Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Spring has Sprung for NARS 2014 with 68 years-old Charlotte Rampling as the face of NARS

By Laura Medina


Whew, this scribe has the time to breathe and catch up with what's new with NARS.

This scribe has met Mr.François Nars a couple of times.  It wasn't a surprise that the cultivated and urbane Nars would select the smoldering Charlotte Rampling.  She evokes the same timeless and knowing sensuality, qualities that last, especially in Europe and Eurocentric Manhattan, his second home after Paris.

Since his namesake company has endured into its twentieth-anniversary, he wants someone who is just as urbane and knowing and enduringly provocative as his brand, can't think of no better choice than the legendary Charlotte Rampling.

ANNIVERSARY DAYS: as she’s the new face of Nars, which is gearing up for its 20th anniversary in September. According to brand executives, Rampling will appear in a “black-and-white portrait-style image” shot by founder and creative director François Nars. Rampling was chosen, in part, because she has been one of Nars’ muses. “She is a natural beauty that feels strong, yet relatable,” Nars told WWD. “Charlotte’s ability of transformation is unparalleled. Whether captured in pieces of artwork, through the lens of a magazine photographer or on film and the big screen, she had an amazing power to encompass a character.” 

Nars went on to say Rampling’s “strength of character” and artistic talents make her a perfect fit for the brand. “I remember Dirk Bogarde referencing Charlotte’s ‘fabled look’ because of the combination of her beauty and withering gaze,” he said. “This is what makes her an endlessly watchable mystery.”

Really, NARS' current Spring 2014 Collection is sultry and smoldering just as Ms. Rampling.

 
Ms. Rampling's hey days were the Sixties and the Seventies, also the era of Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin.  Those photographers use heavy cheekbone contouring to mimic Ms. Rampling's God-given razor-sharp cheekbones that the normal majority of people would kill to have.

You don't need to undergo plastic surgery/implants or injections to get killer cheekbones.

Do what your mom and grandma did back in the day (the 1960's and the 1970's) and learn how to contour your cheekbones.

Well, NARS is considerate to put together a set of three contour blushes for fair-skintone, medium-skintone, and dark-skintone. OLYMPIA in Ivory/Rose for fair skin. PALOMA in Pink beige/Deep rose for medium skin. GIENAH in Honey/Amber for dark skin.

A lust for blush, NARS Cosmetics introduces Contour Blush, the ultimate essential in makeup artistry and the secret weapon to creating natural-looking definition with a luminous finish. The beautifully balanced duos, for fair, medium, and dark, feature a lighter shade to illuminate the high points of the face and a deeper shade to enhance definition. Ultra-smooth, lightweight texture lends itself to a luminous finish and the specially designed contouring formula visual depth and dimension in a single swipe. To create the perfect contour on cheeks, apply the deeper shade of the Contour Blush to the hollows of the cheek and along the hairline, sweep the light shade across the cheekbone toward the temple to soften and highlight. Finish the look with a pop of your favorite blush shade on the apples of the cheek. 

Where are the tools to sculpture your face? A gorgeous, 16-piece collection of Artistry Brushes, which leverages NARS’ makeup artistry heritage. From base to bristle, this comprehensive collection features an exquisite design conceived by Founder and Creative Director François Nars and Fabien Baron, of New York design firm Baron & Baron.  Each brush is designed with the finest quality hairs and delicately weighted to provide the necessary balance for a professional and precise makeup application. The custom brush and packaging feature the iconic matte black finish with sharp debossed logo and signature pop of red. Available April 1 at NARS Boutiques and on www.narscosmetics.com.
   
 
 Get a behind-the-scenes view from the campaign shoot with model Toni Garrn: http://youtu.be/b1HpFcdsWRM

If you are today's woman, who has the time to brush blush to shape your face?

You'll do what this harried scribe does, use NARS Matte Multiples to chisel the cheeks, color the lips, and darken the eyes, either using the fingers or one or some of NARS Artistry Brushes.

NARS brings vibrant pops of color and sensual sun-kissed hues to lips and cheeks with the new Matte Multiple.  Founder and Creative Director François Nars takes one of the brand’s most innovative and iconic products and adds a modern twist on the cult classic.  Available in seven shades from ginger pink to golden bronze, the Matte Multiple features a creamy, lightweight formula that delivers buildable, long-lasting, hydrating color for lips and
cheeks.   What's really cool, this innovative formula can be applied dry for a soft yet vibrant matte effect or wet for a rich and vivid finish that melts into skin.  Double the bangs for the buck or dollar.
 
These Matte Multiples come in: ANGUILLA, Ginger pink; EXUMAS, Pink apricot; SIAM, Poppy red; LAOS, Rose coral; ALTAI, Rose bronze; VIENTIANE, Copper bronze, and CAPPADOCE, Golden bronze.
 
 
If you desire a rosier outlook, you can go classic pink highlighter, peach blush, and bronze contour in NARSissist Cheek Palette.  This blush palette includes Devotee (limited edition, highlighting shade); venerable Orgasm and the stand-by contour bronzer, Laguna.
 
 
What a relief, this year's Pantone color is Radiant Orchid, a flesh-warming fuchsia that brightens the cheeks and lips, burst of color just in time for Spring.

NARS Cosmetics debuts a modern montage of perfectly provocative hues with this exclusively pink collection. Breaking all the rules, this limited edition collection represents a new attitude in pink – fierce, feminine and edgy.
 
Satin Lip Pencil and Blush shades range from sweet and seductive cherry blossom to passionate peach coral.  Strike a balance with the same color for lips and cheeks or spark a romance with an unexpected combination. To complete your look, apply the shimmering lavender pink Illuminator.
 
The collection includes: Sex Fantasy Blush, Pale lavender pink; New Attitude Blush, Cherry blossom pink; Final Cut Blush, Peach coral; Love Blush, Tea rose; Stourhead Satin Lip Pencil, Pale lavender pink; Villa Lante Satin Lip Pencil, Cherry blossom pink; Torres del Paine Satin Lip Pencil, Peach coral; Descanso Satin Lip Pencil, Tea rose; and Adelaïde Illuminator, Shimmering lavender pink.
 
 
Based on his years being a globe-trotting makeup artists shaping and coloring the world's 
 
most beautiful women from all four corners of the globe and loves his second home, New 
 
York, NARS picked three women, other than Charlotte Rampling, to be his  ‘NARSissist’ 
 
muses, real-life women who are long-time NARS users.
 
NARS can't think of anyone better than these women who wear and use NARS on a daily 
 
and nightly basis.  His three short films, the ‘NARSissist’ campaign, profile how these women 
 
apply and wear his products and when and where they wear them. 
 
 
 
 
Check out these real-life muses, watch and learn which NARS items they use then learn how 
 
they apply and where they wear them. 

The first one is DJ Kiss portrays a night on the job at Mister H in the Mondrian Soho, revealing her irreverent style and effortless beauty, DJ Kiss, a NARSissist: http://youtu.be/abj7t-nx8xU
 
 
The next one up is Lily Kwong, budding philanthropist and self-proclaimed NARSissist, is known for her impeccable style and selfless devotion to multiple charitable causes. Filmed at the Gramercy Park Hotel, she reveals how beauty plays into her daily routine,
Lily Kwong, a NARSissist: http://youtu.be/XBaEQHPGnbw


Celebrated fashion icon and casting director, Natalie Joos exposes her creative process to fashion and beauty in a behind-the-scenes film at the Paramount Hotel,
Natalie Joos, a NARSissist: http://youtu.be/vMuFKTXEWq0

Next time, this scribe will move onto NARS for New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2014.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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