Read an Excerpt
introduction
It took me a long time to accept the idea of doing a book. I thought everything had been said and done, and no one would want to hear more about lipstick, eyeliner, and blush. What convinced me was the realization that I could go beyond the tricks and tips of my profession to help others see beauty with a slightly different eye -- with a more gentle, indulgent eye, in fact. You'll certainly learn how to achieve the best application of makeup possible from the pages ahead; but there is a deeper journey you may want to take and that is to start looking at yourself differently. It took me fifteen years to make peace with the woman I was seeing in the mirror. I know today that appreciating your own beauty does not come solely from therapy, makeup application, or plastic surgery -- although these things can help. Rather, it comes from a little door that opens in our minds and helps us celebrate our differences and find pride in our uniqueness. As my friend Peter says, "There is only one of you!" If you don't realize this, I hope I can teach you to see it for yourself.
-- Laura Mercier Copyright © 2006 by Gurwitch Products, LLC I've been in love with beauty all my life, but I didn't set out to become a makeup artist. People are often curious to know how it happened, and the truth is that fate intervened. Many of my makeup artist colleagues dreamed of seeing their work in the pages of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and fantasized about creating a signature line of beauty products, but I didn't. It takes confidence to envision that sort of future for oneself, and I just didn't have it. But what I did have was a little talent, a good work ethic, and the luck tohave great mentors.
Since you've picked up this book, and merci beaucoup for doing so, I'd be honored for you to consider me your beauty mentor. Perhaps you're looking for tips and tricks so your makeup is the best it can be. If so, I think you've come to the right place. Since I got my start in the days before retouching pictures became so simple, I had to learn how to do makeup that was flawless. Once the pictures were printed, that was it, which is how my Flawless Face techniques (which I share in this book) and beauty products were born. I have perfected the techniques on everyone with whom I've worked and myself, for more than twenty years.
Perhaps you've picked up The New Beauty Secrets to update your look. I've had the good fortune to work with some of the most talented actresses, singers, models, photographers, hairstylists, and fashion editors and the photos we collaborated on have a truly inspirational quality that will motivate you to shake up your makeup routine. Whether it's Madonna's beautifully simple geisha face or Sarah Jessica Parker looking radiant and glowing in the ads for her signature fragrance, each picture has something timeless for you to take away.
For me, beauty has never been about trends or making someone look weird just to be different. Aside from fantasy looks I created for music videos and certain magazine editorials, I was not the artist you hired to make models look freaky, nor are my makeup counters the ones you visit for blue lipstick or fuchsia eyeshadow. I've always been more interested in making women look as beautiful as possible while making them look like themselves. It always meant a lot to me to help others look their best, and because of this, I'd like to give you more than tips and pretty pictures. I want to help you find the key to being yourself and believing in yourself. It took me a long time to feel secure, and I'd like to share what I've learned along the way.
My story begins in Provence, the region of France that has inspired painters, perfumers, and so many others with its beauty. I was born Michèle Mercier (yes, my real name's not Laura!), the youngest of three daughters. As a child, I was a solitary creature drawn to all things creative. My passion was to draw and paint, especially faces. It allowed me to escape my reality. I had been diagnosed with severe asthma, and the high dosage of cortisone prescribed long-term for my condition caused a weight problem I struggled with for years. In addition, my grandmother had the "marvelous" idea to repeat constantly that I was so fat and ugly I would never get married! Now I can laugh about it, but at the time I did not.
Convinced of my shortcomings, I started to become obsessed by the beauty and charm of others. At the time, my mother and her friends were a constant source of fascination. Pretty and perfumed, they enjoyed entertaining in their homes, going to soirees, and dressing in the fashions du jour. Long before Linda Evangelista became a hair color chameleon, my beautiful mother went from brunette to redhead to blonde. She loved makeup, and I vividly remember her favorite green eyeliner on her green eyes and orange lipstick on her lips. When I was old enough, my mother let me apply her makeup for her. I loved the preparation and the ritual, but it didn't inspire me to focus on my own looks. If I could have put a potato sack over my head and worn that for the rest of my life, I would have been perfectly content!
I was planning to become a teacher of literature and language; but my creative side being so much stronger, I wound up attending art school in Paris. I had never been to the glittering city, but I moved there at the age of seventeen and lived in a tiny apartment I shared with a family of cockroaches. I loved school, and I loved living alone! Reality struck upon graduation when I realized I had no career path beyond starving artist. My mother suggested beauty school, of course, since I was so good at doing her makeup. It was probably the last thing I would have considered, but to her it was a perfect feminine profession.
I worried that my classes would be filled with girls killing time until they found husbands. Deep inside, I probably had the pretension of thinking of myself as an intellectual. Fortunately, my parents offered to pay for me to attend the Carita Institute, which was both a salon and the crème de la crème of beauty schools.
Here, beauty was taken seriously, thanks to the legendary Carita sisters, Rosy and Marie. The salon's appointment books were filled with the names of the rich and famous, from Middle Eastern princesses to British heiresses to French legends like Catherine Deneuve. It was a glitzy, glamorous world, and I felt as out of place as a sumo wrestler. Slowly, however, my confidence started to build. I was at the top of my class and truly interested in the different aspects of the beauty world, from dermatology to the application of makeup. I found a mentor, my makeup teacher Thibault Vabre, who was also a famous French makeup artist. After graduation, my parents asked Thibault if I could assist him because I was too shy to ask myself. To my shock, he said yes. I worked for him for a year and a half, organizing his powder puffs just the right way, cleaning his makeup kit, sharpening his pencils with a knife (because that's how he did it), and absorbing everything there was to learn about true makeup artistry. I kept remembering the words of an old friend: "No matter what job you do in life, whether it's something you expected or not, strive to become the best you can be!"
Thibault wasn't interested in teaching, so I took over his makeup classes at Carita and happily taught for three years. At the same time, little by little, I started to get my own bookings with magazines. Even though I was much heavier than I am today, with hair cascading to my bottom and a closet filled with shapeless black clothes, my reputation grew because I was professional, I was a perfectionist, and I was passionate.
Carita had a stable of hairdressers and makeup artists who represented the legendary beauty brand on photo shoots and in magazines, so Thibault, who was part of this select group, asked Rosy Carita to hire me. Rosy, impeccable and imperious with her dark, shiny chignon and bright red lips, had a few requirements. I needed to cut my hair, lose twenty pounds, and change my name. (Michèle Mercier was the name of a renowned French actress who was also a longtime Carita client.) Rosy preferred names ending in "a" (as Carita does) so she christened me Jessica and then Aurelia before Thibault convinced her to try Laura.
And so Laura Mercier was born. As weird as changing your name seems, it allowed me to shed my past and start over. I still had a lot of work to do on my self-esteem, and as part of the fashion world -- a pretty cruel place to be when you're not the fashion type -- I knew it wouldn't be easy.
In 1985, I decided to move to the United States. Terrified, I packed my bags and made the leap. I loved the United States because it was very far away from my past. You weren't judged as harshly as you were back in France, which is probably the most judgmental country in the world. I went to Weight Watchers, and it took me a year to shed twenty pounds, but I kept it off. Needless to say, things were hard, from the language barrier to the obvious cultural differences, but I kept in mind that you learned the most from the hardest experiences.
Little by little, my career progressed. Luckily, I got to the point where magazines were booking me to work with well-known photographers, supermodels, and the occasional celebrity client. At the same time, I was afraid to work with celebrities on my own. Working on them as part of a team was fine. The prospect of working with them by myself for film premieres, award shows, parties, and so on was so daunting. At the beginning of my career, I had a terrible experience with a renowned celebrity in France, and I never wanted to work with a famous face again.
One day, Steven Meisel, the brilliant fashion photographer and a good friend, finally convinced me to work with Madonna. Imagine! The night before I did her makeup, I actually spent hours in my bedroom throwing up. The first day we worked together, Madonna must have felt my anxieties because she did everything she could to make me feel relaxed. She encouraged me to be creative.
For the eight years we worked together, she was respectful and inspiring, and her impact on my confidence was tremendous, thanks to her intelligence and her sense of humor. I have many people to thank for the beautiful pictures in this book, but they might not exist if Madonna hadn't trusted me on that very first day. To be honest, it was the most valuable gift of my career because it cured my fear and gave me the confidence I never had before. I was able to move on and work with so many amazing people over the years.
So when you look through these pages and see the pictures of famous faces, you'll understand that there's much more to them than meets the eye, as they say. From my early days at beauty school to the creation of my makeup line a decade ago, it's been a very long journey and many of you have traveled part of it with me. I've met thousands of you in stores across the country during special events and appearances. Some of us have cried together, some of you have learned new beauty tricks from me, and some of you have taught me a few tricks. In the ten years since I launched the Laura Mercier line, you've inspired me so much. Now I hope to inspire you in every chapter with the knowledge that your personality and individuality are what count the most. In these pages, you'll definitely find realistic advice and simple tips for looking and feeling your best. But this is not a beauty encyclopedia. I want you to see how makeup can be fun and easy, but I'd also like you to understand how beauty is so much deeper than lipstick and powder.
Copyright © 2006 by Gurwitch Products, LLC
Read a Sample Chapter
The New Beauty Secrets
Your Ultimate Guide to a Flawless Face
By Laura Mercier
Atria
Copyright © 2006
Laura MercierAll right reserved.
ISBN: 0743296311
introduction
It took me a long time to accept the idea of doing a book. I thought everything had been said and done, and no one would want to hear more about lipstick, eyeliner, and blush. What convinced me was the realization that I could go beyond the tricks and tips of my profession to help others see beauty with a slightly different eye -- with a more gentle, indulgent eye, in fact. You'll certainly learn how to achieve the best application of makeup possible from the pages ahead; but there is a deeper journey you may want to take and that is to start looking at yourself differently. It took me fifteen years to make peace with the woman I was seeing in the mirror. I know today that appreciating your own beauty does not come solely from therapy, makeup application, or plastic surgery -- although these things can help. Rather, it comes from a little door that opens in our minds and helps us celebrate our differences and find pride in our uniqueness. As my friend Peter says, "There is only one of you!" If you don't realize this, I hope I can teach you to see it for yourself.
-- Laura Mercier
Copyright 2006 by Gurwitch Products, LLC
I've been in love with beauty all my life, but I didn't set out to become a makeup artist. People are often curious to know how it happened, and the truth is that fate intervened.Many of my makeup artist colleagues dreamed of seeing their work in the pages of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and fantasized about creating a signature line of beauty products, but I didn't. It takes confidence to envision that sort of future for oneself, and I just didn't have it. But what I did have was a little talent, a good work ethic, and the luck to have great mentors.
Since you've picked up this book, and merci beaucoup for doing so, I'd be honored for you to consider me your beauty mentor. Perhaps you're looking for tips and tricks so your makeup is the best it can be. If so, I think you've come to the right place. Since I got my start in the days before retouching pictures became so simple, I had to learn how to do makeup that was flawless. Once the pictures were printed, that was it, which is how my Flawless Face techniques (which I share in this book) and beauty products were born. I have perfected the techniques on everyone with whom I've worked and myself, for more than twenty years.
Perhaps you've picked up The New Beauty Secrets to update your look. I've had the good fortune to work with some of the most talented actresses, singers, models, photographers, hairstylists, and fashion editors and the photos we collaborated on have a truly inspirational quality that will motivate you to shake up your makeup routine. Whether it's Madonna's beautifully simple geisha face or Sarah Jessica Parker looking radiant and glowing in the ads for her signature fragrance, each picture has something timeless for you to take away.
For me, beauty has never been about trends or making someone look weird just to be different. Aside from fantasy looks I created for music videos and certain magazine editorials, I was not the artist you hired to make models look freaky, nor are my makeup counters the ones you visit for blue lipstick or fuchsia eyeshadow. I've always been more interested in making women look as beautiful as possible while making them look like themselves. It always meant a lot to me to help others look their best, and because of this, I'd like to give you more than tips and pretty pictures. I want to help you find the key to being yourself and believing in yourself. It took me a long time to feel secure, and I'd like to share what I've learned along the way.
My story begins in Provence, the region of France that has inspired painters, perfumers, and so many others with its beauty. I was born Michèle Mercier (yes, my real name's not Laura!), the youngest of three daughters. As a child, I was a solitary creature drawn to all things creative. My passion was to draw and paint, especially faces. It allowed me to escape my reality. I had been diagnosed with severe asthma, and the high dosage of cortisone prescribed long-term for my condition caused a weight problem I struggled with for years. In addition, my grandmother had the "marvelous" idea to repeat constantly that I was so fat and ugly I would never get married! Now I can laugh about it, but at the time I did not.
Convinced of my shortcomings, I started to become obsessed by the beauty and charm of others. At the time, my mother and her friends were a constant source of fascination. Pretty and perfumed, they enjoyed entertaining in their homes, going to soirees, and dressing in the fashions du jour. Long before Linda Evangelista became a hair color chameleon, my beautiful mother went from brunette to redhead to blonde. She loved makeup, and I vividly remember her favorite green eyeliner on her green eyes and orange lipstick on her lips. When I was old enough, my mother let me apply her makeup for her. I loved the preparation and the ritual, but it didn't inspire me to focus on my own looks. If I could have put a potato sack over my head and worn that for the rest of my life, I would have been perfectly content!
I was planning to become a teacher of literature and language; but my creative side being so much stronger, I wound up attending art school in Paris. I had never been to the glittering city, but I moved there at the age of seventeen and lived in a tiny apartment I shared with a family of cockroaches. I loved school, and I loved living alone! Reality struck upon graduation when I realized I had no career path beyond starving artist. My mother suggested beauty school, of course, since I was so good at doing her makeup. It was probably the last thing I would have considered, but to her it was a perfect feminine profession.
I worried that my classes would be filled with girls killing time until they found husbands. Deep inside, I probably had the pretension of thinking of myself as an intellectual. Fortunately, my parents offered to pay for me to attend the Carita Institute, which was both a salon and the crème de la crème of beauty schools.
Here, beauty was taken seriously, thanks to the legendary Carita sisters, Rosy and Marie. The salon's appointment books were filled with the names of the rich and famous, from Middle Eastern princesses to British heiresses to French legends like Catherine Deneuve. It was a glitzy, glamorous world, and I felt as out of place as a sumo wrestler. Slowly, however, my confidence started to build. I was at the top of my class and truly interested in the different aspects of the beauty world, from dermatology to the application of makeup. I found a mentor, my makeup teacher Thibault Vabre, who was also a famous French makeup artist. After graduation, my parents asked Thibault if I could assist him because I was too shy to ask myself. To my shock, he said yes. I worked for him for a year and a half, organizing his powder puffs just the right way, cleaning his makeup kit, sharpening his pencils with a knife (because that's how he did it), and absorbing everything there was to learn about true makeup artistry. I kept remembering the words of an old friend: "No matter what job you do in life, whether it's something you expected or not, strive to become the best you can be!"
Thibault wasn't interested in teaching, so I took over his makeup classes at Carita and happily taught for three years. At the same time, little by little, I started to get my own bookings with magazines. Even though I was much heavier than I am today, with hair cascading to my bottom and a closet filled with shapeless black clothes, my reputation grew because I was professional, I was a perfectionist, and I was passionate.
Carita had a stable of hairdressers and makeup artists who represented the legendary beauty brand on photo shoots and in magazines, so Thibault, who was part of this select group, asked Rosy Carita to hire me. Rosy, impeccable and imperious with her dark, shiny chignon and bright red lips, had a few requirements. I needed to cut my hair, lose twenty pounds, and change my name. (Michèle Mercier was the name of a renowned French actress who was also a longtime Carita client.) Rosy preferred names ending in "a" (as Carita does) so she christened me Jessica and then Aurelia before Thibault convinced her to try Laura.
And so Laura Mercier was born. As weird as changing your name seems, it allowed me to shed my past and start over. I still had a lot of work to do on my self-esteem, and as part of the fashion world -- a pretty cruel place to be when you're not the fashion type -- I knew it wouldn't be easy.
In 1985, I decided to move to the United States. Terrified, I packed my bags and made the leap. I loved the United States because it was very far away from my past. You weren't judged as harshly as you were back in France, which is probably the most judgmental country in the world. I went to Weight Watchers, and it took me a year to shed twenty pounds, but I kept it off. Needless to say, things were hard, from the language barrier to the obvious cultural differences, but I kept in mind that you learned the most from the hardest experiences.
Little by little, my career progressed. Luckily, I got to the point where magazines were booking me to work with well-known photographers, supermodels, and the occasional celebrity client. At the same time, I was afraid to work with celebrities on my own. Working on them as part of a team was fine. The prospect of working with them by myself for film premieres, award shows, parties, and so on was so daunting. At the beginning of my career, I had a terrible experience with a renowned celebrity in France, and I never wanted to work with a famous face again.
One day, Steven Meisel, the brilliant fashion photographer and a good friend, finally convinced me to work with Madonna. Imagine! The night before I did her makeup, I actually spent hours in my bedroom throwing up. The first day we worked together, Madonna must have felt my anxieties because she did everything she could to make me feel relaxed. She encouraged me to be creative.
For the eight years we worked together, she was respectful and inspiring, and her impact on my confidence was tremendous, thanks to her intelligence and her sense of humor. I have many people to thank for the beautiful pictures in this book, but they might not exist if Madonna hadn't trusted me on that very first day. To be honest, it was the most valuable gift of my career because it cured my fear and gave me the confidence I never had before. I was able to move on and work with so many amazing people over the years.
So when you look through these pages and see the pictures of famous faces, you'll understand that there's much more to them than meets the eye, as they say. From my early days at beauty school to the creation of my makeup line a decade ago, it's been a very long journey and many of you have traveled part of it with me. I've met thousands of you in stores across the country during special events and appearances. Some of us have cried together, some of you have learned new beauty tricks from me, and some of you have taught me a few tricks. In the ten years since I launched the Laura Mercier line, you've inspired me so much. Now I hope to inspire you in every chapter with the knowledge that your personality and individuality are what count the most. In these pages, you'll definitely find realistic advice and simple tips for looking and feeling your best. But this is not a beauty encyclopedia. I want you to see how makeup can be fun and easy, but I'd also like you to understand how beauty is so much deeper than lipstick and powder.
Copyright 2006 by Gurwitch Products, LLC
Continues...
Excerpted from The New Beauty Secrets
by Laura Mercier
Copyright © 2006 by Laura Mercier.
Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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