easy natural look. In retrospect, it seems obvious that sheer liptones would be an ideal offering, a hybrid born out of a real-life makeup artist technique (lipliner + lip balm), but these lipsticks were famous at a time when sheer lipsticks were not all the rage as they are now. It was something of a revelation, when MAC's most famous lipsticks were still O and Touch and Dubonnet and Plastique and Russian Red. Like every good idea in the cosmetics industry, the idea was widely copied. Other shades of note (I have not really explored this line, so these are merely the most famed): Red Grape (used on Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors), Amethyst (a rich mauve-plum shimmer), and Courtisane (a warm, summery pink). She also has a handful of popular Lip Glace shades.
When it comes to eyes, Mercier has a few oft quoted shades, like Rosé and Deep Night, but she is most famous for the tightlining technique, which, true to her idiom, is a somewhat labor intensive but utterly natural look. For this, one needs her Eye Liner and flat lining brush (which is soft and flexible enough not to damage the inner rim). One wets the cake liner until it has a thick, gooey consistency, then applies it along the inner rim right between lashes (not on the actual inner rim itself) with the flat liner brush. This is really quite an ingenious idea, as it's utterly natural (doesn't look like makeup), yet it provides such outstanding definition, as if one possesses naturally thicker, lusher lashes rather than one who must turn to the ministrations of ever goopier mascaras, which can look natural enough, but never like the real thing. She once had a fantastic palette of four eyeshadow shades: it was well put together, but I see it's been discontinued. Her shadow colors are pretty, but can seem dull compared to more fantastic avant garde offerings from NARS—again, Mercier favors the classic, the pretty, the natural, so the dinginess is quite misleading. She's much more interested in looking one's best (makeup as enhancement) than looking made up (makeup as a uniform, or, alternatively, as a statement).
Labels: laura mercier, the makeup artist
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August 14, 2007 4:43 PM,
I've tried only two Mercier products, but they were both good.
One was Discretion lipstick. I don't know if they've reformulated it, but it tasted pretty bad...but it was also the perfect nude shade. Most "nudes" don't look nude on, but Discretion actually does.
The other was the tinted moisturizer, the regular one, not the oil-free.
For a TM, it has a lot of coverage, more than I usually go for. I think of it more as a medium-coverage foundation than as a TM. And it's matte, completely matte. It's great. You'd need a good color match, because of the coverage, but I can see why people like it.
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