Makeup Artist Tiffany Wraps Up Paris Fashion Week For Us
We can’t believe we’re finally saying this, but fashion month is officially over — ending with a bang today in Paris. Tiffany Johnston, a Senior Artist for MAC Cosmetics has been busy traveling and working show after show, and she (like many other artists) now may finally find a few hours to sleep.
Tiffany kept a Paris Fashion Week Diary of her week in the City of Light, tracking her hectic schedule and her key spare moments, like breaks at Laduree and perfume shopping. Read on below for her take on the week!
Feb. 27th:
I arrive in Paris with fingers crossed that all of my luggage has arrived too. My luggage got lost in Amsterdam on my way to Milan and I certainly didn’t want a repeat of that! When I get to the hotel I drop off my belongings and make a mad dash to the discount Pharmacie to restock necessary kit supplies. Of course I take a moment to devour my first of many salade de chevre chaud! It’s a Parisian diet staple for me.
Feb 28th:
At a morning meeting with the team we discuss the trends that have started to take shape in previous fashion cities, the new product favorites and our schedules. Much to my delight I have the rest of the day off. Now I can fit in my perfume shopping (I don’t allow myself to leave Paris without a new scent).
Feb 29th:
Kicking off Paris fashion week with Gareth Pugh! Working with Alex Box is always a pleasure. Her inspiration is young, fresh beauties with a nun-like quality. The freshness of the skin is captured by leaving the cheeks and the eyes untouched. It’s a success! Now back to the hotel for a bite and drinks with the team.
Mar 1st:
Balmain with the ever talented and uber-handsome, Tom Pecheux! The catering at Balmain usually includes macaroons from Laduree but I could not find them this season.
This show always casts some of the biggest girls. This show gets a little hectic; I did three girls and ran downstairs to make sure their bodies were pristine.
So far my shows all land in the middle of the day, leaving me with not much time to do anything else.
Mar 2nd:
My first early morning is Roland Mouret with Val Garland at 5:45am! The best part of starting so early is finishing before noon. I meet Senior Artist Chantel Miller and Nick Gavarellis, Vice President of Product Development, at the hotel and we decide lunch at Laduree is the perfect place to meet and discuss some new artistry tools and products. It’s all very covert so we sit upstairs, off the radar so we can experiment and play with some prototypes. One of my favorite past times is talking product development. Then we walk around the city looking for inspiration for a body painting idea….
Mar 3rd:
I always look forward to one show in particular and that’s Vivienne Westwood Gold Label. Today’s the day! Val Garland has a team of M?A?C artists who are all happy to be here and ready for her inspiration. The tea stained eyes with Botticelli lips is a liberating and creative exercise that ends up being a favorite look of the season quite possibly. At the end if the show, I always leave inspired.
Mar 4th:
Backstage at Issey Miyake with Lucia Pieroni is calm; it’s as if there’s the perfect amount of time to get everything done. Once the show is over we have some free time but because it’s Sunday, everything is closed. So Louise, Fatima and I devote some time to our kits and our nails.
I can’t sleep in Milan. The combination of the energy of the city and my jet lag affords me about 10 hours of sleep in 9 days. In Paris, I luckily don’t have this problem. I feel so comfortable here. This could also be because I’m 2 sleeps away from my own bed.
And of course, stay tuned to @MAC_Tiffany_J, @MACcosmetics and of course @BeautyHigh for all things beauty related!
