Shiseido's Luminizing Satin Eye Colour Trios & the mastery of Dick Page

“I've often said that if a woman gets up out of my makeup chair looking and feeling better than when she sat down, I have done my job," makeup artist Dick Page (above) has said. Well all I can say is, after more than two decades at the top of the pile, this charming and ridiculously talented Brit does his job every time. Page first broke into the beauty industry in London during the late '80s. Since then, the British makeup artist has risen to the upper echelons of the business as a result of his innate talent and naturally beautiful artistry. Page is often the key makeup artist for the runway shows of the likes of Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors, who rely on Page every season to customize makeup looks for their collections. In 2007, Dick Page assumed the role of Artistic Director for Shiseido Makeup, and his work for the brand to date has been consistently clever, as well as super wearable. He really is an old- school makeup artist who wants to make women look and feel better, in the most unique way possible.
But enough about the man, let’s talk about the make up! For the Fall 2010 colour story the most exciting thing for many must be the introduction of the Luminizing Satin Eye Colour Trios. To create these very special palettes, Page drew on both his photographer’s vision and his make up artist’s eye, translating moments he’s captured over the past few months into an exquisite line of eye shadow shades. His themes, referencing ideas, different palettes and images, unfold in a unique process as he works, until “the product has a life and a life-story of its own.” Each of the trios consists of three beautifully balanced hues inspired by Page’s images, which also evoke different feelings and moods. I have been having a play with the trio known as FIRE, which was the direct result of a photo shot by Page of a campfire in the wilds of Nevada. Nevada is a beautiful, rough, often mountainous part of the US, filled with giant redwoods and crystalline blue lakes. It’s one of my favourite parts of the country, and it seems that it’s one of Page’s faves too. The resulting trio is a mix of charred black, deep brilliant orange and silvery ash-gray, which can be used as subtly or as strongly as you like. “This is a strong colour statement,” says Page, “a dark dramatic eye maybe with an orange lip, or something a bit nude or rosy, if you want to be more discreet. The key here is the orange, that both “pops” from and is also offset by the black and the ash gray. The orange in the corner turns up the heat, then really blends into the black.” My verdict? Very wearable and very gorgeous.