Above Image: Neil Young, senior make-up artist for Mac, artfully demonstrates this season’s blackberry-inspired lip, using Satin Lipstick in Media and Clear Lipglass, both by Mac.Photography: Jonny Storey

Food and beauty have long gone hand in hand. Stylist Joanna McGarry tells us her story as to why this statement is in fact so true. “It’s very likely I’ve already consumed the six pounds of lipstick I will supposedly consume in my lifetime. Aside from the pleasure of sporting a stripe of bold colour across my otherwise pale face, wearing lipstick kind of tastes good. For instance, each time I take a swipe of Mac lipstick, with its distinct vanilla flavour, it is a subconscious reminder of scoffing some evil delight in a French patisserie. But, to the next lipstick wearer, that same flavour could be nauseating. Even in the supposedly visual world of beauty, we are ruled by taste”.

In essence it’s the lasting sweetness of a fragrance, such as Angel by Thierry Mugler, Candy Apples by DKNY or even Guerlain’s Shalimar that whisks you away to that time when you were baking apple pie with your mother.

It’s the edible name of a nail polish such as Mint Candy Apple by Essie or Black Cherry Chutney by OPI. Or by even adding that perfect lipstick that enhances and makes you crave over and over again, like Clarins Rouge Prodige Lipstick in Creamy Toffee or Bobbi Brown’s top selling Blackberry.

Berries

Berries are ripe for the picking when naming lipsticks and nail polish… From left: Bobbi Brown Lip Colour in Blackberry, Estée Lauder Pure Colour Nail Lacquer in Berry Desire, Dior Le Vernis in Graphic Berry.

Feast Your Eyes

Accordingly, YSL’s spring 2012 make-up will bear homage to candy, “I wanted it to be playful, colourful and appetising,” he says of the pastel eye shadow palettes and lipsticks in fruit-juice hues. Furthermore, MAC will return to food early next year with the Shop MAC, Cook MAC colour collection– a range of spicy shades for eyes and lips each named after a food. “Who doesn’t like to shop or cook? I wanted to take it back to the gut things people do,” stipulates Gager, senior vice president and creative director at Mac, tapping into the heart of our relationship with food; it’s universal, it speaks to us all.

Now let’s talk Lancome, when they recently presented its spring collection to the “beauty press”, they did so with each eye shadow compact, lipstick and nail polish settled inside jars of rose and pistachio macaroons. In January, Lancome added three lipsticks to their range, Rose Candy, Cotton Candy and Sweet Marmalade. Quite a clever way of speaking to the appetite within us all, even persuading the sweet tooth. Yummy!

Cherries

Who could resist the fresh tones of red found in cherries? From left: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Cherries In The Snow, Tom Ford Lip Color in Cherry Lush, Jessica Custom Nail Colour in Cherrywood.

All in the name

As far as Revlon’s cherries In the Snow lipstick was launched in 1953, one can say that beauty has borrowed from the cookbook of make-up boxes to name lipsticks and nail polishes. Names for particular shades act as rich psychological receptors that tap into our memory, and haunt us…in a good way of course, by forming a bond between product and wearer. What’s in a name? The answer when it comes to the term beauty, everything. I mean would the Cherry Lush lipstick from Tom Ford have become his most successful shade if it were named “reddish pink”? Would the Black Honey lipstick from Clinique still be a top seller 40 years later if it were named mauve? Or better yet, would Dior’s Sipping Cognac lipstick have been around for decades if it went by mid-brown? I don’t think so.

When it comes to shades in the make-up industry, there is no grey, there is only black and white because food and beauty equals comfort or humour. And this seems to have been proven in the nail polish world, for example, the nail polish brand OPI, witty and absolutely satisfying- "I Eat Mainly Lobster" (a hot coral) and "A good Mandarin Is Hard To Find" (neon orange) are favourites amongst many. But when it comes to the more traditional way of make-up, brands favour food names such as Burnt Sugar eye shadow by Bobbi Brown (a golden brown), Givenchy’s Toffee Taffeta face powder (a quad of nudes) and Hot Cinnamon eye shadowby Estée Lauder (a deep brown).

Candy

The pastel prettiness of macaroons and candy continue to inspire collections… From left: Lancôme Colour Fever Gloss in Green Petal, YSL Ombre 5 Lumières No13, Chanel Rouge Coco in Rose Dentelle.

Stirring scents

But for many, the most effective niggling of memory is most certainly through fragrance. “Taste and smell are one and the same,” says leading perfumer, Roja Dove. “Taste is processed in the same part of your brain as smell. That’s why the French often refer to smell as being ‘savoureux’, which means ‘tasty’.” Time and time again, it is that little vanilla pod that has the most potent effect on us.

The first fragrance that added this was Shalimar by Guerlain in 1925. “Vanilla has been scientifically proven to be universally appealing,” reveals Pierre Aulas, artistic olfactory director of Thierry Mugler Parfums. “It reminds us of the security of being a baby – it’s warm, welcoming, cocooning. The theory is that a mother’s milk may contain chemicals similar to vanilla which is why it makes us feel contented and safe.” This winter saw the release of renowned perfumer (the man behind “Ombre Rose”) Jean-Charles Brosseau’s “Ombre Platine”, a semi-oriental sweetened scent with blackcurrant, coconut and creamy milk, which suggests the notion of freshly baked pastries and cream. 

Toffee

Perfect for nude tones and for sweetening scents, toffee reigns in beauty… From left: Alien Eau de Parfum, Givenchy Le Prisme Soft Compact Face Powder in Toffee Taffeta, Clarins Rouge Prodige Lipstick in Creamy Toffee.

Haute perfume

 Thierry Mugler’s Angel will celebrate its 20^th anniversary, a land mark that will bring about a whole new trend for sweet flavoured essence in perfumery. His latest project is a collaboration with Michelin-starred chef Hélène Darroze, who has re-imagined four of Mugler’s iconic scents (Angel, Alien, Womanity and A*Men) as haute cuisine.

Each of these beauty delecacies have been reformulated with a new flavour: Each has been reformulated with a new flavour: Angel is infused with pure cocoa powder, Alien with salted caramel butter, Womanity is perforated with fig chutney and A*Men enhanced with concentrate of red pepper. “We wanted to establish a genuine parallel between haute cuisine and haute perfumery,” says Aulas. “The process was similar to gastronomy: the ingredients are combined at the end of the recipe to create a harmony of flavours. Hélène believes the nose and mouth are inseparable.” And that’s what scent and make-up really are – food for the skin and the soul.

 Via: stylist.co.uk

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