Make-up artist and entrepreneur Gucci Westman held a make-up masterclass in Co Tipperary last week. We were there …
Gucci Westman was at Cashel Palace Hotel last week for an exclusive masterclass. And we were lucky enough to be there too, as she held the room rapt with her prowess, demonstrating her easy to use, natural-looking products on models including the hotel’s fabulous concierge Sally McGrath. Westman is known as make-up artist for endless glossy shoots and for celebrities such as Nicole Kidman; she did the entire Devil Wears Prada 2 press tour. And her own brand, Westman Atelier, has been hugely popular for all ages since it launched back in 2018.
What makes it special? Many of us have fallen for the immaculate formulas that enhance without ever looking heavy, and the neat, non-wasteful but still glamorous packaging that works perfectly. Favourites? Mine is the Lit-Up Highlighter stick and I’ve used it consistently since it first launched. It’s an essential, delivering a glowy radiance in one flick. It’s a skincare-infused make-up line that’s especially ideal for ages 40 and upwards, as it’s flattering and feels good on the skin. And you don’t have to be a make-up artist to use it.
As we chat before the masterclass, in the immaculate Cashel Palace gardens, a woman from a wedding party comes up and tells Westman: “My whole face is Westman Atelier and all of us are obsessed with it. It’s the best in the world!” High praise indeed.
“That reaction is so heartfelt and genuine. I’ve worked with other brands: I worked with Lancôme for five years as global artistic director, and then I worked with Revlon for eight years. And I had a lot of press and things around with both brands, and travelled a lot. But it wasn’t ever that sort of approachability and accessibility that I can have now. I’m not perfect: I am transparent with issues that I have, like rosacea. And it’s frustrating, sure. But I think it’s really nice to share those things, because people then feel that, Okay, she has rosacea but she can make it look like she doesn’t.”
“Beauty is joyful. It doesn’t have to be so serious. Everything is so serious. So, we’re looking for fun and joy from beauty, for sure.”
ON STYLE
When we meet, Westman is en route to London that evening and heading to Ascot, before holidays in Italy later in the summer. I’m hearted that she also gets the packing fear. “Now I feel like I have nothing to wear, and I have too many bags. It’s the worst combination.” She’s immaculate in Levi jeans, Celine blazer and Chanel shows, admired by everyone in the audience.
What is she loving fashion-wise at the moment? “I do have to say, I love the energy that Mathieu Blazy is bringing to Chanel. Beautiful, everything I love. I guess as I’ve gotten older, I am more prone to investment. Pieces that I know that I would love for a long time. And then when I’m tired of them, I’ll keep them in the back, and then I’ll go back to them, and then my daughters will, get them. I prefer to spend money on something that I’m going to love and cherish, and save money for something that I’m looking forward to that’s maybe expensive, but then, you can wear it so many times, it feels so good.”
ON HER NEW LIP COLOURS
The newest launch is the Hydrobalm Tinted Lipstick, which Westman tells me is “actually number one at Sephora, in the US, and number one in Space NK in the UK. That formula is incredible, because it’s super-hard to develop a formula that can be in this bullet shape that is so sheer. Each shade has a different balance of waxes. Aren’t they beautiful? And they’re so addictive because they hydrate your lips.”
ON FRAGRANCE
Westman is wearing a mysterious scent that’s soft, lovely, a little powdery. “Well that’s in the future. I do love it. It’s something that we’ve been looking out for. It’s something that I am passionate about. Actually, when I was younger, I wanted to be a nose. There’s an emotional connection that you have to a fragrance. There’s milestones and momentum and things that arrive when you think… I remember when I was little in my bedroom, my first bedroom where I got to leave my three brothers. And I got to decide the paint colour, and I had a lilac tree in front of my window, and I would always open the window as soon as I woke up in spring. Gorgeous memories. It is a vulnerable place, but I love it and I find that passion usually is a good indication of being a good thing to follow.”
HER ETHOS
“I gravitate toward craftsmanship and things that are made out of quality, for quality reasons, and value, as opposed to quantity. Growing up in Sweden, that’s a good focus on how do you treat what you have, as opposed to wanting many more things. Being really rooted in what you have, and really embellishing that.”
Westman Atelier is at Brown Thomas, Space NK and Cashel Palace, Co Tipperary.
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