Fairy fest

Every year, as the myth goes, when the moon is high and the air is sweet and balmy, the fairies of the earth, sea, and air, come out and come together, reveling in song and spirit. On this magical occasion, some mortals swear, these fairy beings sometimes manifest to humans and giddily impart secrets of spells and enchantment.

French beauty brand Lancôme has gleaned some of these secrets. And for a short time – longer than a moment but swifter than a dream – Lancôme, in turn, shares these immortal mysteries from the fairies through "The Enchantress," the brand’s makeup collection for Spring 2006.

Inspired by William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a story about a wondrous evening meeting between pixies and people, Lancôme’s new maquillage collection brings together dreamy pastel shades, subtle mauves and pinks, and delightful touches of shimmer. Like the peasant worker Nick Bottom in Shakespeare’s comedy, today’s modern woman is sure to fall under the spell of fairydom, but instead of waking up with a donkey head, as did the unfortunate Bottom, she becomes the heroine of her own modern-day fairy tale. Lancôme’s new collection swathes us in an ephemeral glow of beauty and glamour, with looks that, though they may disperse like dreams after the season, will surely be remembered.

Lancôme Philippines’ exclusive makeup artist, Abby Arenas, works her own magic in recreating local interpretations of the French-helmed campaign. Focusing on the eyes and the lips, Abby casts three urban enchantresses: actress Cheska Garcia, Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Gionna Cabrera, and newbie model Shan as a sea goddess, an air pixie, and woodland nymph, respectively.

Transforming Cheska Garcia into a sea goddess was not a difficult feat. Her porcelain skin and small, rounded lips gave off a captivating naiveté that Abby only had to enhance. She left Cheska’s skin bare and dewy, applying a touch of sheer foundation to give the skin radiance. Abby then gave the eyes a splash of color, first shading the entire eyelid with the light blue shade from the new collection’s Color Focus Palette 307 for the eyes, a cheerful mix of pastel white, pink, cream, and blue tones. She then lined the upper eyelid with a darker blue shadow, and finished up the eye makeup with a smudge of the pearlescent cream shade onto the brow bone and the bridge of the nose. Glossy mascara, shiny lip gloss, and a subtle hint of Pink Splash Blush Subtil, also from the new spring collection, polished the "quick makeup" look. The blue shadow was a brilliant complement to Cheska’s fair complexion, although Abby is quick to point out that pastel blue shades will also work well with darker skin tones.

Abby gave a glamorous edge to Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 2005 Gionna Cabrera, as an enigmatic air nymph. As a former beauty queen (Supermodel of the Philippines in 1992 and Bb. Pilipinas-Universe in 1998), Abby is familiar with the elegance the title requires. She glammed up Gionna’s eyes with Color Focus Palette 312, which puts together classic mauve, purple, and pink shades. Abby is enthusiastic about this particular mauve palette. She says, "It’s a wise choice of purple, as it is still wearable and not too bright."

Light peach blush and lavender lip gloss set off the dramatic eyes. To finish off, Abby applied Petite Boheme 02, a gold illuminating powder, on Gionna’s chin, the bridge of her nose, cheekbones, temples, and décolletage for a burst of shimmer.

To give new model Shan the look of a woodland nymph, Abby decided on wearable smoky eyes, using Color Focus Palette 202, an earthy mix of lime, rust, white, and shimmery black eye shadows paired with rose-colored, glossy lips. She began by using the bronzy rust shade as a base, before lining the entire eye with the shimmery black color. To soften the intense black, Abby blended it with the powder shadow before finishing up with black liquid eyeliner. She completed the eye makeup by dabbing a little lime green on the inner corners of the eyes as a highlight. She then brushed on Brune Roche blush, a subtle chocolate shade, on the cheeks, before lining the lips with Rose Boise 303, a reddish pink lip-coloring stick. Juicy Tubes 071, a limited colorless gloss, also from the spring ’06 collection, further softened the dramatic makeup look.

At the end of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nick Bottom’s donkey features are restored to human proportions, fairy royals Oberon and Titania reunite from their lovers’ spat, and the humans reawaken from an enchanted, dreamlike evening to new lives and loves. Lancôme’s Spring 2006 makeup collection pretty much does the same thing. After luring you into a world of shine and color, you are left with new ideas, new looks, and maybe, new dreams.

Lancôme’s new Spring ’06 collection is now available at all Rustan’s Department Stores and in Ayala Center, Cebu.

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