Valentino Makeup Finally Exists, and It’s Just as Pretty as Its Dresses
All the glitzy details on what to expect for the fashion house’s foray into color cosmetics.
Whether you’ve realized it or not, the beauty looks at Valentino have long defined beauty trends season after season. Rhinestone-studded graphic liner, mirror-like skin, feathered falsies: yep, all were seen first on the runway at Valentino.
Typically, the legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath is involved with one or two of her latest products in tow. However, Valentino Beauty is about to drop its own tools for creating its next big beauty trend. After three years in the making with L’Oréal Paris, the fashion house’s first-ever makeup line will be revealed on May 31 before you can shop its 100-plus new products in August.
That hefty number includes opulent staples for every part of your face — all championing self-expression with its multitude of couture-inspired hues and finishes enrobed in luxe crimson lacquered packaging. In fact, Valentino’s creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli, shared how Valentino Beauty symbolizes how the fashion house is becoming more inclusive and less conventional in a statement ahead of the launch. “We grew from a two-dimensional vision of beauty to a three-dimensional one, where emotions, dreams, and individuality are as important, if not more, as any other feature,” he said.
Piccioli believes the more we are connected we are to our true selves, the more it shows and glows on our faces. To ensure just that, Valentino Beauty is launching a three-step base makeup system. The brand worked with 5,000 women from eight countries across the world to ensure the semi-matte Very Valentino Foundation ($64) is available in enough options (40, to be exact) to flatter everyone. To amp up your radiance, you can swirl the V-Lighter ($58), a hyaluronic acid-spiked liquid highlighter, into your foundation or tap it onto the high points of your face.
You’ll also have 50 shades of Rosso Valentino ($55), the brand’s take on lipstick, in every red, pink, orange, and neutral hue your heart (and lips) could possibly desire to choose from. Consider it a liquid lipstick in a stick form. Its low-maintenance, high-octane color — in either a matte or satin finish — glides on with one swipe, no matter what your skin tone may be. The outer tube is also refillable (just as many beauty products thankfully are these days), so you can easily replace your favorite once you’re done or click a new one you’re curious about for $30.
A mini version of the lipstick also makes an appearance in the adorable Go-Clutch ($235). For some, it may look familiar as it first debuted on the runway at Valentino’s spring/summer 2017 show. The teeny-tiny purse, which can hang across your body with its delicate gold chain, houses a lightweight, powdered bronzer, blush, or highlighter inside. The Valentino-embossed pan can also be swapped out and replaced for $50.
Just as its name suggests, the Eye2Cheek ($58) is another one of Valentino’s multi-use products. Sweep the buttery powder, which comes a dozen shades that last just as many hours, onto lids and cheeks for a monochromatic, Gigi Hadid-worthy look. The compact even comes with a teeny tiny fluffy brush to make it all happen.
Oh, and that’s not all for eyes. Look out for the Eye Shadow Color-Flip ($98), a double-decker palette with two layers of four coordinating shadows each. In all, the eight pigments include two intensifying bases, four statement hues, and two glimmering top coats, so runway-ready smoky eyes are definitely on the agenda. You can draw on the Twin Liner ($40), too. Uncap one end for an inky liquid liner or the other for a creamy gel pencil in another hue. (Our favorite color combo may or may not include crimson.) Then, you’ll be able to top it all off with a swipe or five of the dramatically volumizing Magnificent Mascara ($32) because your lashes also deserve the designer treatment.
Your arches can get in on the action with the Brow Trio ($40). Although its name is boring in the context of the entire Valentino Beauty lineup, the three-in-one brow stick is anything but. One slim tube packs a sheer brow pen, a pencil, and a spooley brush in one of three long-lasting shades.
In true… fashion, Valentino Beauty also has accessories for your makeup. For an extra addition of glitz for your lips, the Dreamdust High Impact Glitter will do the trick, while the Dreamdust Multi Reflective Eye Glitter ($32) will bring the same stunning sparkle to your lids with four different twinkling hues, including a gorgeous sage green and pretty petal pink.
Phew, we know that’s a lot of fashionable goodness to digest, but the whole Valentino Beauty collection sure seems perfect for our post-immunization debut back into the world. Suddenly, we’re waiting for summer party invites to roll in. Preorders for the collection kick off on June 15 on none other than valentino.com.