As announced in the latest issue of Observer Fashion by Tank, Valentino has replaced all of its existing fragrances with a single signature scent: Valentina. I went out to Rome for the launch, to meet the designers (Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli), the noses (Alberto Morillas and Olivier Cresp) and the divine Freja...

 

Having watched Johan Renck's TV ad - following Freja from the confines of her aristocratic family to the cool back streets of Roma - I first met with Alberto and Olivier to discuss the blend itself, created over a two-year period since the new design team took the helm.

 

Is there anything of Mr Valentino's style reflected by the scent?

OC: "We kept Valentino's spirit with the red colour of strawberries, but otherwise it's a new style for a new woman. And this is now the sole signature scent - ther pillar around which everything else will build. So we knew we had to create a classic."

AM: "With the collections Maria and Pier are creating the next 6 months of wear. But with a fragrance like this, a signature perfume, we had to think of the next 10 to 15 years. It has to have staying power. So it has to address who the new Valentino woman is, reflect the new house style and yet look ahead to how it will evolve in time."

How did you translate the new house spirit into an olfactory symbol?

OC: "We took the codes of the house - the flowers, Roma, romanticism..."

AM: "Yes, we wanted Italian ingredients to capture the spirit of Rome. Now 80% of them are Italian ingredients - even the Bergamot is from Calabria."

What other ingredients did you incorporate?

AM: "It's got the fizzy sparkle of white truffle and bergamot with feminine, light notes of jasmine and orange blossom, but has a really seductive edge with the warmth of amber.

 

 

I later met with Maria and Pier to discuss their take on the beauty side of their new business.

 

How did you break with the former house of Valentino to usher in your own identity?

MGM: "That first collection was based on Valentino's ideas. But then we needed to make a point of starting again. We had to achieve the balance between our vision for the house and Valentino's heritage. So we go step by step towards our own vision with an awareness and link to the past, entering our own world and delivering the best collections we can. We aim for a consistency of message from collection to collection, but also to evolve the house style and language we use."

PP: "It's a new era for Valentino. We sought a new grace in our Valentino collection, a new delicacy that is fresh. We didn't want to show off the flesh of a woman, but seduce with femininity, showing a fragile spirit. This comes out of our respect for women."

Is hair and makeup a key part of your pre-show creative process?

MGM: "Always. We start from a vision of a woman that will explain our collection idea - and sometimes the balance is in the hair and makeup. It's a key part of the meaning of the collection, the story."

PP: "Our job is to celebrate beauty. We think of the woman as a painting, personal and individual."

MGM: "For the Valentina print campaign, for example, Lucia Pieroni did the make-up and Guido Palau styled Freja's hair."

How did you choose Freja as the face of Valentina?

MGM: "Freja is such a key face to us - she has featured in our campaign imagery already. So elegant and yet so contemporary. She represents the various aspects of the new Valentino woman: romantic yet edgy; effortless yet flawless; beautiful yet androgynous. These aspects are in every woman."

 

 

 

We later dined at the Villa di Medici beneath the stars. Freja confided that she'd love to take more beauty risks herself, but knew her agents would kill her. "If I could try anything, I would go platinum blonde," she explained. "It would be completely different - I've never done it before and it'd be good to see what I look like for a while. Not while I'm working of course, but maybe one day. I love Abbey Lee's shade - really crisp, bright blonde."

 

 

Text: Grace Timothy

Images: David Sims

Kay has shown us how to be glitter-fabulous with the season's metallic finishes. Well the sparkle lust trend lives on, tottering down the catwalk. We've just seen red jewelled eye at Ashish's SS12 show, and for this season Vena Cava's disco queen shimmered in purple, blue and silver. MAC Senior Artist, Debbie Finnegan shows us how to shine.

 

1. To ensure nothing distracts from your blinged-up eye, skin should be perfected using only a touch of MAC Studio Moisture Cover Concealer where nessecary and a whisp of MAC Strobe Cream to the tops of cheekbones for a subtle highlight.

 

2. Prep the lid with a touch of MAC Pro Shine Mixing Medium. Mix MAC Pro Glitters in Silver, 3D Silver and Reflects Purple Duo together and apply to the eyelid. This product offers a lightweight way of adhering the glitter mix to your skin.

 

3. Groom brows with MAC Clear Brow Set in an upwards direction.

 

4. Add a playful touch of colour to lips by adding MAC Lip Pencil in Subculture topped with MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner in Petting Pink.

 

Text: Grace Timothy

Image: Courtesy of MAC Cosmetics

Oh Chanel, you never fail to disappoint. The beauty editor's highlight of Paris Fashion Week, Karl took his captive audience under the sea to enjoy his oceanic fairytale. Peter Philips, Creative Director of Chanel Make-up, worked pearlescent finishes into his makeup look, for a matte complexion with accents of watery light across the eyes and lips.

 

 

The new VITALUMIÈRE AQUA Ultra Light Skin Perfecting Makeup Compact Crème  - available in March 2012 - was topped with POUDRE UNIVERSELLE LIBRE Natural Loose Finish Powder, and a touch of ÉCLAT LUMIÈRE Highlighter Face Pen to add that luminescent shimmer above the cheekbone. For these shining eyes, Peter layered ILLUSION D'OMBRE Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow in Fantasme and Emerveillé - two stunning metallics you can start wearing now. The wet-look lips featured two more spring launches: first ROUGE COCO Baume then LÈVRES SCINTILLANTES Glossimer in Plaisir - add those to your wishlist for 2012. Finally, the last object of lust for next season: LES VERNIS Nail Colours in April, May and June - the sure-to-be-coveted 2012 Spring Collection. A white pearl shade especially created for the show is also going to be available in May 2012, in limited editions: Le Vernis Nail Colour in Attraction.

 

Peter conceived the look with Karl: "To meet the inspiration of this fantastic underwater fairytale feeling and the mood of lightness, Karl wanted shine and pearl," Peter explains, "He made some beautiful sketches where the girls had pearl studded ears and pearls following the spine. I did pale, glowy skin with a pink/coral blush, a wet shiny eyelid finished with black eyeliner, slightly glossy lips and randomly placed pearl piercings."

 

Text: Grace Timothy