THE EXPERT
MARIA BOSTRÖM
FEBRUARY 12.2013
by AIMEE BLAUT
"I went to art school in Finland and wanted a job where I could travel. So I decided to pick up hair and makeup. Working with hair is like sculpting and doing makeup is like painting. I moved to Stockholm and applied to work with Björn Axén, probably the best salon in Sweden. Björn said that I could take five models and film my styling then come in for an interview. So here I am this little girl from Finland walking around Kungsträdgården trying to find some models, I didn’t know anybody in Stockholm (laughs). So I dragged some girls down and did my video. The next day I went to see Björn and I got the job and got into his creative team. It’s been great fun we did all the shows in New York and I was working with the royal family.
In 1989 Björn and I were in Paris for the couture shows and I met Kim Robinson who was an Australian running salons in Hong Kong. We had dinner and he invited me to come work with him. I thought about it for a while and eventually called Kim and decided to go. First it was hard but after one year it got a lot better. In Scandinavia you demand respect but in Asia you have to earn your respect so that was a very interesting journey. I worked with a team in Hong Kong for hair and set up my own makeup practice. Eventually I left Le Salon and Kim Robinson and worked a lot with the magazines. I eventually opened my own which I later sold to Elle Hong Kong when I moved back to Sweden.
(some of Maria’s favorite products)
I teach makeup to people and I teach in a different way. A lot of brands have a very scheduled process of how to wash the brushes and do things from light to dark; then I come in and am like ‘okay we are going to break all these rules! Anyone who went to a classic school is going to hate me but people who want to try something else, enjoy the ride!’ I do a lot of patchwork and work mainly with my fingers when I can. I work the best when it’s hands on and I can touch and feel things.
Since I don’t wear much makeup if I want to do something more dramatic I’ll wear red lipstick. So from time to time I throw on a red lip and put on my Tom Ford glasses.”– To see more images and learn about Maria’s daily beauty routine click here to read here.
Photos by: Aimee Blaut in Stockholm
Tags: Björn Axén, Giorgio Armani, Kim Robinson, Lancôme, Le Salon, Makeup.com, MARIA BOSTRÖM, Shu Uemura, Stockholm, Stockholm beauty, Sweden, Tom Ford
YOU ARE A BABE
LINDSAY ELLINGSON, VICTORIA’S SECRET ANGEL
APRIL 20.2012
by AIMEE BLAUT
"I’m from California and was going to college at UC San Diego and studying biology -- I’m a complete nerd [laughs] -- and then I got scouted on the street. I had a test shoot and the next thing I knew, I was in Paris for fashion week. My agent told me that Christian Dior and Prada wanted to meet me, but at the time I had no idea who those designers were. I had never really looked at fashion magazines growing up. So I moved to Paris and the day I landed, I met John Galliano and he basically started my career."
“Working for Victoria’s Secret has been a dream of mine for a very long time. I started modeling seven years ago and I immediately wanted to do the VS fashion show, so I tried out three years in a row. The first two times I didn’t get it but the third time I got the show… It was the most exciting experience, and I’ve done the show now for five years. Through that exposure, Victoria’s Secret started working with me for print and campaigns and then I became an Angel.”
“Recently I started using all natural products. I read a book called The Truth About Beauty by Kat James and it’s totally changed my whole outlook. I wake up in the morning and I wash my face with the Amazon Rain cleanser; the Amazon products are all natural and a lot of their ingredients come from the rainforest. I believe that serums work amazingly so afterwards I always use a Vitamin C serum from Amazon, called Camu-C Serum. Then I apply sunscreen. I love the derma e eye cream with hyaluronic acid, its very moisturizing. It’s great for preventative wrinkles”
“I have a vanity at home with makeup and beauty products everywhere. I try everything [laughs]. As far as makeup goes, I mix it up. I love the Cle de Peu concelear. It goes on smooth and provides perfect coverage. On a daily basis, I don’t leave my house without mascara and I like my eyebrows to be shaped perfectly. I don’t like eyeliner, which is funny. I think most makeup artists go straight for the eyeliner. I feel like my eyes are so big, it doesn’t look good. I love a big eyelash look and shading around my eyes, though. The VS Triple Volume Mascara is wonderful. I love a retro Twiggy look. I always use my Shu Uemera eyelash curler and if I want a waterproof mascara, I use one by Tarte. I prefer lip gloss more than lipstick. The VS lip liner in Ginger Spice matches everyone’s lips really perfectly. It just adds volume to your lips. There is also a lip scrub and balm that exfoliates well and is paired with a minty balm.”
“I always have a lot of makeup on for events so I make sure to really cleanse my skin well at night so it can breathe. I use all natural baby wipes to take off my makeup and my Amazon cleanser and exfoliator by Derma E, I think it’s called Microdermabrasion. I use a vitamin A serum by MyChelle, which is all natural and helps keep my skin clear. In the winter, I use the Dr Alkaitis Night Cream.”
“I’m really passionate about jewelry. It’s a dangerous thing, but it’s the one thing that I love shopping for. I like very intricate pieces and I wasn’t finding what I liked, so I decided to start making jewelry on my own. My line is called Goldie Knots. I learned how to do micro-macrome on YouTube and bought my materials: fourteen karat gold and silk. It’s very simple. Right now I am selling pieces at Albertine in the West Village but I am launching my website soon! I donate my proceeds to the Humane Society. I am a big dog lover and have two dogs back home in California, so that’s something that is really important to me.”
Photos by: Aimee Blaut
Tags: Albertine, Cle de Peu, Dr. Alkaitis, Kat James, MyChelle, Shu Uemura, Tarte, Twiggy, Victoria's Secret, Victoria's Secret Angel, VS
YOU ARE A BABE
KERRY PIERI, WEB EDITOR, HARPER’S BAZAAR
JANUARY 24.2012
by AIMEE BLAUT
"My job overall is to have original content for the web and to tell the story of what’s going on in fashion at any given moment. I write articles and profile people and cover events. It’s so fun. My favorite part is meeting people and seeing their creative processes. I feel like fashion people get put in a corner but really it’s full of all these artistic types, from photographers to makeup artists and writers who really dedicate themselves to a craft and there is really something interesting in learning about why they do what they do."
“The most intensive part of my beauty regimen, if you could call it that [laughs], is at night. I recently got the Clarisonic and I’m kind of obsessed. I use a fairly non-scary cleanser like a Cetaphil or something along those lines. And then I’m really big on moisturizing –I don’t want to use that anti-aging, strip your skin stuff yet. I use a night cream and SKII eye cream, especially in the winter, to have everything stay super moisturized.”
(Naomi collar by DANNIJO)
“Most of the time I’m big on [playing up] my eyes with a pink cheek and nude lip. I always have to have black eyeliner in the interior rim of my eyes; I think it makes them look really bright. I typically use NARS but those new Dolce and Gabbana ones are really good too. At night, sometimes I’ll use Makeup Forever liquid liner to do a fun little cat eye and a lot of mascara. For the pink cheek I use NARS Orgasm a lot — and that Benefit blush (CORALista) is nice too.”
“I like to use lipstick as an accessory — sometimes I’ll do a red or a really deep burgundy. I really like a neon pink if I’m wearing gray; I think it’s fun. I wear a lot of MAC lipsticks (Pink Nouveau) and those Dolce and Gabbana reds. I have four different shades of red from them and they’re all so good. My favorite of theirs for nighttime is Scarlett — it has some blue to it and is a little bit darker.”
“I do wash my hair everyday even though they tell you not to. I try to use light products like the Shu Uemura shampoo.”
“My older sister was way more into beauty than I ever was and she collects products. So when I was in eighth grade and she was a junior in high school, she had this metallic vamp lipstick by Chanel in this purpley silver color. I wore it a lot, which looked probably pretty ridiculous since I was only in eighth grade. Looking back, it was actually pretty sophisticated that I was interested in thirty-five dollar lipstick when I was fourteen [laughs].”
Photos by: Aimee Blaut
Tags: Benefit, Cetaphil, Chanel, Clarisonic, DANNIJO, Dolce and Gabbana, Harper's Bazaar, Kerry Pieri, MAC, nars, Shu Uemura, SKII
