Emma Hoareau
March 22, 2015
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LA BELLE.
When Elizabeth Arden approached my to help celebrate their new launches, there was no way I was going to say no…
There are few things I enjoy more than photographing beauty – and I mean that in the broad
sense. Yes I love shooting an upcoming model, but beauty is also that incredible sunset you
managed to climb up the hill to see or a crashing wave caught at just the right moment. It’s that
stroke of luck that allowed you to see such a beautiful thing. Beauty is everywhere, if you’re
open to see it.
So you can imagine how excited I was when Elizabeth Arden approached me to work with them
on shooting Belle Langford – an illustrator whose drawings I have long admired – whilst she
sketched the two new Elizabeth Arden makeup launches. An inspiring artist plus beautiful
products? I’m in.
It seems an obvious choice to have Belle do the illustrations, her graceful style and use of colour
in her work fit perfectly with the elegant packaging and colour pops of the lipsticks.
Both the foundation and the lipstick have a matte finish and focus on longevity. There’s a great
range of colours in the lipstick, from Bold Red to Coral. My favourite is Raspberry which is
such a beautiful, intense colour that I think works really well on brunettes.
With the foundation, I love the perfected coverage it gives by blurring fine lines and imperfections.
The ‘satin’ in the name refers to the way it rids unwanted shine but not the natural luminosity of
the skin.
colour palette of The Renaissance; the emotion of Abstract Expressionism; the evocative
language in food writing; the wild Australian landscape; smells and fragrances and perfume
making; Thoreau; Neruda; Faulkner; Whitman; a good bottle of wine; a good piece of toast;
dreams (both mine and other peoples); the beautiful and charmingly instinctive photographs
my boyfriend takes; the ocean; the white washed streets of Le Marais; Rob Reiner’s Rom Coms
from the 90’s; the sass of a Hitchcock Heroine; the weight of a double-faced cashmere coat.
a beauty institution. It was something to admire and aspire to: the red door. My grandmother
used Arden and then my mother, so it felt like I was being initiated into this secret women’s
society, in a way.
See more behind the scenes action in this short film I made of the day:
Thank you Elizabeth Arden for letting me be a part of this amazing campaign!
Both the products are available now from Myer and David Jones.