As one of Forbes‘ ‘top fashion influencers’, Chiara Ferragni has guided our style choices since 2009, with her award-winning blog, The Blonde Salad. Now, she is expanding her reach into the beauty world, as the first global muse for Lancôme to co-design a make-up collection. Bazaar spoke to the influencer and stylist to discover what beauty means to her and why now was the perfect time to break into the industry.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to work more in the beauty industry and whenever I post about beauty, people go crazy because they are so interested in all the products that I use”, says Ferragni. “But, I think the meaning of beauty has evolved so much in the past few years. With the evolution of social media, beauty is no longer one thing. You don’t have to be one size, or one colour or have particular features. People from all over the world can be represented and it’s much more about who you are than just your appearance. It’s about feeling good about yourself and being the best version of you. Self-love really is the beginning of all love. That’s a powerful message that I didn’t have growing up.”
“I feel like make-up can be a tool for building that self-confidence”, Ferragni continues. “It can make you feel better about yourself and when that happens you have a different attitude and approach to the world. It’s like when you buy a particular lipstick and you look at yourself in the mirror and think, ‘yes, I look good’. That good energy transforms your day and changes how you appear to the world. Everyone is different in how they wear make-up and fashion but the trick is to find something that works for you. I personally feel confident when I have glowy skin so I love to wear highlighter and golden eyeshadow.”
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Ferragni’s goal was to create products that mirrored this feeling of inclusivity and transformation. The result is the Lancôme x Chiara Ferragni capsule collection, a range of eight products designed specifically to give you a natural-looking lit-from-within glow whatever your skin-tone or make-up preference.
The range contains three new shades of Lancôme’s best-selling L’Absolu Mademoiselle Shine and L’Absolu Lacquer lipsticks in a nude shade “to add fullness to the lips” and red and pink shades exactly like those that Ferragni wears on the red carpet.
Lancôme’s best-selling Hypnose Drama mascara has also had a limited edition redesign for the collection – although fear not the formula has not changed – because mascara is the “one beauty product [Ferragni] wears on an everyday basis, with every kind of look.”
The star of the collection though, is the Flirting Palette, containing products for eyes, lips and cheeks.
“What I really wanted to do, was to create products that were really inclusive and could work on any skin tone”, says Ferragni. “I feel like the palette, out of everything in the collection, defines what I feel about beauty. I love that you can achieve so many different looks by just buying one product, because it has a little bit of everything – whereas normally palettes just focus on one thing. It means you don’t have to carry around as many beauty products. You just need the palette and your foundation if you wear one.”
The whole range comes in limited edition feminine metallic pink packaging and bears the iconic eyelashed eye motif that Ferragni is known for. With names like ‘Positive Attitude’, ‘Independent Women’ and ‘Kinda Flirty’, it’s set to be a fun and collectible collection too.
For anyone unsure how to use the products, Ferragni has also created three bespoke tutorials of her favourite beauty looks that will be available on her social media channel as well as Lancôme’s when the collection launches. In the meantime, why not take inspiration from Ferragni’s beautiful yet uncomplicated bridal beauty look from her wedding in 2018.
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“You want to look like yourself on your wedding day but the best version of yourself, so I actually wore a really simple look. I wore a little more bronzer than usual because I was tanned after the summer, with silver eyeshadow and of course mascara. It was very simple but very effective and I really loved it because I felt like me.”
In fact, 2018 was a busy and transformational time for Ferragni who also welcomed her son that year. It’s becoming a mother that has also helped her redefine her approach to social media and consequently her business as a whole.
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“Since becoming a mother, I don’t want to appear as this woman who has the perfect life. I want to tell my actual story. I’m proud of where I am right now, but we all go through the same things and I think it’s really important for me to show the ups and downs of my life to my followers. I want to be a source of inspiration, but I don’t want to show something that isn’t true or overly edit my life on Instagram. Being credible is the most important thing. I want to share my life with them, not showcase a beauty that doesn’t exist.”
When it comes to social media, we’d certainly take Ferragani’s advice, considering she has twice been a Harvard case study because of her successful blog and brand, something she describes as “one of the highlights of my career.”
“People can not like you or not appreciate what you do but being recognised like that, that’s a success that cannot be taken away from me. It’s a source of great pride.”
The Lancôme x Chiara Ferragni capsule collection is available on the 26th June, exclusively to John Lewis and we imagine the collection will be another proud moment for the entrepreneur too.
This article originally appeared on Harper’s BAZAAR UK.
