Friday, August 24, 2007

Smoke Gets On Your Eyes

From yesterday's NY Post...I couldn't say it better myself, so I won't try...

When James Gager, Senior VP and Creative Director for MAC Cosmetics worldwide, was creating fall’s sultry Smoke Signals line - a collection of rich lipsticks, metallic brown and aubergine eye shadows, and dark purple and black nail polishes - there was only one woman on his mind: legendary Harlem-bred songstress Eartha Kitt. “This collection was inspired by jazz clubs in the ’30s and ’40s, and the idea that people are getting dressed up again. It’s a sense of glamour that has a little retro influence,” he says.

Gager said visions of Kitt performing in smoke-filled cabaret clubs while wealthy, well-dressed people sat in the audience is exactly the vibe he hopes customers will get when they use the new products.

“The smoky eye works beautifully with fall’s gray fashions, punctuated by purple and blue. A dramatic eye with a nude mouth, a little Veronica Lake, or with a red or burgundy mouth, like Eartha, is feminine but still glam,” he says. “This isn’t a look that’s so over-the-top that women can’t relate to it, or do it themselves.”

But while Kitt rocks a full face of makeup, including lengthy fake eyelashes, the still-working 80-year-old with remarkably good skin says she likes to stick to a more low-maintenance regimen.

“I never go to bed with makeup on. I wash my face with Oil of Olay soap with oil in it,” our favorite Catwoman says. “Then I squeeze real lemon juice, which works as a natural astringent, onto my face and hands. And I finish with olive oil as a night cream on my face and in my hair. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to look good.”

She even shot a music video - the MAC original “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” will be playing at all MAC stores.

“I feel like this collection was made for me, for women my color and even my age,” she says. “This lipstick ‘Burnin’ is my favorite, because I’m 80 and I’m still burning, baby.”

Colors featured in the Smoke Signals Collection include:

Gentle Fume Eyes Quad: Features three limited edition shades (Waft, Gentle Fume and Rondelle) matched-up with Carbon.

Smoking Eyes Quad: Features three limited edition shades (Next to Nothing, Smoking, and Showstopper) complemented by Satin Taupe.

Lipstick: Brew (creamy beige - lustre); Barely Lit (pink sand w/ gold pearl - lustre); Sparks Can Fly (creamy rose - frost); Mellow Flame (warm coral pink w/ red pearl - lustre); Burnin’ (rich wine - amplified)

Tinted Lipglass: Illicit (cream natural pink - cream); Soft & Slow (soft rose w/ gold pearl - cream); Bare Truth (warm caramel - cream); Bizaarish (burgundy w/ pearl - frost)

Kohl Power Eye Pencil: Orpheus (intense black w/ gold pearl - frost); Raven (intense black w/ red pearl - frost)

Powder Blush: Ablaze (deep dirty coraly rose - frost); Emote (gray brown - matte)

Pigment: Silver Fog (metallic mid-tone dirty silver - frost); Smoke Signal (rusty deep maroon - matte); Dark Soul (charcoal black smoked w/ gold)

Nail Lacquer: Wildfire (black w/ red pearl - cream); Nocturnelle (black as night black - cream)

Smoke Signals is now available at all MAC locations and at maccosmetics.com.


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