Beauty Chat with Gucci Westman

A few weeks back I was given the chance to sit down with celebrity makeup artist and Revlon’s global Creative Director Gucci Westman to chat about all things beauty in celebration of the launch of Revlon on ASOS this month.

Gucci’s client list reads like a who’s who of the Hollywood A List…

Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman, Drew Barrymore, Emma Stone, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lawrence, Elle MacPherson, Jessica Biel and Taylor Swift to name just a few. In fact, there aren’t actually that many people Gucci hasn’t made up. When I asked her who she would most love to work with in the future, she struggled to give me an answer! She did say that she loves working on interesting, more mature faces, rather than the younger models, as it’s more than just a blank canvas of perfect skin.

Gucci’s approach to makeup utterly cool and relaxed. Her biggest pet peeve is looking overdone and wearing too much makeup. On a personal level she doesn’t wear a lot of makeup herself and likes to look a little ‘undone’, perhaps with a touch of smokey eyeliner, but when it comes to her clients, anything goes. She told me she finds it hard to pick favourite shades as it depends on the occasion and the face she’s working on at the time, but when asked what her favourite Revlon products were, she raved about the classic Cherries in the Snow lipstick (a total red lip staple) and also the newer Revlon PhotoReady Prime & Anti-Shine Balm (I’ve been using this since then and really like it, it’s like a solid version of Benefit’s Porefessional at a fraction of the price.)

Gucci had just stepped off a plane from New York and also gave me a few of her top tips for staving off jet lag. (I always take not when talking to makeup artist about jet lag, as they travel so much and work with people who travel a lot all the time, so they usually have the best tips!) She told me that she tries her best to hit the gym regularly to keep active and awake and also recommended drinking green juice to keep your digestion working for you, but mostly stressed the importance of looking after your skin. She actually seemed equally as passionate about skincare as makeup, which does make sense considering good skin is the best foundation for good makeup! She told me she uses gentle acid peels on a daily basis, combined with intense overnight masks to keep her skin moisturised and fresh.

We also spoke about some of the upcoming Revlon products, and Gucci spoke most passionately about the new Revlon Ultra HD lipsticks. They aren’t out in the UK till April, but they are gel-based (the new hot texture for lipsticks in 2015 according to Gucci) They are super light weight and comfortable to wear, but pack a serious punch of pigment at the same time. I’ve been giving a few of the shades a little road test this week and I really love them. They are so comfortable and have a really nice fruity scent. I’m particularly loving the rich, dark pink ‘Petunia’.

L-R: Iris, Petunia, Poinsettia, Hydrangea

Petunia in action this week – My fave shade!

You can now find Revlon online at ASOS.com. The new range of Ultra HD Gel lipsticks launch in the UK in April.