Estée Lauder Global Beauty Director Violette On Wedding Makeup & The Beautiful Belle Campaign Imagery

AS REPORTED BY DANA WOOD

A native Parisian, makeup artist and YouTube influencer extraordinaire Violette brings a high level of “It Factor” to her role as Global Beauty Director for Estée Lauder. A painter and art savant since age three, she studied at the École du Louvre as well as fashion design, and eventually found her way to makeup. Since then, her rise has been meteoric. In addition to shooting with the likes of Patrick Demarchelier, Richard Burbridge and Mert & Marcus, she’s a regular contributor to Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, W, T and violetgrey.com. We chatted with Violette about “best practices” for brides, as well as her approach to the beauty look for the campaign imagery for Estée Lauder’s Beautiful Belle fragrance.

BRIDAL COUNCIL: What role does fragrance play in your own life? Is it a “must” or more of a special occasion part of your beauty routine?

VIOLETTE: Fragrance is a must. A perfume is such a signature. It’s the first impression when you meet someone, and the last piece of you when you leave the room.

BRIDAL COUNCIL: Growing up, what were some of your more most cherished “scent memories”?

VIOLETTE: Amber. We used to have amber candles a lot at home. It’s warm and makes me feel safe.

BRIDAL COUNCIL: What’s your sense of the way American women wear fragrance vs. the French?

VIOLETTE: I never really noticed a difference?

BRIDAL COUNCIL: What are some of your favorite fragrance notes – and why?

VIOLETTE: Jasmine, vanilla, musk, vetiver. These are some of my favorites because of both how they make me feel and the memories they evoke. Jasmine for the warm summers in the south of France, and musk makes me feel sensual.

BRIDAL COUNCIL: What was your approach to the creation of the makeup look for the Beautiful Belle campaign? Did you create a “mood board” or do research from a particular era?

VIOLETTE: I wanted to create a really classic beauty look that could stand the test of time. The entire campaign is about breaking rules, so I wanted to let that idea speak for itself, with the makeup remaining soft and beautiful, not too distracting.

BRIDAL COUNCIL: What are some of the main ideas or themes you wanted to convey with the Beautiful Belle campaign?

VIOLETTE: I wanted to make sure the new and current generations could relate to Belle. She’s free, and that speaks to a lot of us. Her look celebrates her natural beauty, it’s not based on what is supposed to be done for a wedding. That was very important to me.

BRIDAL COUNCIL: What type of bride do you envision wearing Beautiful Belle?

VIOLETTE: Any type of bride! That is the beauty of the fragrance. It’s a beautiful floral oriental and I feel like it can almost be an accessory on your wedding day – that takes you back every time you smell it.

BRIDAL COUNCIL: In your opinion, who has been an extraordinarily beautiful bride? Anyone from the past? Grace Kelly? Sofia Coppola?

VIOLETTE: Honestly, I always find something unique and beautiful in every bride. How they decide to be that day is such a dream from their heart that I cannot compare with another one and have a preference.

BRIDAL COUNCIL: What are some general guidelines or tips you give your clients who are getting married?

VIOLETTE: Don’t change yourself too much. Marriage is about acceptance and deep love of who we are. So, transforming ourselves for this special day is contradictory. Of course, it’s okay to do a few false lashes here and there, but not a full band. No contouring, not too much foundation. You can be creative and wear a smoky eye if you want to, but don’t do anything that will change your features. Just focus on celebrating your natural beauty and expressing your femininity.

BRIDAL COUNCIL: What Estée Lauder makeup products do you consider must-haves for brides?

VIOLETTE: Definitely Double Wear Stay-In-Place Makeup. You need your makeup to last all day and night, and Double Wear stays in place for 24 hours, is waterproof, sweat- and humidity-resistant, oil-free and has a beautiful, natural matte finish. You couldn’t ask for a better wedding day makeup.

Of course, waterproof mascara! Sumptuous Extreme Waterproof Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara is a great choice. It gives amazing volume, but also stays in place for any tears.

For lips, the key is to be well moisturized. Then you can apply a lip pencil all over to “lock” in the lipstick you apply on top. But I think the best thing you can do for a lip color that stays all day is to wear Estée Lauder’s Pure Color Envy Paint-On Liquid LipColor because it’s quite amazing how long it lasts. With this, you can skip the lip pencil and go about your day, not worrying about it moving. It also feels so comfortable that even if you tend to have dry lips, this lip color will last all day and you won’t even realize you’re wearing it.