In order to understand and share our vision of fashion and beauty, more specifically make-up, we need to go back in time and place ourselves in the middle of the pandemic. Recalling all the experiences we have had, I have found a parallel in a time many centuries ago: the Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages saw very dark times: wars, famines, plague epidemics, social oppression caused by the Inquisition, etc. These negative events were reflected in art and literature as a very dark period, but we must not forget that there were also positive events, such as architecture, literature, music and philosophy.
Coming back to the present, we all remember March 2020, when the global pandemic was declared and we were forced to confine ourselves at home. The fear of getting sick, the health and economic crisis filled our minds with negative thoughts. As in the Middle Ages, there were many dark moments, moments of fear and a lot of uncertainty, and everything seemed to be falling apart. But on the other hand, there were also positive developments: silence, time, connection with ourselves, self-care and the rapid advance of technology, as well as the regeneration of nature, awakened changes in us.
All this has led to changes in the way we are, the way we feel, the way we dress, the way we do our hair and make-up. The experiences of these years have made us change some habits, which were already emerging, but the pandemic has accelerated them. We have stopped living so much outwardly and have started to live more introspectively. We have slowly gained the confidence to go out and connect in person more often. We want to be at face-to-face events, to move away from virtual meetings and meet in groups, to travel, to socialise, in a word, to socialise. A crucial act that provides us with emotional connection, social development, a sense of belonging to a group, identity building and general well-being. Socialising is an act that is closely linked to fashion. Fashion, beauty and make-up feed off each other and are inseparable.
Once we are back to normal life, we experience an explosion of colour in clothing and accessories. We only have to look at the winning pantones in 2022 and 2023. However, these colours are not reflected in make-up. In make-up, the emphasis is on glowing, healthy-looking skin, that health we have been so afraid of losing. We want to look "healthy". We come to a key point in make-up: light. It reminds me again of the past, when once the Middle Ages were over, the Renaissance came, an important advance for humanity, there was a renewal of thought.
We all thought that after the masks were removed there would be a boom in "lipstick", as happened during the Second World War or the crash of 1929, where the colour red on the lips expressed the need to convey the desire to feel good and to fight to reverse the situation in which society was immersed. But it has not been like that. Warmth, light, harmony and balance are concepts that are above colour in make-up. We work on a face made up with a light texture, where dyschromia is evened out to unify the tone, but leaving the skin transparent. With other facial products, we continue to work on the face, defining volumes and giving the skin a fresh and juicy texture. With illuminator and cream textures, we manage to give juiciness and light in a very natural way.The eyelashes are black and intense, have to loan a lot of attention so that they remain opened in shape of fan, and if necessary, can reinforce them with a kajal black to give depth to the look. The eye shadow is very neutral, yet structured, working matte and shiny textures to achieve openness and light. Lips tend to be prominent and glossy, with a gloss texture and good pigmentation. On occasion, if we need to reinforce a more intense make-up, we can play with the intensity of colour and gloss.
Innovation in make-up is not only limited to a change of concept, but technological innovation is applied to formulation, packaging, raw materials and artificial intelligence applications, all of which add value to manufacturing processes or products. Technological innovation has also evolved a lot in make-up laboratories, where there are true wonders of textures, where finish, durability and skin care always go hand in hand. We can speak of make-up that is efficient in terms of results, durability and versatility, and therefore also more sustainable.
We are living a technological revolution in make-up. It's exciting. The textures are very sensorial, a hybrid between powders and creams. Powders feel like a second skin, they don't leave a texture. The ingredients have a high degree of efficacy, and active ingredients such as hyaluronic acid are used in powders. Make-up is shifting towards colour cosmetics, with a focus on skin care and quality to achieve performance effects.
This is where I again find similarities with the process that humanity went through from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, where the change in thinking led to a humanist trend.
Technology, as we talked about earlier, is evolving at breakneck speed. In the beauty sector, not only is it in manufacturing and formulation, but we have artificial intelligence at work and a new reality in the metaverse. This technology will evolve us as long as we never lose connection with who we are.
