Shiseido Spring Collection - Part 2

Isn't she darling? This is Anne Houseman of BeautyXposé. I only wish I had taken a close-up, well-defined photo of her stunning eyes. Anne and I had the pleasure of a makeup session yesterday with the renowned Shiseido National Makeup Artist, Renato Almeida. This morning, I wrote about Renato and his favorite Shiseido products, Now, I'll tell you about the fabulous colors he used on us.

When Renato started Anne's look, he prepped her eyelids, lash to brow, with Concealer Stick #2 ($26.50), a cream concealer in a convenient stick form. Then, he set the concealer with Translucent Loose Powder ($35) to create a smooth surface on which to blend shadows. He started with Luminizing Satin Eye Color ($25) in BE202 (Caramel), just slightly darker than Anne's skin tone, to cover the lid and contour. Then, he built color by using the Luminizing Satin Eye Color in GD810 (Bullion), a copper-toned gold on the lid (shown at right) - basically everywhere except the inner corner above the crease. I'm also pretty sure he used a pop of pure gold, perhaps GD810, shown to the left just below, in the center of the lid for emphasis. Don't hold me to that.

He used the Accentuating Cream Eyeliner ($26) in black to line her lids - on top from under the lashes, and in a very thin line below her lower lashes to accent her eyes. Renato said that he uses eyeliner below the lash line for some women; it depends on the shape of their eyes and whether they can pull it off. He might use a shadow under the eyes for women whose eyes might be closed in by liner.

Step by step, he was carefully sculpting her eyes. Next came the eyelash curler, which really turned up Anne's lashes and prepared them for the Mascara Base ($23), one of Renato's favorite products. He combed the lashes with a lash brush and then coated her lashes - top to bottom and from both sides - with Lasting Lift Mascara ($23) in black. He also used the Natural Eyebrow Pencil ($20) in BR603 (Light Brown) to darken her eyebrows just a tiny bit.

When it was time for the rest of Anne's face, Renato used just a little Pureness Matifying Moisturizer Oil Free ($35) under her eyes, and on her cheeks and forehead, patting it in to create a canvas ready for foundation. He toyed with two shades of foundation and selected Dual Balancing Foundation ($38.50) in I40. This award-winning foundation provides long-lasting, oil-free coverage that responds to the skin's specific needs, increasing moisture in dry areas and minimizing shine for a soft matte look. It's filled with good stuff for your skin, including hyaluronic acid. He then added just a little more of the #2 Concealer Stick under her eyes.

For her blush, Renato selected Luminizing Satin Face Color ($30) from the spring collection in RD103 (Petal), a shade I thought was gorgeous. I'd buy that! He applied it to the apples of her cheeks and then blended it out so that it looked like her own color. The blush was a pretty, warm pink. I loved it. The blush comes in four new shades. It's shown here in RD401 (Orchid).

For lips, Renato likes to use a lip liner over most of the lip to prepare the lips for the color he selects and to ensure that the lip color stays perfectly in place. On Anne, he used the Smoothing Lip Pencil ($20) in BE701 (Hazel) and then filled in her lips with Perfect Rouge ($25) in BE208 (Baby) lipstick and the new Luminizing Lip Gloss ($22) in BR302 (Brown Sugar). Anne said the gloss felt great - not at all sticky. Just moist and nice. Voila! She was ready for a party!

Renato used a lighter hand on me, with my fair skin and light hair. I'm sure he intuitively knew when he saw the makeup I was wearing that I'm a drama-free zone. What fascinated me is that after he prepared my lids with Translucent Loose Powder ($35), he used the same Luminizing Satin Eye Color ($25) in GD810 (Bullion) that he had used on Anne. This shade was absolutely perfect for both of us. Warm, trendy, and with sheer buildable color, this shadow can take you from day to night. I adore it!

He spent a lot of time on my eyes, just as he had done with Anne, applying, blending, and checking. I also got stunning lashes, courtesy of Mascara Base and Lasting Lift Mascara in Black (applied from the top and bottom). He lined my eyes with a soft brown Natural Eyeliner Pencil ($20). It was a good choice.

For blush, Renato applied Accentuating Color Stick ($33) in S1 (Bronze Flush) shown here. This multifunction color for face, lips, eyes, and body will be with me all summer, warming up my very pale skin and adding a lustrous finish to my cheeks. I had played with every shade of the color stick before we started, so I was delighted that he used it on me with absolutely no prompting. I purchased the one he selected!

Renato also lined my lips with the Smoothing Lip Pencil ($20) in BE701, the same natural shade he used on Anne, and then he applied the totally exquisite new Perfect Rouge Tender Sheer ($25) in RD629 (Rouge Parfait). More casual than a lipstick and more formal than a gloss, Perfect Rouge Tender Sheer provides the perfect pop of color. Check it out here on my arm. There was no gloss for me - I was complete!

We were happy girls when we left! Both of us arrived feeling a little puffy - Anne from allergies and me from Prednisone. Anne headed off to eat with her husband, and, still in gimp mode, I went home to rest. Too bad I didn't have anywhere to go to show off my look! I can recreate it, though. I paid very close attention!

The Shiseido colors Renato used had very reasonable price points for an upscale line. I bought four items, and my bill came to about $100. With some luxury lines, I would have had to spend twice that. So, I'll be visiting my Shiseido counter many times again.

Just want to close with a special thanks to Renato and the fabulous Shiseido rep, the beautiful Melissa Shaw. Melissa stayed with us the whole time charting our looks and answering questions - even fetching items we needed, such as the heavy-duty eye cream Renato used under my eyes. We were in great hands!

Luminious Satin Face Color photo courtesy of Shiseido
Hopefully, Anne got a better photo of her finished look than I did!

Shiseido Spring Collection - Part 1

Yesterday, Anne Houseman of BeautyXposé and I had the pleasure having our makeup perfected by Renato Almeida, National Makeup Artist for Shiseido. We met up at the Macy's at Pentagon City - outside my usual haunts, and far outside Anne's, since she just moved to Virginia from Boston. First thing I did when I walked in the store? Yep, you guessed it. I walked by a shoe sale. Some darling little Calvin Klein gold flats with a spongy rubber sole for comfort and a cute gold three-dimensional flower on top reached out and grabbed me. Great little numbers at a great price - and so comfy!

Anne arrived smartly wearing no makeup, and I came with my usual natural makeup look. That's an age difference, I think. She's young, while I'm, well, "older." Above is a snapshot of the two of us after Renato worked his magic.

Before I get to the artist and the makeup after this long introduction, I want to tell you that I was greeted by many warm and welcoming people - freelance artists, Shiseido reps, sales associates. They offered me a face massage (which I declined like a fool), played with colors with me (I arrived early), offered me chairs at every step (I still have bum knees from my unfortunate encounter with Synvisc-ONE). I felt at home. That's nice in a bustling department store.

Working in the beauty industry for more than eight years, Renato Almeida has helped bring makeup trends from the fashion world to the real world. Renato has spent most of his beauty career working backstage at New York fashion week and on fashion photo shoots, which has contributed to his strong reputation as one of the industry's most sought-after makeup artists. Since his partnership with Shiseido in 2006, he has worked to help today's and tomorrow's Shiseido customers look our best with his effective techniques and flattering Shiseido color combinations. My impression of Renato? He has an "eye." He doesn't paint by numbers. He applies, checks, and blends. He checks over and over again, using his keen eye to ensure that the effect he's trying to create is working. While all makeup artists "look while they work," Renato has trained his eyes to look frequently - he's not easily distracted - and the result is a flawless makeup application, with colors that work for the client and a look that telegraphs, "How pretty you look," not "Your makeup is fabulous."

I'm always interested in how people arrived at their calling. Before our makeup sessions, I had a few minutes to talk with Renato, who originally worked as an advertising copy editor in Brazil. First he landed in Los Angeles. His interests in art, fashion, and photography led him to New York, where he worked for three years with Linda Cantello, currently International Makeup Artist and color guru for Armani Beauty, before branching out on his own. With Linda, he had the pleasure of collaborating with (he says observing) her as she created new color collections for YSL.

Shiseido's spring collection, designed by Dick Page, is gorgeous, like so many others this season. Before we started, I had an opportunity to ask Renato what makes Shiseido makeup unique and to show me his favorite color items. Shiseido, you probably know, is well-known for its skin care. As a result, the company includes skin-care ingredients in all of its makeup too. They want your makeup to work for you while you wear it - not just sit on your skin. That's nice for all of us - young and older.

Renato's favorite Shiseido product selections? He used them on Anne and me!

Mascara Base ($23): a moisturizing treatment that treats, enhances, and protects your lashes from the "ravages" of mascara ingredients and adds volume, curl, and length to make your mascara pop.
Lasting Lift Mascara ($23): the Shiseido waterproof, oilproof, and sweatproof mascara with a great texture that lifts and plumps the lashes, allowing lash-by-lash definition.
Accentuating Cream Eyeliner ($26): a long-lasting cream formula that comes with a brush that is actually useful. Renato prefers thin eyeliner (a man after my heart) to define the eye and make the lashes look lush, and he uses my favorite technique (upper liner applied from underneath the lashes to draw a perfect line). He used black on Anne.
Corrector Pencil ($17): not white, but a natural yellow/beige blend that he uses to conceal the red membranes of the inner eyelids - and it lasts through tears!
Two new bright Perfect Rouge ($25) lipsticks - all the rage now - OR418 (bright orange) and RS320 (bright fuschia), lip colors that demand a soft eye.
Luminizing Satin Eye Color ($25) in PK319, GD810, BR303, and BE202 - all warm, from pink to copper. The little color swatches on the Web site don't do these justice. They are luminous without sparkle - truly lovely.

Tune in later today for Part 2. I'll tell you about the spring colors, the products he used on Anne and me, and his application techniques. While our hair, eye, and skin colors are different, he used the same fabulous copper-toned eye shadow on both of us (GD810) with extremely satisfying results! Her green eyes were greener, and my blue eyes were bluer! I was also enamored with Accentuating Color Stick ($33), a multipurpose cream for eyes, lips, cheeks, and body. Renato used the color stick in S1, Bronze Flush, as my blusher. I loved it! It wasn't my "intuitive" color choice, but it warmed my skin and made me look softly chiseled and dewy. He knew exactly what he was doing. It was love!

Collection photo courtesy of Shiseido