The beauty pages
I’m having a makeup moment. To look at me you’d never guess – my make-up arsenal consists of cheek-coloured blush, Carmex cherry lipbalm, barely-there lipgloss and a blot of powder but that’s not the point. It’s make-up imagery I’m talking about. When it comes to photography, it’s the fashion imagery that tends to get all the love while beauty is the neglected sister in the attic – ridiculed or ignored. One of my friends who is something high up on a UK glossy openly sneers at the beauty pages. During our regular magazine critiques this contributing editor will skim past with a dismissive hand-wave, ‘Ew, beauty pages – nobody reads those.’ Er, excuse me, I do!
In particular, I adore a product-heavy still life page – smears of eyeshadow, great shiny blobs of lipgloss and scribbles of eyeliner will stop me in my tracks on my way to the horoscope page – especially when supersized to heroic proportions. And sitting in on a beauty editor’s meeting is the best thing ever – all the products are arrayed in front of you while decisions are made on how to shoot lipsticks – ‘shall we do slices or smudges?’.
Harper’s Bazaar are currently doing the best still life beauty pages – they’re like artists’ paint palettes. Actually, the face shots aren’t bad either…
27 February, 2010 @ 1:02 pm
i agree fabuloso, im always collection make-up yet I only use a liquid eye liner blush and myth mac lipstick.. I literally have two bags full, I say it s for my practice shoots… it's so not! They must have had so much fun shmooshing the lippies! I'd be tempted to mix my own colours up after and pot them up! x
28 February, 2010 @ 12:14 am
I completely agree. I kind of wish I could smush and slice my makeup collection in real life without ruining it… wouldn't it be more fun to use it like face paint? (That is, before looking in the mirror and realizing I look like a clown…)
~Robyn
Chi-Chi
28 February, 2010 @ 9:51 am
I love that kind of page; Allure used to do a lot of that. And I read EVERY WORD, too!
28 February, 2010 @ 1:50 pm
I love the beauty pages too. I always feel so sorry for the chopped and massacred products they use for those pages though! Doing it to a Bourgeois lippy is one thing.. but Chanel?!
28 February, 2010 @ 1:50 pm
I love the beauty pages too. I always feel so sorry for the chopped and massacred products they use for those pages though! Doing it to a Bourgeois lippy is one thing.. but Chanel?!
28 February, 2010 @ 1:50 pm
I love the beauty pages too. I always feel so sorry for the chopped and massacred products they use for those pages though! Doing it to a Bourgeois lippy is one thing.. but Chanel?!
28 February, 2010 @ 3:21 pm
I love the Stylist product pages that often include beauty – its like a sweet shop on paper and I find myself saying..oooh, ooooooh on the bus! And anyway, I always look at beauty images and remember them – my fave was the fad for featuring candy coloured beauty among or in cupcakes…soo pretty and also one that put beauty items in vintage tea cups and saucers..gorgeous. Hmm you see the food related theme here….!
28 February, 2010 @ 3:52 pm
I cant remember which magazine it was but there was this one beauty page that stick in my mind. It was a great mix of brightly coloured mushed lipsticks and macaroons. So cool!
xxxx
28 February, 2010 @ 8:52 pm
defo agree xoxox
1 March, 2010 @ 3:51 pm
harper's bazaar is so vogue paris… x
1 March, 2010 @ 6:29 pm
So gorgeous and Harpers is just getting better and better.
2 March, 2010 @ 9:46 am
Totally agree with your observations re Harpers' beauty editorial…it is always so enticing! the only magazine whose beauty features I actually read properly xC
4 March, 2010 @ 6:24 pm
Love this look!
16 March, 2010 @ 10:19 pm
i love the beauty pages, but then again i read everything in a magazine! i got an issue of harpers at the airport and was shocked it was so good. p.s. sorry for late commenting, very behind on google reader!