Napoleon Perdis working his magic on an editor.
Believe it or not, a good chunk of the most well-known makeup artists I’ve met wear little to no makeup (including makeup superstar Pat McGrath). Napoleon Perdis is no such artist. Glam in his cosmetic and sartorial best – including an Hermes belt and some blinged-out rings – the dapper makeup artist recently hosted a few online editors in Target’s showroom to discuss his just-launched Fall 2011 NP Set Collection.
When I asked Perdis about how he works to differentiate his line for Target from his high-end line, Perdis said that he actually develops about the same number of products for both lines and that he finds that his customer is equally as likely to shop one over the other. Perdis is a fixture backstage during New York Fashion Week (think Walter, Elise Overland, Zang Toi, Tony Cohen, Nicholas K, Duckie Brown, Timo Weiland, What Goes Around Comes Around…) and he told me that he always uses products from both of his lines when working on the looks for the shows. Among the newest launches he plans to use for the Spring 2012 runway shows are his new primers which include Brightening Pre-Foundation Primer (for brightening) and Calming Pre-Foundation Primer (for redness).
Just back from Greece, Perdis has an electric energy and it’s blatantly obvious that he loves his line-up of products and working with Target (and he can’t wait for the Missoni for Target collection!) He proudly remarked that his new primers are formulated with gold, adding that gold’s powerful anti-inflammatory properties are crucial to the product’s effectiveness, but because of the rising prices of gold, it was no easy feat given Target’s affordable price points. Luckily, he says, the prices of gold are a bit lower in Australia so that’s where the gold in his primers hails from (all of the products in the NP Set line are made in the U.S. though).
I wasn’t aware that Perdis had a skincare range that includes a cleanser, toner, day cream, and a night cream until the event and when looking at the bottles, I was impressed to see that not only are all of the ingredients listed out on the labels, but the packaging explains what each ingredient does (i.e. shea butter for softening, argan oil for dryness, sodium hyaluronate to enhance skin elasticity.) Even more surprising, however, was that the toner is a best seller, even outselling the line’s cleanser. Perdis remarked that he likes to think of the toner as “the yoga step” and recommends applying it after cleansing skin.
Other notable products from the new collection include a mascara wand with a concave brush head. Perdis applied the mascara on one of the women in attendance’s lashes and the result was honestly stunning. He used the concave side to separate and lengthen the lashes and then used the convex side to add volume and some curl. There was no comparison with the mascara the editor was wearing on the other eye (the one she came to the event wearing).
Also worth singling out are his glosses, which have a very similar applicator to the Rachel Zoe-endorsed Exude ones, but cost a fraction of the price, and the NP Set Concealer pens because they dispense very little formulation at once allowing for a controlled application and, according to Perdis, unlike many other concealer brushes, his will never smell.
Stay tuned for our New York Fashion Week beauty reporting to see what we spot from this collection backstage at the shows!
