Celebrity Makeup Artist Gucci Westman’s On the Products She Swears by for Fall
Make-up artist Gucci Westman’s ability to conjure a glowing complexion is legendary-fans include Anne Hathaway, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jennifer Aniston. So when it came to Westman Atelier, her new make-up line with Barneys, Westman began wit ha curated set of skin-perfecting formulas including 11 foundation shades, four blushes, two highlighters, a bronzer, and a contour color (we’ll explain that one in a minute).
On August 17th, Westman celebrated the launch of her line with a dinner co-hosted by Julianne Moore and Barneys New York at iconic Montauk establishment Duryea’s Lobster Deck where guests, including Richard and Lisa Perry, Grace Coddington, Rachel Zoe, and Molly Sims, savored one of the last summer weekends in the Hamptons with an abundance of rose and lobster.
Westman and Moore first met on set years ago when the make-up artist was asked to make Moore appear tan-an unenviable task, but one that they laugh about to this day. “Julianne is an incredible enigma and she is so much more than just beautiful,” Westman says. “She is strong and inspiring and you can literally ask her anything; even if you are looking for a piece of furniture you can just ask Julianne.”
But with fall-and deadlines-just a few weeks away, T&C pulled the perennially chic Westman aside to ask about her fall skin and beauty essentials.
It seems like summer really starts to catch up with our skin and hair this time of year. What should we do to get things back to-or ideally better than-normal?
During the summer daily maintenance tends to fall by the wayside. At the moment I am really into the SK-II LXP serum because air conditioning always makes my skin dry. And I like a good exfoliating routine. I love the Strawberry Rhubarb Dermafoliant by Eminence because it is super gentle. For some color, I prefer to self-tan with the KORA Organics lotion and beef it up with a bronzer to get the tone just right.
For my body, I’ve been using the L:a Bruket salt scrub; they also have really nice soaps and lotions.
My hair is another story: it gets really brassy so I use purple-based everything. Rahua has a great purple line and my stylist gave me this good ashy gloss by Davines that I just put on for a few minutes to brighten things up.
With all of your experience, how did you decide which products to include when launching Westman Atelier?
It was not an easy process because I decided to start with skin, which is what I am known for as a make-up artist. I wanted to create a system for your complexion so that you can have a really nice, refined canvas and achieve different finishes, from matte to different types of luminosity.
I really love my foundation because I developed it to soothe redness and inflammation and to protect your skin against pollution. Foundation in particular is really challenging because it is hard to identify your shade, but everything is totally blendable so they work with most skin types.
And the Super Loaded Tinted Highlight is an incredible product that primes your face with a radiant, warm luminosity; you can wear it on your eyes, your cheeks, anywhere you want just the right amount of glow. The contour is in an easy shade to work with as well…
Wait, how can we contour while still looking natural?
Put it under the cheekbone a bit to start. I also like to add it on my eyelids with a little below the eye. If you are going to be photographed-and I don’t do this every day-then add a bit on either side of the nose for extra definition.
Anything else?
I wanted to offer different choices for different occasions. So the blushes come in great colors and work well on your cheeks and lips. (Editor’s note: I am currently obsessed with Petal for a late-summer glow.) They also have this really nice technology that prevents the pigment molecule from entering the dermis. All of my products have substantial skin benefits. There were many little things that were big hurdles to get the formulas just right.
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