Here is a unique hommage to an artist. The promotion describes it as…

One Night Stand: a limited-edition cheek palette featuring iconic Orgasm Blush and Laguna Bronzing Powder. Plus four additional shades inspired by legendary fashion photographer Guy Bourdin.

What? A line of makeup inspired by a photographer’s images? This is surely a first in the history of photography: photographs from the past come back to life on the faces of women in the future.

Guy Bourdin’s color-saturated photography insinuated a high-fashion world of dangerous women and intriguing sensual decadence. Nars pays homage to Bourdin’s seductive, suspenseful images with cheek palette of signature shades and dramatic blushes and highlighters.

“I was such a fan when I was a kid,” recalls the makeup artist and photographer François Nars who has produced this unique line. “I woke up to the fashion world through his images.” Nars has honoured the late photographer with a holiday collection inspired by some of his favourite shots. “I was really inspired directly by the makeup in those photographs,” says Nars, who translated it into intensely pigmented lipsticks, nail polishes and eyeshadows.

The original makeup artist who created Bourdin’s signature look in the 1970s is Heidi Morawetz whose work is described as “preternatural cheekbone blush, hues of blue and purple highlighting powdery-pink body makeup… lips dripping with gloss, a beauty mark on the cheek, dusty charcoal eyeshadow, furry fake lashes, accentuated features.”

You can see from this that the genius of Bourdin’s work in those years was the product of collaboration. The surrealism of Bourdin’s visual ideas was matched by the originality of Morawetz’ makeup. The performer in the photographs was a third collaborator, often the model Nicolle Meyer who even wrote a book about the experience: Guy Bourdin – A Message for You.

You can read more about this at Fashionmagazine.com and if you’re still looking for an orgasm after that, you can find one by clicking here: www.narscosmetics.com

Guy Bourdin, December 1976

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