My sister Lizzie used to say that the difference between “attractive” and “beautiful” was cheekbones. Obviously, the only people who make these sorts of pronouncements are those who have killer-cheekbones (and she does).
我妹妹丽兹以前常说“迷人”与“漂亮”就在于颧骨间的差别。很显然,敢如此“大言不惭”的人只可能是那些拥有出众颧骨的美眉(她无疑就属于此类)。
That aside, she may have a point. Why else would the world seem to have gone crazy trying to get them? The mania surrounding contouring — the art of highlighting and lowlighting different parts of your face to enhance the shape of certain features (the bridge of the nose, the roundness of the cheekbones, etc) — not only plagues my Instagram feed but has spawned a sub-industry of “contouring kits”.
抛开个人因素,她也许言之有理。那还有什么其它理由让芸芸众生对迷人的颧骨如此痴狂?颧骨塑形之风盛行,不仅让我为此整天在Instagram上捣鼓,而且催生出“脸部塑形行头”的分支产业。
Kim Kardashian is largely responsible for the obsession, even though she appears to have toned it down lately, and it’s now a fixed point for every 16-year-old vlogging on YouTube. I’ve seen rectangles, triangles and circles of painstakingly painted-on foundation, powder, bronzer and highlighter, all of which remind me of my childhood painting-by — numbers kits. The results are invariably neither attractive nor beautiful; they just look odd.
真人秀明星金•卡戴珊(Kim Kardashian)对拥趸们的“执迷不悟”可谓难辞其咎,尽管她本人最近似乎已收敛好多,如今16岁的少女们在YouTube播影客(vlogging)早已司空见惯。我自己曾见过女士们费劲心思在脸上厚厚地涂抹粉底、粉末、古铜色及高光等彩妆产品——矩形、三角形以及圆形的款式应有尽有,这不由得让人想起儿时使用特定颜色填充带有编号区域的画笔盒(painting-by- numbers kits)。用彩妆最终捣鼓出来的模样既不迷人,也不漂亮,总之就是一个怪。
Contouring first became popular in a big way in the 1970s thanks to make-up artists such as Kevyn Aucoin and Way Bandy. The latter laid down the rules in his 1977 book Defining Your Face. His “sculpture-portrait” technique involved the precision placement of shadows and highlights to create thinner noses, higher cheekbones and prettier jawlines. But while these sorts of looks were great on Jerry Hall and Marie Helvin under the bright lights of a Vogue shoot or the disco-balls of Studio 54, it was very much a look of its time. Even in its updated format, I don’t think it works now.
脸部塑形盛行于上世纪70年代,这完全归功于凯文•奥库安(Kevyn Aucoin)与邦迪(Way Bandy)等化妆大师。邦迪在1977年出版的专著《重整漂亮脸蛋》(Defining Your Face)中确立了脸部塑形的规则。他创造的“雕塑式脸蛋塑造技法”涉及精确布局的明暗度,打造出细长型鼻子、高高的颧骨以及更为迷人的下巴。但是,虽说《Vogue》亮光型拍摄风格以及Studio 54录音室让如此造型在杰瑞•霍尔(Jerry Hall)与玛丽•海尔文(Marie Helvin)等名模身上光彩照人,但它们基本仍属于那个时代的风格。如今即便“升级改造”,我认为也难以奏效。
“Contouring is making people a lot of money,” says Rose-Marie Swift, the make-up artist behind the brand RMS Beauty, whose client Gisele Bündchen always looks fabulously chisel-boned without any help at all. “[But] in real life, it just pulls the face down, makes people look gaunt and essentially looks fake.” How fake? “I saw Jennifer Lopez the other day and when she turned to the side she looked like she had a bronze chocolate bar stuck on her face,” says Swift.
“脸部塑形费用惊人,” 创建RMS Beauty品牌的彩妆大师罗斯•玛丽-斯威芙特(Rose-Marie Swift)说,她的客户包括了超模吉赛尔•邦辰(Gisele Bündchen),对方永远长着那张浑然天成的凿子形迷人脸蛋。“但在现实生活中,每当卸完妆,脸部就显得异常憔悴,前后模样大相径庭。”我问她反差有多大?斯威芙特回答说:“我有次碰见詹尼弗•洛佩兹(Jennifer Lopez),对方转脸时,脸上就象贴了块古铜色的巧克力。”
Clearly it’s time to stop this madness. Quit contouring. For ever. Instead, if it’s naturally enhanced cheekbones you’re after, learn to love blushing and bronzing. It’s also much simpler. To which end, here’s how to create a sculpture-portrait for 2015 . . .
很显然,这股脸部塑形之风如今该休矣,该是彻底终结的时候了。相反,诸位若是追求自然长成的高颧骨,不妨学着使用腮红与古铜色彩妆,而且这更容易实现。以下是如此塑造今年最时尚“雕塑型脸蛋”的几步高招……
1. Know the result that you’re aiming for. The point of bronzer is to look like you’ve been lying in the sun and enjoying it. Swift’s tip is to brush it on lightly in horizontal strokes across the forehead, from cheek to cheek skimming the bridge of the nose, and adding a little on the jawline to balance it out. I love Chantecaille’s HD Perfecting Bronze (£62), which doesn’t have too much of a shimmer so you can sweep it over the sun-points of the face.
1.清楚自己的终极目标。古铜色彩妆达到的效果就是长时间太阳浴后的肤色。斯威芙特的建议是:在整个额头处横向轻抹,还有除鼻梁之外的整个脸颊,最后在下巴处也涂抹一些,这样处理不会有啥反差。我最喜欢用香缇卡(Chantecaille)的HD Perfecting Bronze彩妆(售价62英镑),因为抹了它,脸部不会发亮,因此可以盖掉脸部因太阳照射后形成的斑点。
2. Love your blusher — it’s your bronzer’s favourite playmate. Burberry’s Lip and Cheek Bloom (£24, released later this month), in creamy textured colours, is exceptionally pretty; you can dab it on your lips, too. I also really like Tom Ford’s Cream Cheek Color in Pink Sand (£46), which has a slightly pearlised texture for a sunshine glow. I love cream-textures but it’s worth experimenting with some of the new powder formulas, such as Nars’ Dual Intensity Blusher (£30), which can be applied wet for a wash-like effect, or dry. The powder, like Surratt’s powders (see 5, below), almost feels like cream, it’s that smooth.
2.用好腮红————它是古铜色化妆品最好的搭档。博柏利(Burberry)预定本月底推出的Lip and Cheek Bloom(售价24英镑)为乳脂质感的多色彩妆膏,女士们用后特别靓丽;它也可以轻轻抹在嘴唇处。我也很喜欢汤姆•福特的Cream Cheek Color in Pink Sand(售价46英镑),它具有一丝珠光质感,用后脸部容光焕发。我非常喜欢用各种面霜类彩妆,但纳斯(Nars)双色腮红(Dual Intensity Blusher,售价30英镑)之类的新款产品也值得一试,它能干湿两用(涂抹湿款产品,如同刚出浴一般)。Surratt之类的彩粉末质感如同面霜,用后非常滑爽。
3. Where are you putting these cheekbone-enhancers? The blusher goes on the apples of the cheeks (never lower than your nostrils, or it will start to drag your face down). The bronzer or highlighter, if used just to accent, needs to sit slightly above, in an inverted C-shape but not in under-eye territory. Both need to be blended outwards in a feathery finish. No hard lines, please.
3.彩妆涂抹部位要一清二楚。腮红应抹在脸蛋红润处(绝不能抹鼻孔线以下的脸蛋,否则脸形会显得过长)。古铜色彩妆或是高光粉若只是起突出作用,应以倒C形方式抹于上半脸蛋,但绝不能抹于眼下方区域。两者需混合后向脸外侧涂抹,达到柔滑之效果。切勿生硬处理之。
4. If you have a little pigmentation or look naturally tanned, avoid matt powders and choose a bronzer with a bit more metallic shimmer to accentuate the skin. This is not something I’d usually suggest for anyone over 30 but RMS Beauty’s Buriti Bronzer (£25) has a buriti-oil base and no glitter so it’s both kind to the skin and flattering, as is Charlotte Tilbury’s Norman Parkinson Dreamy Glow Highlighter (£45) compact, released in July. Not only will the Carmen Dell’Orefice imagery on the compact out-trump any other gilt-edged compact emerging from handbags in Ibiza this summer, but the shimmer is so subtle and the powder so finely milled that it suits any age.
4.如果生有少许色斑或是肤色天生棕褐色,切勿使用亚光搽粉,选一款带些许金属光彩的古铜色彩妆以突出脸部肤色。但我从不向已过而立之年者推荐些此款彩妆,但RMS Beauty的Buriti Bronzer(售价25英镑)主要成分是布里蒂果油(buriti-oil),未添加任何亮光物质,因此既护肤、又靓丽,Charlotte Tilbury预定今年七月推出的Norman Parkinson Dreamy Glow Highlighter高光粉盒(售价45英镑)同样如此。卡门•戴尔•奥利菲斯(Carmen Dell’Orefice)等老超模用了该款产品后,不仅形象效果胜过Ibiza奢侈品牌集合店今夏将要推出的其它任何高档粉盒,而且这款微亮彩妆尤为柔和,粉末研磨得十分精细,因此适用于各个年龄段。
5. Finally, if you’re unsure what colours to choose, check out the Surratt make-up counter at Liberty (currently my favourite beauty haunt). With a little help from the make-up artist, I chose my bespoke summer compact colours: a peachy-blush (1 Guimauve, £23); an orangey highlighter (9 Aureole, £23); a pale gold eyeshadow that doubles as a highlighter (Chamois, £16); and a brown eyeshadow (Truffe, £16), all of which lock into a mirror-compact and can be swapped out. It’s my summer 2015 go-anywhere compact. Go anywhere except contouring, that is.
5.最后,若对颜色举棋不定,那么去Liberty百货店的Surratt化妆品专柜(它是本人最喜欢光顾的美容品专柜)。在彩妆大师稍微点拨之下,我挑选了由几款专用彩妆搭配而成的夏季粉盒:售价23英镑的桃色腮红1 Guimauve、售价23英镑的橙色高光粉9 Aureole、同时能当高光粉用的淡金黄色眼影膏(售价16英镑的Chamois)以及售价16英镑的棕色眼影膏Truffe,所有彩妆均装于带镜粉盒内,可以互相换着使用。这就是我随身携带的2015年夏季粉妆盒,它是本人除了脸部整形之外的全部彩妆行头。