FOREPLAY

Nars Cosmetics
Foreplay Cheek Palette, Limited Edition ($49.00, narscosmetics.com)

PRODUCT 101: A chic cheek palette featuring four dazzling shades based on the bestselling Orgasm blush. The gorgeous afterglow of classic Orgasm is reinvented in this quad that combines Orgasm blush plus vivid shades of pink and peach and a shimmering gold to create your own signature glow.

This set contains:
-Peach Matte Blush
-Gold Highlighting Blush
-Pink Matte Blush
-Orgasm Blush (peachy pink with golden shimmer)

BEAUTY QUEEN

The Gold Standard. Legendary. Elegant. Innovative. The most influential makeup artist in the world by Vogue magazine. Pat McGrath was born and raised in Northampton, England. One of the most creative makeup artists of her generation, McGrath began her career in 1990 after completing an art foundation course at Northampton College, and said she “grew up living and breathing fashion in a compulsively creative family”.

• While she had no formal makeup training, her career breakthrough came while working on i-D magazine in the early Nineties.

• Since then she has worked with all the world’s top fashion photographers, designers and models.

• During the Nineties she spent ten seasons creating the makeup concepts for Prada and Miu Miu and in 1999 was asked by Giorgio Armani to design his cosmetics line.

• In 2004 she was named global cosmetics creative design director for Procter&Gamble, the name behind makeup brands including Max Factor, Dolce & Gabbana, CoverGirl and SK-II.

• She regularly collaborates on major fashion advertising campaigns such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Lanvin, Calvin Klein and Balenciaga, and her editorial work includes regular shoots with Vogue Italia and American Vogue.

• She is also Beauty Director of i-D magazine and dispenses her knowledge in the expert advice pages of Allure.

• In a Vogue article in 2007 she was named the most influential makeup artist in the world and has worked with celebrities as diverse as Madonna, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cate Blanchett and Oprah Winfrey.

• Despite creating the makeup for a plethora of shows and campaigns each season, McGrath remains inspired, “I’m influenced a lot by the fabrics I see, the colours that are in the collections and the girl’s faces. It’s always a challenge but that’s the key – to make it different every time.”

BLUSH BABY, BLUSH!

SO CHEEKY! – CHOOSING CHEEK COLOR: Although choosing cheek color is, of course, subjective, don’t forget to consider your basic skin tone. Subtle is almost more flattering, but who’s to say you won’t look (and feel) smashing in fuchsia sometimes? Here are quick guidelines that can save you some time and trouble.

• DETERMINE WHETHER YOUR SKIN TONE IS WARM OR COOL
Here are three surefire tests: Check the veins on your wrists. If they appear greenish, you have warm skin. If they look blue, you have cool skin. Consider how your skin reacts to sun. Warm skin tends to tan; cool skin tends to burn. Slip on a silver bracelet, then a gold one. Silver looks better on cool skin; gold compliments warm skin.

• TRY ON MAKEUP SHADES IN THE SAME CATEGORY
If you have warm undertones, you probably look best in yellow-based blush colors such as peach and terracotta; if you have cool undertones, blue-based pinks and berries will work.

• TAKE A GOOD LOOK
Rules or no rules, remember that choosing makeup colors is very subjective, and the smartest approach is trial and error. It’s pretty basic, an unflattering tone will make you look tired and sickly, and a flattering one will make your face come alive. Next, all you have to do is select the formulation best suited to your needs and skin type.

“How can I tone down too much blush?”
If you’ve over done it with cream blush, blot the color off with a tissue. If powder blush is the cause of the problem, diffuse it with translucent powder. Dust it on with a brush or powder puff and smooth it across your cheeks until the color is subdued. Since gel and liquid blush “stain” the cheeks, the only way to lighten them is to wash your face, moisturize, and reapply your makeup more sparingly.