The Makeup Museum

MM holiday/winter exhibition 2011

As I always say, better late than never.  That's pretty much the motto of the Makeup Museum.  :P  Here's the holiday 2011/winter 2012 exhibition.

Starting with the top shelf and moving left to right, Dior Crystal Boréal Pendant:

Wong Kar Wai for Shu:

Guerlain Météorites Impériales:

Second row, Armani Madreperla palette:

Guerlain Parure de Nuit powder:

Third row, Clé de Peau Holiday Vintage palette 2009:

Chanel Lumiere Sculptée Highlighting Powder:

Bottom row, Paul & Joe holiday 2009:

NARS Hanamichi eye shadow palette:

I also set up a little holiday/winter fun auxilliary exhibition.  This one is devoted to parties, presents and frolicing in the snow.  :)

Top shelf:

Bottom shelf:

Curator's Corner, 2/25/2012

Another winter week DONE and we are that much closer to spring!  Here are some things from the interwebs this week that caught my eye. 

- Something I would definitely install at the museum is this makeup wallpaper (via Addicted to Beauty). 

- According to new research, humans were meant to sleep twice a day.  See, I always said naps should be mandatory!

 - I got a kick out of this Mondrian-inspired sandwich.  

- Jessica at XOJane.com discusses Marian Keyes's book Saved by Baking - I must get it, seeing as how I bake 2 to 3 desserts nearly every weekend as therapy. 

- F*ck Your Noguchi Coffee Table is a truly hilarious blog (found via Apartment Therapy).  With their post on wall-mounted guitars, they definitely got our number.  Oops.  Here's one of our living room walls.

I swear we didn't hang them up to be hipster design snobs - it was out of practicality!  If they're not on the wall they take up a lot of room.

What was catching your fancy this week?

 

A woman's work is never done: Shop MAC/Cook MAC

This is one of the strangest collections from MAC yet and I'm still not quite sure what to make of the concept behind it.  Won't you join me for a little musing?

Shop MAC/Cook MAC is a small-ish collection - not as large as previous February collections (see Hello Kitty, Barbie, Fafi), and features bright spring colors packaged in girly hues with some gingham thrown in.

(images from theshadesofu.com)

My first thought when I saw the promo image and the collection title was "WTF is this, Stepford Wives on acid?"

(image from maccosmetics.com)

All I could think about was the grocery store scene in The Stepford Wives, especially after seeing this image from the invitations to the private promotional events at MAC stores.

(image from specktra.net)

Stills from The Stepford Wives (2004):

(image from listal.com)

(image from smh.com.au)

It gets even weirder - apparently at the promotional events they had Shop MAC/Cook MAC rubber gloves, emblazoned with the words "Domestic Goddess!" (with a rhinestone serving as the exclamation point), along with cleaning sponges, as giveaways to the lucky invitees.  There was also a tote bag.

MAC's description didn't help me much in wrapping my head around the theme.  "Shop 'til you drop with a tongue-in-cheek collection that elevates the everyday into the extraordinary...Gourmet glamour is here. Look delicious while you whip it up! Our recipe for kitchen kouture is here in savoury shades for Eyes and Lips. Dishy Nail Lacquers, too. Bon appétit!"  Okay, yes, tongue-in-cheek for sure, but I'm still confused.  Why make the main promo image so creepy? MAC's ads are usually pretty avant-garde, and I get the idea that this was meant to be kitschy and fun, not actually a veiled insinuation that women should go back in time and stick to domestic chores while being dressed to the nines.   But having a bunch of spaced-out, unsmiling women taking on activities associated with traditional femininity is odd, especially in the current political climate (at least in the U.S.)  As for the giveaways, I think people attending MAC events would have appreciated something besides rubber gloves and sponges (the tote bag is reasonable).  It was a good theme - the idea that we've come so far that we can actually poke a little fun at the way things used to be is encouraging - but it wasn't executed as well as it could have been.  What I'm trying to say, I suppose, is that the main ad and 2 of the giveaway items didn't sit well with me for reasons I still can't clearly articulate...perhaps, because, the fun that the collection intended becomes lost in objects that represent the drudgery that women had to perform daily, as well as the humorless expressions of the models in the ad.  Then again, maybe I am the one who lacks humor.  ;)

What say you?

New to me brand: Laqa & Co.

As I mentioned in the Curator's Corner on Saturday, I was flabbergasted to see this brand had slipped through my curating radar.  All of the packaging design for Laqa & Co., a line that features nail polish in pen form, is created by up and coming artists.  And each one gets part of the profit from every item sold.   As I noted in a comment at Lovely Package, we've seen makeup companies collaborate with artists for a limited-edition collection (or in the case of Shu Uemura, even start their own award for burgeoning artists), but not for permanent lines.  What's even cooler about the products is that you can actually buy the art to hang on your wall.  Genius!

Laqa & Co. introduced their nail polish pens a few years ago, but has recently come out with lip pencils.  We'll start with those.

Bossyboots by Liam Brazier:

Fairyblood by Hazel Nicholls:

Lambchop (no artist was given for this one):



Ring of Fire by Field:



Wolfman by Mark Mawson:

But the items I'm most excited about are the nail polish pens, since the website provided big pics of the designs that appears on each (although some only showed a partial image of the them - for those I included a smaller size of the full image.)  Here they are in alphabetical order.

Bells and Whistles by Pomme Chan:

Birthday Suit by Amy Ross:

BMX Bandit by FOE:

Fancypants by Cindy Rodrigiez:

I Want a Pony by Hazel Nicholls:

This is one of the ones that got cut off - as you can see, the full image is actually a nesting doll!

Nookie by James Roper:

Pimpin' by Katie Kirk:

Squid Ink by Carol Del Angel:

Those Meddling Kids by Soo Lee:

Toff by Tatiana Plakhova:

Topcoat by Martin Sati:

I loved this print because of the skulls, but adored it even more after seeing the entire image (sad subject matter aside - it's supposed to represent Bambi's mother):

WTF by Géraldine Georges:

Here's the full image:

You can read a little blurb about each of the artists at the Laqa website.  There are also a few nail polish pens that aren't at the website currently - I do hope they're not discontinued!

Blurple by Nazario Graziano:

Tigerblood by Paul Price:

Ahem, I think these would make a very nice gift for a certain curator.  ;)  Because, you see, I clearly need ALL of them.  I dare say these are the ultimate, literal embodiment of the museum's mission - to look at cosmetics design and packaging as art.

What do you think?  Do you have a favorite?

(all images from laqaandco.com and b-glowing.com)

Idun Minerals

I spotted this line a while ago at Makeupalley and couldn't get it out of my head!  Meet Idun Minerals, a mineral-based makeup line from Sweden.  These products echo beauty balm creams in their promise to nourish and protect your skin at the same time as improving its appearance, and in the fact that they were also developed by a dermatologist.

That's all well and good, but what's interesting to me about this line are the illustrations - each face product features a different one.   I looked closely at the packaging and hoped the name on it would lead me to the person who did the illustrations, and indeed it did!  From what I was able to piece together, the niece of Maurizio Gucci, (grandson of Gucci pioneer Aldo) Patricia Gucci created them.  The original pieces hang in Idun's Stockholm headquarters.

Foundation:

Concealer:

Blush:

Bronzer:

Brush box:

(images from nelly.com)

I wasn't able to find any of Gucci's other works, but I was inspired by another artist.  Perhaps since the brand is Swedish I've got Scandinavia on the brain, but in any case these designs are reminding me of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch.  The bold lines and broad, heavy brushstrokes of saturated color are similar to my eye - not so reminiscent of The Scream, for which Munch is most famous, but his self-portraits. 

Self-Portrait against Blue Sky, 1904:

Self-Portrait with Bottle of Wine, 1906:

images from bc.edu

Of course, the girls adorning Idun's packaging are much sunnier than Munch's angst-filled subject matter!

Now that we've had our little art comparison, which one of Idun's packages is your favorite?   I think mine is the bronzer - I love that the girl's head is enveloped in a peach (or some kind of fruit).  :)