Paris: Le Maquillage Professional.

It had been well over 10 years since the last time I was able to make it to MaqPro in Paris, and it's a place I had been dying to get back to.  Since I was there last, the location has changed (now it's only a little easier to find than before) but the products are pretty much as I remember them, which is to say awesome.  I enthusiastically hopped on the train and found my way to the La Motte-Picquet Grenelle stop.

I love the the hunt for makeup....even when it's 30 degrees out.  One of the things I love so much about searching out makeup shops that are off the beaten path is getting to see neighborhoods you otherwise would never, ever get to.  It can really take you to the outer reaches of an out of the way neighborhood.  (I used to love going to the Makeup Forever shop in Paris before you could buy their makeup anywhere else.  Places like this feel so secret and special.)

This is a WALL of cream colors.  Every cubby is a slight variation of the color in the cubby next to it.  I mean, it's breathtaking!  Literally made my heart beat faster.  I had been using a color from them that was almost gone, I was using it so sparingly, and I was finally able to restock it.  I fully stocked up on that color and then some....Although in all honesty, I thought I showed tremendous restraint.  I could have gone completely bonkers in there.

The amazing thing is that they still had the many of the same colors from 10 years ago!  Most makeup lines will have completely overhauled their line within that time frame and all of your favorite colors will be long gone.  I was so thrilled that they still had the colors that had become an integral part of my kit.

It's not like walking into a retail makeup shop, it definitely has the feeling of a pro store, and the main attraction is the array of cream colors.  There are shadows and liners and a few lipsticks and glosses, as well as special effect makeup, but the creams are really so fantastic.  The range of colors is just mind boggling.  

A woman named Maude helped me while I was there and her English was perfect and she was very helpful and super patient with me while I looked through everything they had.  Apparently they are in the middle of redoing their website too, so ordering on line will hopefully be easy.  Not sure when I'll make it back into their shop but I hope it isn't another 10 years!

Lovely, lovely palettes.

I love that the shelf is literally sagging under the weight of a rainbow of colors.

A beautiful bag of pretty powders.  

Share the Fantasy 80's.

One last one.... couldn't resist.

Chanel Egoiste.

Ah, now I'm on a YouTube roll, digging through all of the old Chanel fragrance ads. Here's another of my favorites..... I wish these still ran on tv, they're brilliant. But thank god for YouTube!!

Share the Fantasy.

After posting those Chanel images I started thinking about the amazing Chanel commercials that aired all during my childhood.  They made an indelible impression on me as a child and even though the quality of the video looks blurry and dated, the imagery is as fresh and exciting today as it was back then.

Directed by: Ridley Scott

In the Mood for Chanel.

A while back I did a shoot with the wonderful photographer Liz Von Hoene and she created these beautiful graphic images.  I love how playful they are, but still so chic, like the House of Chanel itself.

Rainbow Bright.

I love, love, love finding new makeup brands.  Especially ones that have an exciting product that feels new and interesting.

One of the fun things about LA is that there are theatrical makeup shops here around town and they have weird, under the radar makeup lines that you can't find anywhere else ( stores like Naimie's, Frends, Cinema Secrets, Image Exclusives to name a few.  New York City has Alcone and I guess the Ricky's chain would kind of fall into this category too).  My dentist is across the street from the Cinema Secrets store in the Valley, and since I rarely have business over there, other than doing the Leno Show, I try to pop into Cinema Secrets whenever I get my teeth cleaned!  

When I walked in I saw a display of the Lip Tar from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (a brand I'd never heard of) and started playing with the rainbow of colors.  They are kind of like the Lip Mix colors from MAC, but they have a glossy finish that can be worked down into a matte stain.  And they are super, super pigmented.  So if MAC's Lip Mix had a baby with Makeup Forever's HD Liquid Blush, that's what this product is like!  They have theatrical colors like black, white, green, yellow, purple and all lots of pretty wearable colors in between including really pretty pale beiges and pale dusty pinks that I've been using as blush (so soft and subtle).  I also bought one of the reds called "Stalker" just because it was so amazing and intense.  I will probably never use this color, but it's one of those things that you just look at and you have a deep seated need to have it in your kit.  Not that I can't achieve the same effect with any of the myriad red lipsticks I already have, but this is the definition of a beauty junkie, right?  Buying what you don't need because, well, you just LOVE it and have to have it!