Last week, we hosted a make-up masterclass in store with Kirsten Kjaer Weis, founder of organic beauty range Kjaer Weis. The Danish born, New-York based make-up artist talked us through her latest launches for Spring 2015 and used the new shades to create a series of beauty looks on some of the lucky #NaturalBeauties who attended. Read on to discover the latest additions to her organic beauty range and exclusive make up tips!
About the Brand
Having been working as a sought-out make-up since the Nineties, Kirsten Kjaer Weis found that many of her clients were suffering from irritation and reactions to beauty products. After researching the effects of these, she decided to create her own natural beauty range that would be “amazing for skin, but also high performance.” She also credits her sister, who suffers from rosacea, as an inspiration to creating the foundations. Kirsten saw a lack of organic beauty products that had both style and substance. She said: “The textures and colours available were stuck in the Eighties. I was a make-up artist, not a formulator, but I was trying to merge these two worlds together. Performance was key from the get go for me.”
As such, she spent seven years perfecting her formulas and packaging. The result is a tightly-edited collection of products and hues, created with the philosophy that make-up is to enhance a woman’s natural beauty. This collection offers, not just ‘clean’ make-up, but luxurious packaging that is also refillable – tick, tick!
The Products
The products are created in Italy, where they are also certified organic with up to 95% certified organic ingredients, with the eye shadows certified natural due to the use of wild bamboo. As Weis explained: “One of the challenges of creating organic and natural beauty, is that it’s like working in the wine industry: every formulation is different and every harvest is different. Creating a product involves kilos of ingredients from one harvest, so, although it’s important that all formulas stay the same, production involves and ‘acceptable margin’. You have to be ok with the formula differing slightly [from batch to batch] due to the differing harvests of ingredient”. Kirsten has managed to reduce this margin significantly from the industry norms, which makes each product “the closest thing to a handmade piece”.
For the beautiful metallic packaging, Kirsten teamed up with Marc Atlan, whom she admired for his Comme des Garçons perfume bottle designs. As Kirsten revealed: “I asked 200 women how important packaging is for you and two out of every three admitted that it’s very important to have something to pull out of your bag that looks beautiful. So I wanted to use something sustainable, but that didn’t look it.”
Anyone who will has laid eyes on the collection and metallic packaging would agree that the range is indeed a feast for the eyes from the inside-out. The collection comprises of Cream Foundation, Cream Blush, Radiance Highlighter and Refill, Lip Tint, Eye Shadow, Mascara, Lip Brush and Cream Foundation Brush, as well as the refills. Aside from the eye shadows, all the formulations are cream, as Kirsten is a big fan: “Anything cream based lets the skin be seen and gives it a modern finish, but it has to hit that spot right in the middle, not too oily and not to dry – it needs to look like you just came out of a yoga class.”
New Launches
Kjaer Weis is amplifying its offering with a range of new products for Spring, newly landed at Content. There are two new shades: ‘Silken’ and ‘Delicate’ which join the cream foundation selection. Don’t forget, this product doubles-up as concealer and acts as ‘skincare’ thanks to the inclusion of moisturising ingredients like Jojoba oils, coco and almond seed. Kirsten is adamant on using good foundation, saying: “Foundation is your canvas when you start. I wanted something that goes super sheer but also has coverage. You can use fingers to apply, but there is also the Kjaer Weis Foundation vegan brush to apply it with too.”
In Kirsten’s own words:
- “‘Silken’ is like a sister shade to ‘Paper Thin’ – the same lightness, but with a yellow undertone.”
- ‘Delicate’ is “our deepest shade of foundation goes on like a dream thanks to ingredients like almond seed, jojoba, and coconut oils.”
Then, there are three new beautiful lip tints in ‘Amazed’, ‘Beloved’ and ‘Rapture’. These are very sheer, as Kirsten enthuses: ‘They’re like a lip balm with a hint of colour. You can wear on lips and cheeks, although they have beeswax on them – so be careful if you have oily skin as it can slide off”.
The new lip tints are:
- “‘Amazed’ is a funky editorial lilac: a lip colour that’s innocent but flirty, inspired by the starlets of the 60s.”
- ‘Beloved’is a fuchsia, “is more of a blackberry than burgundy. I’ve used it on many different skin tones, and find its universally flattering.”
- ‘Rapture’ is an aubergine: “is a colour a 70’s “it” girl would wear, like Bianca Jagger. It looks just as good now as it did then.”
Then, there are three new Kjaer Weis brushes: the Angle Brush, the Blush Brush and Eye Definition Brush. All brushes are vegan, hypoallergenic and, as some of the event attendees attested, also very soft!
There are also many exciting new products in the works: a bronzer and skin oil, as well as a new cream blush called ‘Happy’: a really poppy bright pink. There is also a new shade of eye shadow called ‘Grace’: which is described as “mocha, a make-up artist’s dream because you can build it up.” There are also new lipsticks, with a semi-matte look and finally, a powder and make-up remover are also on their way. So, keep your eyes peeled as they will be available at Content!
Masterclass Make-Up Tips from Kirsten Kjaer Weis
Cheeks
- Blush: A good tip to apply blush: imagine it’s a sunny day and you have come back from lunch outside. The sun would have been hitting you on the highest points. So, tap it under the eye, using the Kjaer Weis Blush Brush and then pat with fingers to blend. Put a little bit of blush on your forehead too. The Kjaer Weis vegan Blush Brush works beautifully on skin, both used with a blush or foundation.
- For an instant evening look: Use the new ‘Beloved’ Lip Tint and apply with a lip brush, it’s universally flattering! Keep eyes light and neutral. When I do make-up, a lot of times for lips it’s either an eye or lip focus.
- On dark skin tones: The ‘Joyful’ Cream Blush works beautifully on dark skin tones. Use it on lips as well for a natural summer flush. To intensify the colour, use a lip brush and layer with some ‘Lover’s Choice’ Lip Tint on top.
- Medium skin tones: To replicate a just-come-back-from-holiday look, use the ‘Sun Touched’ Cream Blush (a tawny pink colour) on both cheek and lips.
Face - Highlighter: Apply the Kjaer Weis Radiance Highlighter on the high side of the cheek. Tap it, don’t blend it. Also, put highlighter on bridge of the nose and forehead to catch the light
- Covering redness: If you’re fair-skinned, apply ‘Just Sheer’ using a concealer brush under the eye and on eyelid. Use a brush to cover redness around the eye and on forehead.
- Powdering: When powdering your face, only powder in the middle (T-zone area) but not the cheeks. Keep that area as a ‘glow’.
Eyebrows
- For natural brows: Use a flat slanted brush like the Kjaer Weis Angle Brush to apply the Eye Shadow in Wisdom or Charm, depending on darkness of your brows. Always wipe some colour off on your hand before you apply. Go on super light and brush on in short strokes so you don’t get a line.
- For dark brows: Blend ‘Wisdom’ and ‘Earthy Calm’ and use a flat brush on eyebrows, then use an old mascara brush to tame them.
Eyes
- My hero eyeshadow is… ‘Wisdom’: it’s a bit of purple, a bit of grey and a bit of brown so works well on blue, green and brown eyes and intensifies their colour making them pop. ‘Magnetic’ is great. I also like ‘Cloud Nine’ as it’s the perfect base for eyes and can be used as a primer. As a base ‘Charmed’ works well on darker skin.”
- For a daytime smokey eyes look: For an easy, natural look, swipe ‘Cloud Nine’ eye shadow on eyes as a base, then layer with ‘Wisdom’ using a soft brush. Then, using a flat angled brush, line the lower lid with ‘Wisdom’ and ‘Divine’. Dab it on the lid.
- For a night time smokey eyes look: If you want to go darker for the evening, go for ‘Divine’ or ‘Pretty Purple’ or ‘Onyx’.
- Green eyes: If you have green eyes, use ‘‘Sun Touched’ Cream Blush on cheeks, as anything that has coral colour brings out the green in your eyes. Use ‘Wisdom’ as a base, as it brings out the green in green eyes. Use ‘Cloud Nine’, ‘Wisdom’ and ‘Onyx’ on top and blend with a soft brush to create a nice smokey eye effect. The using a flat brush, apply some dark liner under the eye in ‘Divine’ and ‘Wisdom’.
- Blue eyes: I like to use ‘Wisdom’ as primer and a way to prep the eye with a soft blending blush. Blend it well before building a smokey eye. Add some ‘Pretty Purple’ eye shadow to intensify the eye from the corner to the crease.
- Eyeliner: Create your own. Mist the flat brush using water from a distance to create a liner. You can mix the soft brush to collect the colour before applying it and make it deeper. Use a brush to line the eye with ‘Wisdom’, then use a flat brush to soften the colour and blend.
- On mascara: The Kjaer Weis mascara lasts three months, which is why it’s smaller. It’s also refillable – just pull the product from both ends to remove the case and reveal the inside. I like mine to be natural so the brush doesn’t have much definition. It’s as black as you can get it naturally.
- On covering eye bags: Use your foundation as concealer and pat under the eye in a circular motion.
Lips
- Prepping: Prep the lips with foundation before applying any lip colour of your choice.
- For a Sixties look: Apply foundation on lips, the layer over with Bliss Full Lip Tint using a lip brush. It tones your natural colour down to create a pinky Sixties vibe.
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