Jack & Hill: A Beauty Blog - make-up, cosmetics, perfume, and the substance of style

Paris is Burning

I want to take a moment to talk about Paris.

In 1982 I was a starving student and sold my camera to pay for another night in a fleabag hotel where I had an attic room that had been painted with a floral-patterned roller to look like wallpaper. I remember riot police even then, hoisting Lexan shields against students who were taking to the streets over affirmative action.

The other Paris, the France of the Mind, is the place where my inner Coco Chanel, an unattractive little guttersnipe with a viciously stylish personality, made it to the top.  The real Coco lived a heartbreakingly stylish, unsatisfying and compelling life.  Her achievements were the result of brilliant decisions (clothing the exiled rich in beachy mufti) that weren’t any different from her poor decisions (sleeping with a Nazi).

Coco came out of it all smelling like No. 5.  Nazi-lover or not, she was fired by a conviction that taste was the ultimate morality, which France and the world eventually accepted, albeit mutely. It’s a conviction that still exists, and that I, in fits and starts, when I'm not paying attention, subscribe to. Every day I catch myself in a belief that fits my persona rather than my ethos. 

How many of your political views are dictated by your desire to match your mental shoes to your mental outfit?

Reverse rain dance

I'm quite fed up with London weather: One minute it's sunny, the next it's grey and raining. Go out in the morning without a coat and you'll be regretting it before you even make it to the bus stop; don anything more than a hip-height houndstooth jacket and you'll be roasting on the Tube.

In an attempt to do my bit to make this transition from winter to spring actually happen, I'm trying to coax the sun out of hiding with colours that are just that bit brighter than standard winter-wear. Try the signature blush of French line Bourjois, a baked (not fried pressed or moulded) wonder, in satin-effect colour Rose de Jasp. It's a lighter pink that enhances the contours of the cheekbones, and goes well with minimal eye makeup - lots of eye-popping mascara, not much else - and stand-out lip colours. Right now, I'm favouring my Urban Decay palette; in particular, a darker, sparkly pink called Scratch, a blue-undertoned plum called Metropolitan, and a pinky brown called Tongue. (I have no idea where this palette can now be purchased - this is one of the many limited edition products I have bought on trans-Atlantic flights over the years.)

How much do you let the climate affect the colours you put on your face?