You’ve heard the beauty mantras before: treat your face like a canvas. Be an
artist. Play with your palette. Usually, that just means grabbing your Shu
Uemura blending brush and setting to with some eye shadow. Not any longer.
Suddenly, this summer, everyone is channelling their inner Tracey Emin when
it comes to cosmetics, and body art is big news. Maybe it’s the influence of
Bat for Lashes; she — along with many a Glasto reveller — was sporting
elaborate make-up drawings on her festival face. Maybe it’s all part of the
current 1970s fashion references. Or maybe we just want a tad more
individuality. Whatever the reason, here are a few ways to become a properly
painted lady.
Henna body art
Having made the leap from forensics graduate to world’s fastest henna artist
(he has the Guinness world record to prove it), Ash Kumar is now handing
over his tools to you, with a new range of self-applicating henna transfer
kits. “Now, anyone can have a go,” he says. “You don’t need to be
particularly artistic or even have a steady hand.” In the kit, you’ll find
henna-style transfers in terracotta and black, wash-off glitter gels and a
set of stick-on Swarovski crystals. And what with the current love of all
things Bollywood, the collection couldn’t be better timed. “When Slumdog
Millionaire came out, it catapulted the interest in Asian beauty,” says
Kumar. “I kept seeing Indian-inspired make-up collections. Now even Kylie is
going to star in a Bollywood film. It’s creating an even wider interest in
henna.” But don’t go calling it a trend, he says. “It’s more than that —
it’s an individual fashion statement, a head-turner. It allows make-up to be
more bespoke, which is what we’re all moving towards, something different to
give that extra edge.” He should know — when not formulating henna products
he is busy painting freehand henna designs onto the leading ladies of both
Bollywood and Hollywood, counting Demi Moore, Cameron Diaz and Victoria
Beckham among his clients. ashkumar.co.uk
Face painting
Whether it’s an alternative look for a masked ball or an individual statement
you’re after, nowhere does face painting quite like the creative folk at
Illamasqua — and we’re not talking a tiger’s face. With booths manned by
professional make-up artists who like to have serious fun with cosmetics
(its tag is the make-up brand for your alter ego), for a small booking fee,
redeemable against purchase (£30 in London, £20 elsewhere), you can have
anything from flowers to swirls painted on your face as part of its
Transformation service. Go with something in mind or just let them freestyle
— either way, you’ll leave with a serious air of mystery. Illamasqua, at
Selfridges London and Manchester Trafford; Debenhams in Glasgow, Belfast and
Cardiff, and Fenwick in Newcastle; illamasqua.com
Semi-permanent eyebrow ‘tattoo’
As far back as the 1920s, film actresses were inking on their pencil thin
arches; somewhat further back, Egyptian mummies show evidence of tattooed
make-up and brows. It makes sense: brows frame the face and, with a bit of
form to them, they can definitely help you look less horrid first thing — or
any time.
Welcome Fabrice Condemi. Before he became the go-to guy for semi-permanent
eyebrow make-up, Condemi was a commercial airbrush artist. Now his commute
takes him from native Brussels to Zurich, New York and London, as well as
the more soignée resort towns of Europe. His emphasis is on creating a soft,
natural shape, not these nigh-on stencil-like eyebrows. “You have a terrible
reputation for permanent make-up in London,” he says. “It’s so bad here,
like face painting.” Not any more.
It’s expensive, of course — though it will save you money on dye jobs for at
least a year, if not two, which is how long a semi-perm brow lasts. I chose
to have my eyebrow make-up starting a little further apart than my actual
brows to make them look more wide-set. Since I’ve done it, I’ve barely
thought about them — even plucking round the outline is much easier than the
usual affair. For many, of course, it’s about giving themselves eyebrows
again, either due to age or years of over-plucking.
The downside, apart from the cost, is that it’s painful, especially if you
don’t find the odd jab of a prettifying needle tolerable — even a bit of
anaesthetic cream couldn’t take the sting away — since the process is much
like that of tattooing. It’s less painful than Botox, and lasts longer. For
the first few days, though, you look as if a five-year-old has taken a
marker pen to your forehead — my family had a good laugh at me on my first
day.
Condemi is also big on doing guys; a client, probably gay, nicely groomed and
European-looking, was wheeled in to show me how natural and enhancing a bit
of semi-permanent eyeliner is on a chap, “For men in business, it’s
important, because they can do a lot with their eyes.” Can’t we all. After
three months, I went back for a touch-up, and what at first I thought was
too heavy ended up looking seriously fabulous.
Fabrice Condemi visits Beauty Works West once a month. Semi-permanent brows
and eyeliner cost from £500, including a follow-up appointment and touch-up;
020 7221 2248
STUCK ON YOU
When groovy hairdresser Danilo recently arrived in town for a Pantene product
launch, there was something unusual about him: a thumbnail painted in
shimmering metallic gold. Except this was no nail varnish. This was Minx,
the new nail art just arrived from LA, and via the cool set in New York
(Lady Gaga is a fan, as are Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera).
Minx works a little like a transfer — patterns are preprinted on nail-shaped
strips, then applied in less than half an hour with the use of a UV lamp to
make things more pliable and sticky, revolutionising nail art as a result;
they don’t even require drying time. The most popular colour choices
currently are gold and leopardprint (often mixed together), though silver is
also in demand.
Other designs include fishnets and alternative reverse French manicures.
“People love the shiny metallic effect it gives,” says nail technician Jenny
Longworth, who is in-house at Lost in Beauty two days a week. ”You just
can’t achieve that with polish.” The results, which can also be used on
toenails, can last anything from four days to two weeks.
Minx nails, by appointment, at Lost in Beauty, 117 Regent’s Park Road, NW1;
020 7586 4411
