FUN AT THE COSMETIC COUNTER

Beauty and makeup finds
for holiday and winter

By DAVIDA SIMON

Ever notice in August that the stores are displaying Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas merchandise? At this writing, it’s early October, and I’ve already purchased candy, wrapping paper, tinsel and holiday cheer cards.

I’m ready to go . . . but first, makeup junkie that I am, I’m paying visits to some of my favorite stores to see what the makeup lines have in store for the upcoming season.

My first stop was Saks Fifth Avenue in Cherry Creek, where I was immediately drawn to the new Giorgio Armani counter. It’s a big, beautifully lit space from ceiling to floor. The makeup mirrors and lighting are enticing, and the four makeup stations are user-friendly.

I introduced myself to Travis Smith, the in-house makeup artist for the line, and he promptly sat me down for a makeover. After prepping my skin, he applied Designer Shaping Cream Foundation to even out my complexion. This is a new product with micro-silk particles to illuminate the face for a dewy finish. My skin felt hydrated, the discoloration was gone, and my face was ready to be sculpted with blush, bronzer, eye shadows, liner and lip color.

Travis gave me one of the winter looks with soft, neutral eye shadow, Smooth Silk Eye Pencil liner in a rich brown and bold berry lips. Instead of powder blush, Travis used Fluid Sheer, an illuminating fluid in a rose tone to warm up my cheeks. New for winter is the volumizing Maestro Mascara with a patented comb applicator made up of four combs and 30 teeth. This is a new way to apply mascara, and I like it. Somehow the lashes look better when “combed.”

One of the holiday gift sets is a designer compact of shadows encased with Swarovski crystals. It sounds heavenly!

Neiman Marcus always entices me, and in the back of the cosmetics department is the new Shu Uemura kiosk, where I met makeup artist Sarah Myers. After cleansing, moisturizing and hydrating my mile-high dry skin with a beautifully packaged limited- edition skin care line, Sarah gave me a soft, classy makeup look with light eye shadow and dark liner in the water area. OK, I asked, what the heck does that mean? It’s a new application being used by makeup artists. The lashes are colored in and connected with a dark liner just under the lash line, using either a dampened shadow or a cream or gel liner. Sarah applied a medium-bold lip in a rust tone that will be part of this winter’s Opera Collection.

Looking at the beautiful counter area, one can’t help fixating on the Shu Uemura Tokyo Lash Bar Collection. Here’s where makeup for an evening event is fun. These aren’t just the usual false lashes. You can wear a full set of handcrafted feather lashes inspired by the butterfly, peacock blue and black feather lashes with a touch of green, or yellow or red flares to accent the outside of the eye — just to name a few.

I hear Madonna’s $10,000 Precious Diamond Lashes came from the collection exclusively for Neiman Marcus. You can have these pricier lashes on special order or pick up some of the different colors and shapes for a more affordable $20.

The next day I was off to the Nars Cosmetics counter, where I met Erroll Perkins, the in-house makeup artist. Erroll designed my face with Nars’ new Night Owl Holiday collection. He applied the storm-gray cream eyeshadow, Lili Marlene, as a liner on my upper eyelid with the tip of a flat brush. Instead of the usual smoky shades, Erroll applied a metallic jade shadow from Belly Dance Duo Eyeshadow with the accompanying Deep Aubergine on my lids, Christina lipstick, and a drop of sparkling gold, Moon Fleet gloss, right in the middle of my lower lip to give a slight pout.

For cheeks one of my favorite Nars products is The Multiple, a multipurpose stick for eyes, cheeks and lips. I took home one in Malibu as well as the gel-based mascara in Bamboo. I looked perfectly made up, and not heavy at all, thanks to the lightweight powder foundation that gave my complexion just the right amount of coverage.

While you are at the counter, check out a Neiman Marcus holiday exclusive, Nars Body Glow Set. It’s really pretty, feels great on the body and is packaged well enough to adorn your home vanity.

Just across from the Nars counter is Chantecaille Cosmetics. I’ve always wanted to try these products, and this was the perfect time with the arrival of Ernesto Ponce, the national artist in the store for the day. This gentleman was a total pro, with a light touch and some great experience in his native country of Panama, where he worked in television and films.

Gabrielle, the counter specialist, cleansed my face and hydrated it with the Aromacologie line, based on healing, organically grown flowers. In fact, most of the products come from all over the world to create this top-notch line. Ernesto applied 60-percent water hydrating foundation with just a little powder. A lovely gold shimmer was applied to my eyes with a dark liner. Ernesto conveyed the winter and holiday look as jewel-toned, with accents of gold and silver used to highlight smoky lids. Lips are stained or painted with deep red or berry lipstick and gloss.

I picked up the most expensive eye shadow palette I’ve ever purchased. Les Bijoux Eye Define Palette contains five brilliant eye shadows that you can use wet or dry and as a shadow smudge, accent or liner. The enclosed liner brush is perfect for the new connect- the-lash eyeliner effect described earlier in this article. They also gave me a sample of the foundation to try for a few days. I really liked my makeup, and hours later my skin looked flawless.

Speaking of flawless, the next day I headed back to Neiman Marcus to meet with the international makeup artist for Laura Mercier Cosmetics, Abby Ireland. Working closely with Laura Mercier, known for the “flawless face” concept, Ireland has her own notable celebrity client list. Laura Mercier’s new book, The New Beauty Secrets: Your Ultimate Guide to a Flawless Face, arrived on counters in November. An exclusive to Neiman Marcus is Laura Mercier’s 10thanniversary Signature Collection Book with three eye colors, an eyeliner, a cheek color and a bronzing powder.

For winter, according to Ireland, the Mercier concept is that the skin becomes drier, and therefore we must change to products that address the texture of our skin. Laura Mercier has come out with a new hydrating primer; also new for the season is Star Struck Eyes, six shades of Mineral Powders, with a flip-top inkwell in which to dip your brush. The powders have a high shine that will flatten if used with a wet brush.

Ireland taught me a trick — to apply the brushed-on powder first to my hand and work it into the brush so as not to end up with loose flakes on my cheekbone and under-eye area.

Down to Earth Lips Collection is part lip colour, part lip glacé, and called stick glosses. I took home the Cranberry stick gloss, Constellation Mineral Powder and Flawless Fix Pencil in Warm for quick touch-ups around my lips and to brighten the skin under my eyes.

Later, I was off to Park Meadows to visit the new Sephora store that opened in July just a month after their opening in Flat Irons Mall. You can tour the counters of designer makeup lines to get a feel for the store’s layout and receive cheerful assistance from one of the many welltrained associates. Look around the counter to find strategically placed cleanup stations to remove all those tester stripes on your hands.

The counters are user-friendly, and there is lots to choose from, including Sephora’s Teen/Tween line of makeup in great colors. All Sephora label shadows and blushes have been reformulated and repackaged. While holiday shopping, look for Sephora’s Blockbuster Palette. This gorgeous kit contains 64 shades of eye color, 23 lip glosses, nine lip shines, six blushes and two compact powders. At $40, this will satisfy any cosmetic appetite.

For the holidays there are lots of great buys from all the brands, including one of my favorites, Smashbox Cosmetics. Smashbox is featuring houndstooth packaging in all its winter and holiday product lines. The look is chic and lots of fun. But wait. Take a look at both Sephora and Makeup Forever false lashes. They are in fabulous new shapes and colors in full sets or individual flares. Sephora has some dazzling Glitter Lashes with an easy Lash Placement applicator kit.

So here’s the skinny on all these fat facts: Warm up your winter with clean, polished dewy skin; jewel-tone eyes, shimmered with gold and silver accents; dark liner using gel or cream shadows applied with a flat brush on the inside of the upper lashline or, more traditionally, above the lashline; and false lashes.

Balance a bold eye with neutral lips, or add luscious ruby red lips to a light eye rimmed in dark smudged liner. It’s exciting, flirtatious fun, and affordable. Do it!