Beau Nelson Interview
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Makeup artist Beau Nelson has worked with some of fashion's biggest stars including Iman, Jessica Stam and Sienna Miller. Last year Nelson launched his Beauté make-up line with a high-end brush set, and this year he introduced 12 shades of his Luminous Lip Gloss, with names like Elitist, Girlie Show, Urge and Heroine.
I HEART LUXE's Shannon Heth was lucky enough to sit down over brunch and just a few mimosas with the up-and-coming make-up mogul and recent New York transplant to discuss fall's biggest trends, how to clean up nice for a party, and why Parisian women always look so damn good.
SH: I have to tell you, I look in my make-up drawer and I've got about 20 glosses and lipsticks of which I use maybe 5, 15 shadows and I only really like 2, and a bunch of blushes that I've had for years. If I could start from scratch, what would make a perfect personal kit?
BN: Well, the first thing you need are some great tools. A good set of brushes will cut down on time, effort, and maximize the finish of your look.
SH: See, I've always wondered about brushes, because they can be a big investment, and I sometimes wonder if they're worth it.
BN: Well, I think that if you feel like you look better because you use the brushes, then they are well worth it. But I can guarantee that anyone who learns to use brushes correctly see a huge difference.
SH: Okay, so I've got my brushes. What else?
BN: You also must have a foundation or concealer or both that are the perfect finish and match for your skin tone. A finish is how the make-up looks after it's applied and there are four types of finishes: matte, semi-matte, satin, and dewy, but the most flattering is a satin finish because it looks the most like real skin.
SH: Any that you can recommend?
BN: For a satin finish I like Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. For dewy, Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, and for semi-matte Shu Uemura Nobura Cream Foundation.
SH: Any other essentials?
BN: Definitely an eyelash curler. Shu Uemura makes a fabulous 24-karat gold plated one. And great mascara. YSL Faux Cils is fantastic.
SH: What about lips?
BN: Everyone should have a colour that is the colour of your lips, but better. For a your-lips-but-better shade you should look for something that's a sheer formula, and the same colour that your lips would be after a really hot make out session with a stubbly guy.
SH: I'm guessing there's something in your line you can recommend for that?
BN: Well, I like our gloss in Heroine, that's sort of a dusty rose sheer. And we also make a colour called Elitist, which is a sort of a sheer tawny.
SH: Any particular trends for the moment for fall or for holiday parties that we should be aware of?
BN: Right now we're seeing bold lip colour and smoky eyes paired together, at least in advertising. It’s sort of a return to the looks of the late 70's or early 80's, and really glamorous, which is always signifying of strong women. But you're seeing that look now with really sheer skin instead of made up skin like it was back then.
SH: Let's say I'm running late from work and I've got to get to a party, what's one thing I could do really quickly that would make me look polished for the night?
BN: Red lips instantly make you look polished and strong, so if you have the right red lips then that's an instant fix. Otherwise, rimming the inside of your eyes with black eye pencil and squeezing your eyes really tight together to distribute into the lash line, that always draws attention right to your eyes and makes you look sexy.
SH: One of your favorite things to do, and that you're known for, is a smoky eye. Do you think that anyone can wear that look?
BN: I think anyone can wear a smoky eye but it has to work for you and you have to feel comfortable with it. Some women just don't feel comfortable with it. I think they can look good on everybody if you're willing to accept the look. Makeup really is about how you feel, and how it makes you feel.
SH: How are you finding adjusting to living in New York, and being a makeup artist in New York?
BN: It's good. I think it's going to be really good. My first job was doing the makeup for Zoe Kravitz for Iman's Keep A Child Alive campaign and that was a pretty cool first job.
SH: You worked with Iman for Project Runway Canada as well, right?
BN: Yes, and for the current cover of ELLE Canada. That was another great experience because not only did I get to know her and we became friends, but also because she's a makeup mogul and can offer such great advice to someone like myself who's just starting out. Were basically playing the same game and dealing with the same people but she's been really very sweet to me.
SH: I wanted to ask you about that, because you've recently launched your Beauté line, but most usually don't come out with a makeup line until after they've been a personal makeup artist for say, Jennifer Lopez or...
BN: Well, not necessarily. I mean, I've been doing this since I was 16 and I'm 27 now!
SH: But you're still quite young.
BN: I am young, but I've had 11 years of experience and beyond that, I've worked for almost every single line that's out there. You know, when Bobbi Brown came out with her line, she wasn't doing major celebrities, she was a theatre makeup major in New York and just decided to come out with a line of lipsticks and started very small, and I don't think she ever dreamed it would be as big as it is today. At the end of a day it's a business. As long as you understand how to manage a business and understand what a customer wants and how to relate it to them in a way that makes them fantasize, then I think you'll do alright.
SH: What do you think is the biggest mistake women make with their makeup?
BN: I see a lot of women who just do the same thing over and over again and I think that is a mistake, but at the same time if that makes them feel comfortable and glamorous then it's not a mistake, it's how they feel. Makeup is about feelings, how it makes you feel, and a lot of women I know use makeup to express facets of their personality. It's almost like method acting. You put it on, and you feel it.
SH: Do find that women in New York pay more attention to how they look, and to creating a look?
BN: Well, I think there are more people here period so there's more diversity. I see a lot of women that look really great but New York women don't tend to wear a lot of makeup. They wear makeup that is either a statement or an understatement and they all have a look, but I find that women are becoming the same sort of everywhere.
SH: Do you think so?
BN: Yeah, sort of. If you're in the know, it becomes sort of a global zeitgeist instead of just a local one. But if you're in Paris you see the women there and they're different than the women in New York.
SH: They wear very little makeup.
BN: They wear very little makeup in some instances, but they seem to be a little bit more sophisticated. I find New York women have a very downtown sensibility about them for the most part and French women have a very causal chic-ness about them. Parisian women have a more grown up sensibility and New Yorkers are a little more adventurous.
SH: Like an old world, new world contrast.
BN: Yes. I think that Paris is a city of very old things, and very beautiful things, and I think that that influences the people who live there. They just tend to be a little bit more classic. Parisians tend to stick to their classics. Maybe that's the best way to say it.
Beauté glosses and brushes are available now at Holt Renfrew stores across Canada or online here.
Lip pencils, lip and cheek stains and lipsticks will be available in the spring of 2008.
For an online tutorial from Beau Nelson of how to apply a perfect smoky eye (in just 5 minutes!) click here.
