Estée Lauder has long been considered the grand dame of makeup, the go-to option for women seeking a dose of unadulterated glamour and sophistication. With a history spanning 72 years, it has the added allure of longevity in an industry that changes often.
Grand Dame, she might be, but the brand isn’t typically the immediate choice for younger customers. This is changing, though: a few key collaborations in recent years - Kendall Jenner starting in 2014 and Victoria Beckham’s stunning collection in 2017 - shifted its image towards something younger, hipper and altogether more accessible. The company is elegantly showing how a makeup giant can appeal to many customers across many ages at once.
This is abundantly clear with the latest collab, with make-up artist, influencer and Global Beauty Director Violette. With more than 250,000 followers on Instagram alone, Violette is renowned for her take on the traditional French beauty look: combining messy hair with perfect nails, muted lips with pink glittery eyes, masculine with feminine. A devotee to colour, texture and surprise, she’s put exactly that into her new collection.
The La Dangereuse collection, which launched in Brown Thomas and online on 4 October, was inspired by powerful women, Violette says. "In French, we call it espiegle, which is my favorite word. It literally translates to playful, but it is more than that. Espiegle is a wild, independent, powerful, but fun, playful woman."
The range, which includes eyeshadow palettes in bold blues and sultry pinks, vampy lipsticks and glimmering highlighters, is designed with the classic femme fatale in mind, focused on "seductive, powerful looks that appear effortless".
"The bold colors, metallic textures and palettes demand to be noticed and are befitting of this confident, fiercely independent woman", Violette says.
It’s an image Violette grew up with, watching the effortlessly glamorous women in her native France "in t-shirts and messy hair, and yet they had incredible, perfect red lipstick on, and heels". No setting was too ordinary for such sophistication, she says. "I love that no matter where these women are, they’re doing it for themselves."
Strong looks are central to her collection, but Violette asserts that the woman should be the muse, not just the canvas, when it comes to makeup. "Even though I create a very artistic look, I’m not using her as a blank canvas, I’m celebrating her. Even if I create an explosion of colors, I still want her to exist. She’s holding the makeup."
As for her own look, she’s very clear on that: "It's a mix of boyish and feminine. That's why, for me, the right balance is very important. For example, for hair, I like when the texture is really beautiful, clean and shiny, but it's a bit messy. Skin needs to be super healthy and fresh, but then imperfect, or else it looks fake. Nails always done, but then messed up jeans. It's always a balance of something you didn't look after, while the other thing is perfectly done."
Nowhere is this more clear than in her approach to makeup, which is a fun and modern update on the classic French staples of bare skin and bold lips. She pairs healthy glowy skin with intensely cobalt blue eyeshadow, or flushed rosy cheeks with burnished rose glittery eyeshadow. But balance is key: "With adding bold color and texture, I think it's always good to focus on a statement and a zone. For example: glitter lips, glitter eyeliner, or glitter eye shadow."
Violette loves versatile products, especially ones you can apply with your fingers when running out the door or on your commute to work. Many of her Instagram videos show her applying her makeup with her fingers, and this she says comes from her understanding of how real women put on their makeup.
"You don't have a whole entire lighting setup in front of you every morning when you're doing your makeup—filters and cameras and all these things. Reality is, you have five minutes in the morning to be ready. Reality is that you use your fingers to apply your makeup."
Choosing products carefully make this much easier. "A jumbo eye stick that you can use to color your eyelid and create an eye shadow on-the-go" is especially useful, as is lipstick as "it's the most versatile product—you can also use it as a blush and can change up the color depending on the day or the season".
Her check list of must-have items? "You need to own an incredible red matte lipstick, you have to own the perfect foundation, and you have to own a black eye pencil. And last but not least, you need glitter in your favorite color to have fun."
Her most recent collection was designed for fall, with plenty of ideal products to transition your makeup from summer to autumn to winter. Violette recommends a "rich nude matte lip" to warm up cooler skin tones, while using an eyeshadow stick with rich colours layered over it creates an easy and effortless smokey eye.
As per her brand, she can’t resist some glitter in the mix: "To me, glitter is the ‘poison touch.’ It is dangerous but not dramatic, bold but fun. It brings a touch of magic to a look."
Violette will be launching the La Dangereuse collection in Brown Thomas on 6 October, where she’ll give a live masterclass as part of the store’s Style Summit event.
