The outside of Perbacco Restaurant in San Francisco, California
Last night Victor Cembellin and Louise Zizzo, MAC Senior Artists and key makeup artists for San Francisco Fashion Week 2007, hosted dinner at Perbacco restaurant in San Francisco, California. Writers, editors, beauty bloggers and key members of the MAC team met and mingled over drinks and dinner to discuss the upcoming fashion shows.
I had the pleasure of meeting many people involved in the San Francisco Bay Area fashion and beauty world, including Donna Kato, Style Editor at The San Jose Mercury News, Annie from the beauty Web site bellasugar.com and Christine M. from the blog Temptalia.com. And of course there were all the lovely folks at MAC, like Allison Greenberg and Heather Park, a Manager in MAC’s Global Communications and beauty blog connoisseur!
So what happens during a four-course meal when you get a bunch of beauty-obsessed writers, bloggers, and MAC Artists together? The conversation inevitably goes to the products. In between bites of heirloom tomato salad, filet mignon and truffle mashed potatoes, there were declarations of brush devotion (Victor loves the 266, Christine loves the 187), exclamations of life-changing MAC products (Heather swears by Mineralize Skinfinish and Liquidlast Liner), and the skinny on MAC makeup on the runway.
So what’s your favorite brush?
To create the looks for the 2007 runway, Victor and Louise first met with the designers at the San Francisco MAC Pro Store to discuss collections and the designer’s makeup vision. Victor says that this year we’ll be seeing a lot more ’40s-inspired looks and lots of sophisticated smokey eyes.
I was also not surprised to discover there’s an element of improv backstage when it comes to achieving a look. Last year, for the designer Genevieve Primavera’s show, the MAC makeup team at first had trouble creating a deep, dark goth lip with traditional pencils. Victor decided to improv by using Fluidline Liner in Macroviolet and applying the liner on the lips with the 266 brush. The result? Deep, dark-colored lips that would make any vampire jealous.
Heather and I talked at length about how beauty bloggers are changing the face of the beauty industry. She mentioned many interesting facts and statistics she’s learned since becoming MAC’s blog expert. Would you believe that 63% of women who read a positive review of a product in a beauty blog go out and purchase that product? Beauty bloggers are beginning to hold serious sway in the beauty product court, yet many traditional retailers and fashion show organizers don’t recognize blogging as a legitimate form of journalism. MAC is doing cutting edge work by cultivating relationships with bloggers; in due time I think we’ll see more and more cosmetics companies and retailers actively courting the blogosphere.
Another shot of the MAC dinner held in the Barolo room in Perbacco restaurant
After dessert, a chocolate molten cake that sent me to chocoholic ecstasy, the dinner attendees received a lovely goody bag with MAC products from the new Smoke Signals Limited Edition Collection. I’m looking forward to reviewing all of it for you soon!
Who knew there were others out there who could wax philosophic for hours about the merits of concealer? It was a great evening with lively and interesting people, and I had a fantastic time.
I’m so glad that I get to share this with you! Have a stunning, yes stunning, Thursday.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
oh my! how fabulous… i wasn’t expecting an intimate setting like that. was it weird asking for photos? what other bloggers/blogs were in attendance. i’m so glad our passion makes a difference =) thank you so much for sharing this with us. what makeup look did you wear? i’m sure you told us everything, but any other tid bits, off topic but interesting comments/convo?
by the way.. i swear beauty editors are courting our blogs as lurkers. the stuff i read monthly in magazines usually have already been discussed and analyzed on beauty blogs! i think we help to make their jobs easier =)))))
I loved reading that! I wish I could have been there, sounds like a wonderful evening.
xo
Cindy
Wow! This was a great post and I bet you had a great time! I think MAC is definitely on the right track when it comes to Beauty Bloggers–so glad they have Heather who is really on the ball!
xo
Great post! Thanks for sharing!
Sweet! I can’t wait to read your post on the goodies you’ve received.
On another note, I’m making a trip to the mall tomorrow to refresh my makeup kit and I’m particularly interested in lip coloring items. I’ve got really chapped lips so I’m looking for something that 1) feels light 2) doesn’t dry out your lips 3) has decent color stay and 4) a pretty good color variation. Does anybody have any brands they would recommend?
j-money: MAC sales some pretty good lip conditioners and they just came out with tender tones. both formulas are pretty sheer, but good on the lips. most importantly, down some water like it’s nobody’s business. in the winter when my lips reak havoc, no lip conditioner does the job just right. however, when coupled with lots of water and hydration for the puckers, you should be on the right track =) Hope that helps!
Thanks Kia! I’ll definitely give it a try. Oh, and I totally hear you on the water thing….if only it didn’t make me go to the bathroom so much! I know my body is suppose to get used to the water consumption, but I’m still waiting for that to happen. ARGH! 🙂 Thanks again for the suggestion!
Kia, you are too cute. I should’ve probably taken pics of the makeup I did beforehand but I totally forgot because I was worried about getting my camera stuff together, making it there without getting lost, and trying to figure out my business card situation (they still haven’t arrived from the printers, argh). But any, I did a neutral eye but lined the top and bottom lash line with black pencil and then layered MAC Mulch shadow over the liner to soften the look. I did peachy-gold cheeks, and simple lips with MAC Subculture Liner topped with Chapstick. =)
@ the beauty bloggers, Kia, Cindy, Carleen and Shannon: Ladies, we should start a beauty bloggers union like th freelance writers did in the early 80s! I’m serious!
JMONEY! I can’t wait to see you tonight at the shows.
And why are your luscious lips so dry? I agree with Miss Kia. Tendertones all the way. They have a pot that’s green, but it comes out as gold on your lips! Really super pretty. In the goody bag from the dinner with MAC I received a lip conditioner that I will try out for you. I’ll let you know if its any good.
I love this restaurant. It is the only place where I will actually order the beet salad. Yummy! And they have a killer mandarin martini.