NARS | Spotlight on Beauty with Gillian Okopny

Last week I was thrilled to be invited to interview Gillian Okopny, National Lead Makeup Stylist for NARS Cosmetics, on her visit to the Montréal NARS counter at The Bay downtown. Gillian, who has always had a major fascination with the world of makeup from a young age, started off by working at several beauty counters but it was with NARS that she felt the most at home, as this brand’s philosophy meshed perfectly with her style aesthetic.

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Recognizing her immense talent, she quickly rose through the ranks to become Lead Makeup Artist for the brand, frequently travelling across the country and abroad to showcase the latest techniques and collections. Apart from her position at NARS, Gillian is also often found backstage at fashion shows, where she works her magic for the runway, having collaborated with designers such as Erdem, Naeem Khan and JW Anderson, to name but a few. A pinnacle moment in her career came when she actually met François Nars in person, a man she describes as absolutely lovely and so incredibly humble.

Apart from being one of my favourite ranges, this brand also continues to evolve and push the boundaries of beauty, along with being a significant player in the industry; who hasn’t heard of cult fave products such as their Orgasm Blush, Copacabana Multiple, or Laguna Powder Bronzer?

Regarding spring trends and upcoming NARS launches, Gillian mentioned that gleaming, dewy skin with über-glossy lips (look out for new lippies coming soon wink, wink) will be really hot this season, along with ‘monochromatic’ tones such as browns & pinks tying eyes, cheeks, and lips together – all in all a return to prettier, retro-romantic and softer looks, but which still look relevant and modern.

Upon arriving, I was escorted to a screened off private room (that’s literally filled with the entire NARS product lineup … or heaven, as I like to call it) where I was to have my makeup done by none other than Gillian herself. While chatting during the makeup application, I was given a deeper insight into the brand and learned about the latest (and even upcoming) product launches, picking up some awesome new beauty techniques from this talented lady along the way.

One of the concepts that’s at the heart of the NARS brand, is that makeup should be a sensorial & tactile experience, and that it’s more about placement than colour. That being said, and after applying a toner and skincare treatment to my face, Gillian got to work – but without using any brushes. François Nars believes that your fingers are some of your best tools and the analogy Gillian used (which I have totally appropriated) is to think of your skin like a piece of toast, and how much easier it is for butter to melt on it when it’s heated. Now transfer that same thinking to using the heat of your fingers to thoroughly apply & merge foundation to your face. Makes perfect sense, no? Another NARS-ism: François Nars believes that it’s not just about your skin today, but your skin tomorrow — which is why all of his products (even the colour cosmetics) have skincare benefits included.

After preparing my skin and before adding any foundation, Gillian gave me a lesson on a NARS signature technique: layering. She began by grabbing Copacabana Illuminator and applied that along my cheekbones and down the centre of my nose, followed by a layer of Orgasm Illuminator, then finally layering a thin veil of the upcoming Laguna Liquid Bronzer, a product that can be worn under or over foundation and can even be mixed in with lighter foundation shades to create a customized colour (review coming soon. Note that this will be replacing the current Laguna Illuminator) – and all still using only her fingers – creating believable dimension and radiance. She then went in with Velvet Matte Skin Tint in the shade Alaska (previously reviewed here), working the product to key areas only and working from the centre of my face outwards (no need to cover the entire face, in fact) – and again, using only fingers. A dab of concealer in the under eye area and a light dusting of translucent powder along my T-zone (which tends to become oily), and my ‘canvas’ was done. The NARS philosophy is that skin needs to look like skin, and not some over-processed plastic variation thereof – and I couldn’t agree more. It’s also all about layering and building dimension; by applying the Illuminator and Bronzer to my face before the foundation, Gillian had effectively created the most natural looking contouring I’ve ever seen.

For my look, Gillian used shades from the Nouvelle Vogue Spring 2016 Color Collection (review coming soon), but in a fresh new way; with her fingers once again, she applied Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow in Kari (dampened), but to my upper cheekbone area, then went in with a light dusting of Impassioned Blush to set it (and to give my cheeks more dimension + staying power). After lining my eyes (inside and out) with a black liner, she then added light touches of Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow in Cressida over that & thoroughly blended them together, and the look was completed with both shades from the Hammamet Eyeshadow Duo. To finish my eyes, two coats of Audacious Mascara (reviewed here) were applied. For the record, this is one of my Holy Grail mascaras and I’ve already gone through multiple tubes. Yes, it’s THAT good. A soft dusting of New York matte eyeshadow and a grooming gel were then applied to my brows to finish everything up.

Regarding the new Spring collection, and while she loves every single piece, two products that are total standouts for Gillian are Rosecliff and Banned Red lipsticks – two totally wearable shades that will suit all complexions across the board. In other words, well worth checking out.

For lips, the application was flipped around and gloss (Instant Crash) was applied first, then a coat of lipstick (Banned Red) was layered on top, resulting in a unique & multi-tonal effect – and with that, we were done. My thoughts? Loved it!

My completed look – beauty breakdown shown below

NARS | Velvet Matte Skin Tint

Sweet little treats to nibble on from Dolce Gateaux (and yes, I most definitely indulged)

Gillian using her fingers as ‘tools’

Tip: eyeshadow as blush

The look on my face says it all: love ♥

The finished look

MSS: Mandatory Snapchat Selfie

Getting the chance to speak with the pros and glean insights into brands is something I absolutely adore, especially when it comes from someone as genuine and lovely as Gillian Okopny. Far from being a diva, her welcoming warmth made me feel less awkward at showing up to meet her bare-faced (the horror!), and her willingness to impart so many valuable tips was priceless. Oh yeah … getting my makeup done by her wasn’t too shabby either; I almost didn’t take it off at the end of the day – which speaks volumes about how much I loved it.

A huge thank you goes out to all involved, in particular to my daughter whom I dragged out of bed super early to come play photographer (and what an amazing job she did!)