The MAC man
MAC’s main make-up man from Greece was on the island recently to offer an insight into the season’s new trends
Last month MAC’s head make-up artist for Greece, Freddy Kalobratsos, made his seasonal visit to the island to share the brand’s latest collections. The Autumn-Winter ’06 looks were, as ever, a delight and an inspiration to invited guests for a presentation. Always an exciting and fun event, the presentation was a relaxed and informative get together with Freddie’s warm personality and sense of humour ensuring his audience had a giggle while watching him display his skills.
Freddy spoke about the brand’s new ‘concept’ collections and outlined the characteristics of the new products. Among these was Plushgloss, a high-shine, sheer colour lipgloss containing ingredients that produce a clever tingly, cooling but at the same time warming sensation to the lips to offer a real plumping boost. It is available in natural as well as funkier shades. It smells delicious too! Another great product that impressed me was Mineralise Skinfinish from the Avant Gold collection. This pressed-powder compact has a very subtle, almost indiscernible metallic glow and gives the skin a gorgeous healthy sheen. It doesn’t look too sparkly or ‘gritty’ as some glow powders do that only emphasise wrinkles and bumpy skin. If you have previously had problems finding foundation or concealer in just the right colour, texture or formulation for your skin type, I can highly recommend you visit the MAC shop in Nicosia and this problem will be solved in two shakes of a make up sponge!
TRY THESE
Choosing a fragrance can be such an ordeal. Most people are quite particular about what they like and usually need to test a few before hitting upon one that pleases them. It is useful to remember that you should really only test two at time, one on each wrist, leave the perfume shop for at least half an hour or more and then sniff the fragrance to judge correctly how the product’s middle and base notes have reacted with your skin’s chemistry. If you apply or smell more than three products in one visit your sense of smell becomes distorted and you will not make an accurate judgement.
New fragrances are launched fairly regularly and this month I tried out two women’s scents that are definitely worth testing. L is the new baby from perfume house Lolitta Lempicka, and is one of the most scrumptious fragrances I have smelt in ages. The Eau de Parfum (always slightly different to the actual perfume of a collection, which tends to be warmer or ‘spicier’) has a fresh and uplifting citrus blend as its top note, which then yields to a warm, slightly woodier and enchanting middle note. The base note that lingers is a delicious, subtle blend of vanilla, sandalwood and tonka beans. The bottle that contains the product is a whole fairytale story in itself, you’ll want it on your dressing table!
Another new fragrance which made an impression on me, possibly because I am drawn to unusual or mysterious perfumes, is Ange Ou Demon from the house of Givenchy. Definitely not your everyday smell, it is very sophisticated and has a rather other-worldy quality about it and true to its name can be interpreted as both innocent or rather devilish, shadowy and provocative.
You will decide quickly which side of the fence you sit on. This perfume is going to cause a stir!
