An American in Paris

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The New York Sun

An A-list makeup artist can do as much for a cosmetics company as a celebrity face. Beauty buffs take note when, for example, Tom Pecheux plugs a Shiseido bronzer he uses on Gisele, Linda Cantello mentions an Yves Saint Laurent lipgloss she loves, or Pat Mc-Grath a skin shimmer she created for the Armani catwalk.


One of the latest industry darlings to be recruited by a big brand is American makeup artist Gucci Westman, who has been appointed international artistic director of Lancome’s cosmetics collection. Ms. Westman’s work has graced the covers of American Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, and W, and she has worked with Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston, Julianne Moore, and Kate Hudson. With a repertoire that ranges from beautifully natural makeup to more edgy, directional looks, she was responsible for the makeup seen at the Carolina Herrera, Badgley Mischka, and Behnaz Sarafpour autumn/winter 2004 fashion shows.


“I’ve already had a lot of fun playing with colors and working on new product ideas in the labs,” says Ms. Westman. “It’s my first collection and the products will go on sale early next year. It’s a dream come true, because the very first beauty product I bought was a Lancome moisturizer – I saved up for it.”


Ms. Westman’s striking model looks and hip-but-chic style – her favorite designers are Marc Jacobs and Nicolas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga – make her the perfect spokesman for a brand whose customers range from trendy teens to more mature, sophisticated devotees. Ms. Westman’s predecessor at Lancome, French makeup artist Fred Ferrugia, created bestsellers, such as the hugely popular – and endlessly copied – Juicy Tubes line of ultrashiny, tinted lipglosses. “The range appeals to so many different women,of all ages and walks of life,” Ms. Westman says. “I hope to maintain that legacy, and add something of my own.”


Ms. Westman was born in California, and her passion for makeup was sparked when she went to work as an au pair for a Swiss family.


“The mother was a fashion journalist,” she says. “She got sent boxes of free makeup samples, which she let me play around with.”


Hooked, Ms. Westman enrolled at the Ecole Chauveau cosmetics school in Paris, and then trained in special effects makeup in Los Angeles, where she got her first break working on a shoot for Vanity Fair with the photographer Annie Leibovitz. Music video and film work followed, including the less glamorous task of making Cameron Diaz as plain-looking as possible for her role in “Being John Malkovich.” Ms. Diaz didn’t hold it against her – Ms. Westman has since helped the actress to shine on magazine covers.


“When I was at makeup school in Paris, I never imagined that one day I would be part of such a prestigious French company,” says Ms. Westman, who still swears by a Lancome moisturizer: the intensive, skin “de-stressing” Hydra Zen Moisturizing Day Cream. Other musts that have found a place in her bag of tricks include the Vinefit Levres Glossy Lip Nectar SPF 8, Pallette Mix concealer compact, Color ID self-adjusting foundation, and the new Hypnose Custom-Wear Volume Mascara. “It’s a wonderful tool,” she says. “You can use it to vary the volume of your lashes and it doesn’t crumble.”


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