COLOR ME BEAUTIFUL: Caroline de Maigret and Lucia Pica hosted an hourlong Chanel makeup tutorial at Colette in Paris on Wednesday evening.
The banter between the pair — a brand ambassador and the global creative makeup and color designer at the house — was often peppered with giggles as Pica plied her trade with products from Chanel’s spring collection. Dubbed Neapolis, it went on sale exclusively at Colette on Oct. 30, the day Chanel’s takeover of the store made its debut.
Sitting in the minus-one floor of the boutique, which is slated to shutter on Dec. 20, the duo had as a backdrop a white wall decorated with hand-drawn blue dots — Karl Lagerfeld’s rendition of Colette’s iconic logo.
Style maven de Maigret said makeup “is like a very good friend who is going to make you feel better. Some days it’s going to make you feel sexier, some days stronger. It’s like clothes.”
Related Galleries
She is not, however, au fait with using color cosmetics herself, finding it as beguiling as fashion for “some of the people who don’t understand how to put clothes together. I don’t understand powders. I still don’t know how to find a good concealer.”
De Maigret is no lipstick aficionado like Pica, who sports it every day. Ditto for mascara. But for the makeup artist, color cosmetics aren’t about changing someone’s face. “I like the idea of working with what you have,” she said.
That can be about enhancing beauty or playing with it, which is why she often has in her palettes a strong color that can be paired with more natural hues.
“It’s interesting, because that’s exactly what I do with style,” mused de Maigret.
So did Pica have any tricks of the trade to share? “Sometimes if I put foundation on, I put a little bit of oil inside, and break it down [some],” she shared. “Or I like to use balm on my cheeks…on my eyes.”
Her personal beauty ritual involves, as well, lashings of mascara on top lids. But Pica doesn’t comb them out. “I think it makes me look fresher,” she confided, adding eyebrow gel is always a must.
De Maigret asked if Pica’s makeup look has evolved over time. “I used to do more eyes. I think I got really into that masculine-feminine look, with my hair pulled back and red lipstick,” she said. “I found myself.”