By Ruth Funnell - Violetta

I was working down in Rye last week and luckily managed to find time to visit beauty editor, Karena Callen's gorgeous new boutique Violetta. 

It is definitely worth making a special visit to Rye to see her little haven of beautiful pefumes and carefully chosen skin products.

Karena has chosen products that she loves and believes works, and knows each one thoroughly and will happily speak about the virtues of any one of them.

I particularily love the Serge Luten's perfume range ( in particular the addictive spicy scent of  Five o'clock au gingembre).

Karena has chosen Paul & Joe's gorgeous makeup range, which not only has totally wearable colours but also is packaged in extra cute retro styling. 

I very luckily have been trying her exclusive Frankincense Night Serum, which not only smells wonderful, but my skin definitely feels softer and less dehydrated from the winter weather.

If you aren't lucky enough to get down for a weekend - how about a day trip to the gorgeous town and book in for a facial through her shop, using chosen products specifically tailored to you.


Now thats a perfect Valentine present.........

By Anna Cofone - Working with Lana del Rey

Only a few weeks into the new year and its already been a busy one… Flying to New York to shoot Lana Del Rey with Terry Richardson with Mel Ottenberg styling, for the New York Times and style her hair for numerous video interviews and performances. Just before we left for New York, Lana made a flying visit to London to perform on Jonathan Ross and what an experience that was!

Ever since I started doing Lana’s hair, 6 months ago, it has so far been an incredible journey…

Her vision and direction is inspiring, not to mention her unique look which has attracted many a fashion magazine to want her gracing their pages. Just before Christmas we shot with the amazing Sean+Seng for Interview (out the end of this month) styled by Jodie Barnes.

Out now, in V magazine,  is a beautiful story shot by Karim Sadli and styled by Jay Massacret. Lana, like most of us girls, loves dressing up and when she gets in front of the camera she truly is a natural!

Other great experiences have been working with the legendary Jean Baptiste Mondino for French magazine Next

And shooting the video for the Born To Die single with director Yoann Lemoin in the spectacular Fontainebleau Chateau in Versailles.

Working with Lana has been a dream come true… For so long I’ve wanted to work with an artist that had great vision and huge aspirations! Look out for her album, out on Jan 30^th.

'The Artist' - Maria Comparetto's tips on how to achieve the Twenties look

By Maria Comparetto.

If you havent seen it already go and see The Artist! It is beautiful and inspiring with amazing performances all round!

The leading lady Bérénice Bejo, blew me away with her charm, wit and I loved her glamorous makeup. For those of you who fancy playing... this is my version of her look.

Skin should be slightly matt, use a foundation that suits your skin tone or go one shade lighter then lightly dust with loose powder (Chanel Poudre Universelle Libre is perfect for this).

Contour the brow and cheek bones with a pressed powder highlighter such as Mac iridescent Pressed powder.

To accentuate the face contour under the cheek bones with a Matt ‘biscuity’ tone.

Sisley Phyto-Sourcils Eyebrow Pencil

Then time to tackle the brows. To achieve this look you must be realistic, if your eyebrows are sparse it will look more authentic as you are able to recreate the thin pencilled brows easily. 


However don't let that put you off ! It works just as beautifully if you slightly mask the brows by lightly brushing some foundation through them with a mascara or brow brush. With a brow pencil, a tone slightly lighter than your natural brows delicately draw a thin line through your natural eyebrows & over your browbone, you can create whatever expression you like depending on the shape you draw, slightly arched is best so as not to appear to stern or angry!

Go over the line with a brow powder, this softens and sets the look.

For the eyes use a graphite grey or browny black close to the lashes and blend the eye shadow onto the lid to create a rainbow shape/hue of colour but keep it light as it's all about the brow! Givenchy Eye & Brow Prism is perfect for this. 

Curl the lashes and apply a gentle coat of mascara, top and bottom.

Lips should be kept quite dark (Sisley Long Lasting Lipstick in Plum or Chanel Rouge Allure in 'La Faschinanante' or 'L'Exquise') with a semi Matt lipstick for the best results but attention must be paid to the shape. Keep the cupids bow slightly pointed as lips were thin and angular around this time.

Finish off with a tiny beauty spot using a sharpened black kohl or Bobbi browns black ink for durability! 

Then shine like the sparkly star you are!! Have fun with it.

My Make-up With Marilyn by Maria Comparetto

After watching a week with Marilyn and being mesmerised by Michelle Williams' performance I felt compelled to talk you through the most iconic look in history! 

The makeup has so many different interpretations but could work very well with a nude lip using Dior Addict Lipstick in Nude rather than the bright red mouth we automatically associate with Marilyn's look. This would keep it looking modern and would best suit those with thinner lips.

The thing that really makes this look for me us not the lips though it's the defined soft brow and taupe (‘not really there’) socket line.

Keep both these elements by defining firstly with a pencil, blending with a brush then softly intensifying using a powder of the same tone such as the Sisley Phyto-ombre éclat eyeshadow in Dune. This makes the eyes ‘pop’. 

Apply a micro thin liquid liner such as Dior Style Liner close to the lashes then apply black mascara on the outer corner of the lashes having curled them first with (my favourite are Shu Uemera) eyelash curlers! 

Do not apply any mascara to bottom lashes. Contour the cheekbones with a Guerlain terracotta bronzer and there you have it!

As well as the nude matt lip, another variations on this could be a cherry lip-gloss such as the Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in Triomphal from the Christmas Collection. (RRP £23.50)
 

Christmas Nails by Andrea Fulerton

I asked Andrea Fulerton if she could tell us how to get the ultimate Christmas nails. Here's what she had to say...


 "Classic red for Christmas, a divine shade that suits all is my Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique ‘Jessica’ named after client Jessica Alba another gorgeous red is L’Oreal Resist & Shine 651a richer darker red.

With any strong colour always use a base coat to protect your natural nail from staining such as Revlon Calcium Nail Gel  which has the added bonus of strengthening too. 

When painting allow a minute or two between coats to let the varnish settle though if your in a rush Revlon Red will apply in just one even coat. 

Anchor your hand down to a flat surface to get a steadier control [less wombly lines]

Bling up your festive season nails by adding a few Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique Gemstones or Aurora pearls to accent a nail by dabbing them directly onto semi wet varnish and seal down with a Top Coat."

And to prove how doable this is - here is my (obviously non-professional) attempt (with Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique Gold studs rather than the Crystal Gemstones). How Christmassy is that?! AND I should be excused from all dishwashing duty to keep them looking tip top over the festive period.

Sarah Clarke & Ruth Funnell Red Magazine January - Black Dresses

Sarah Clark styled this beautiful story shot by Bruno Barbazan for Red Magazine January 2012 and Ruth Funnell worked on the make-up.

Sarah said:

“I was asked to shoot a Black Dresses story for the January issue. I wanted to shoot a good selection of styles of dresses, not just 'little black dresses', so I basically just called in dresses that I really liked!! I wanted the feel of the pictures to be quite laid-back and relaxed and a little 'undone', so I didn't want the hair or makeup to feel too party-ish I love all these dresses, but my faves are the Nina Ricci, the Alexander Rich, and the Moschino. All very different, but all gorgeous in their own right. Another amazing team. A really fun two days.
”

Ruth said of the shoot:

“On the lovely story with Bruno Barbazan and styled by Sarah Clark, we wanted to leave the gorgeous clothes and our beautiful model Zuzana, to speak for themselves and keep the makeup sheer and modern in an understated way.

This was achieved by careful shading using sheer and complimentary taupe shades that appear to 'melt into the skin'.

Firstly I used Dior's new Skinflash Primer [available in the stores from 16th Jan] in ‘Sheer Glow’. It both smoothes and perfects the skin with light reflective particles and glides on like a dream with the innovative 'foundation like' brush applicator. 

After the prep, I used Dior Nude glow -a silky light base, as Zuzana  only needed the minimal amount of cover and then used Dior Skin Crystal Nude Matt Skin Perfector to blot any shiny areas.  

Eyes were enhanced gently with the classic colours of Dior 5 Couleurs in  ‘Amber Design’ [the staple palette all girls should have in their makeup bag!] and followed by a couple of light coats of Diorshow black mascara.

Cheeks were sculptured using Dior Skin Bronze in Honey Tan-great for giving shade and glow without too much obvious colour.

I finished with Rouge Dior Lipstick in ‘Beige Angelique’, which was the perfect beige colour to give the natural look without being pink in any way.

All these are great very wearable colours to ask for in your Christmas stocking ;-) !”

See the full story here.

Maria Comparetto Sunday Times Style

Maria Comparetto worked with the photographer Karin Berndl on this shoot for Sunday Times Style (27^th November 2011). Here’s what she had to say about it.

The room was full of security guards, the most amazing cakes and taxidermy… Murano lampshades and props crammed into every corner...hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of jewellery and shoes and dresses. This had to be opulent!

The concept for the shoot was by Heidi Taylor. I have worked with Karin Berndl the photographer before and knew this would be amazing.

We wanted the makeup to have an edge but not make it too theatrical or scary.

The Dior Winter collection was perfect for this look! I made the skin a little paler than their natural skin colour and gave it a pearlised quality, typically this period (Marie Antoinette) had very matt skin but I wanted to give it a twist. I used Dior Skinflash Primer (available in January).

Emphasis was added to the lashes using Diorshow Mascara and the brows giving a doll like quality, I didn’t want to make the girls look too young but just couldn’t resist making Fabiana's cheeks pop with hue of Dior Blush in Sunkissed Cinammon and then a touch of the new Dior Tulipe Pink on the lips (available in January). 

Overall I was thrilled with the result and really enjoyed working with Federico the hairdresser for the first time he was vibrant, funny and vey talented.
 

Karin added that the shoot would not have been possible without Simon Lycett (the florist), the cake makers and Harrods.