It was the 1980s when Laura Mercier—an editorial makeup artist who was yet to found her eponymous brand—had a revelation that would change the way that we do makeup. “We would go on these fantastic shoots to Tahiti and have a model jump in the water with a full face of makeup on,” she recalls. “But it was totally unpractical. She would walk out of the water with makeup running down her face. I thought there had to be a better way to do makeup.”
And there was. It was on one of these tropical shoots where the idea behind her technique, later named the Flawless Face, was born.
“The technique behind Flawless Face came together slowly,” Mercier says. “ I didn’t want to use these thick layers of makeup like models were used to, it was about using as little as possible in the most strategic way. At first, I started with an ancestor of our Camouflage Concealer, which I would push into skin to cover all the imperfections up. From there, it was a little bronzer, a little cream blush.”
At the time, there was no Photoshop or Facetune, just Mercier and her kit. “We had to do the best we could to make a girl look even and glowing.” She used the Flawless Face technique on all the greats (including our September cover stars Christy, Cindy, Linda, and Naomi) and in 28 Vogue covers.
For the spring 2024 season, the Flawless Face made a comeback at the Altuzarra show in the hands of another legendary makeup artist: Diane Kendal. The healthy complexion was the focus of the beauty look while of course using as few products as possible. Naturally, the Secret Camouflage concealer was still the star of the show.
“We are seeing a return to less makeup finally,” Mercier says. “Show your skin. And let’s be happy about it!”
