Vintage Hair Lounge launch Bésame Cosmetics Europe

Raven Brookes by Scott Chalmers

Bésame Cosmetics have a brand new European Distributor and it's Vintage Hair Lounge Creative Director, Sharon Holloway in the form of a new sister company, VHL Distribution.

The task of taking on the distribution of the bespoke vintage cosmetics brand across the diversity of countries and cultures of Europe has only proved to be an irresistible challenge, following Sharon's recent award win for Best Make-up at Reklamefilmpreis, the German Advertising Film Awards, in Frankfurt in November 2013.

"The nomination for Best Makeup for my underwater makeup work on the commercial Herbaria - FEARS, was reason enough to fly to Frankfurt to join in the ceremony, it being such an honour to receive recognition from the industry in another country," says Sharon. "The response when I won was so overwhelming that I realised how exciting it could be to make ever closer ties and networks with our European partners. The opportunity to include Bésame Cosmetics in the process was perfect timing and I'm thrilled to be able to take the brand into new markets and attract new interest in the beautiful and high performing products that Bésame have already established a great reputation for."

Raven Brookes and Shay-Anne Aboud by Scott Chalmers

There is a growing awareness of the versatility of the brand within and beyond the vintage scene, and Vintage Hair Lounge has been heavily involved in the promotion of the products within all of the work that it does. The dozens of vintage events that their salon "pop-up" features at across the UK throughout the year, provide numerous opportunities for the public to try out products face to face, building a strong "word of mouth" experience. For those already familiar with the brand, as well as the loyal customers which Vintage Hair Lounge have created, their new online store, the Vintage Hair Lounge Emporium, will prove to be a first stop for those looking for their favourite Bésame items as well as a reliable resource for new additions to the brand as soon as they are launched.

For the past two years, Bésame Cosmetics have sponsored the Vintage Hair Lounge salon at Goodwood Revival, and thereby been provided with the chance to showcase the product range to a vast international audience of vintage enthusiasts.

Miss Deadly Red at the Bésame display at Vintage Hair Lounge at Goodwood Revival
by Scott Chalmers

In the past few days, Bésame Cosmetics have also featured at IMATS Los Angeles (International Makeup Artist Trade Show) meeting the professional makeup artist industry and launching new pro-palette versions of the product range.

For Sharon, the development of the brand in the pro-artist industry is inevitable, and one of the key priorities for the new Bésame Cosmetics Europe strategy.

"I've spent several years now using the products in film and photographic shoots, and they out perform many other high quality products on the market, especially the Classic Color lipsticks which stay put, don't bleed and are comfortable to wear all day. For vintage work, the reproduction colours capture the different eras perfectly, but even for non-vintage work, the finish and staying power of the lipsticks means they are always my first choice in professional work."

The first task for the team was to create an image collection of the whole Classic Color Lipstick range, featuring fashion/gothic/alternative models Raven Brookes and Shay-Anne Aboud, whose look and style represents a different emphasis for a brand so well known for celebrating the golden era of Hollywood icons.

"Europe has a more complicated relationship with its twentieth century history than the United States and United Kingdom,"  Sharon admits. "Although the vintage scene is growing across Europe, it will develop in more unusual ways, taking inspiration and influences from different vibes and different sub-cultures, and we can't assume that everyone sees vintage only as a celebration of 1940s wartime or 1950s Hollywood. That sensitivity is crucial in building a brand based on inclusivity, and Raven and Shay-Anne represent an alternative kind of "vintage" look, one reaching out to a sophisticated and classic cool vibe that has an even wider appeal to a greater diversity of women who have long been waiting for the cosmetics industry to reflect back their own reality and aspirations. Our new images are not there to replace, they are there to inspire in new ways."

Some arresting images have already been released, but the forthcoming collection, photographed by Scott Chalmers, with design, hair and makeup by Vintage Hair Lounge is due for launch by early March. The behind the scenes film of the shoot, Can't Live Without Bésame Cosmetics can now be viewed online.

Press, PR and stockist enquiries - please contact VHL Distribution Limited, hello@vhldistribution.com, +44 (0) 23 8070 1383 www.vhldistribution.com
Retail purchases - please visit the Vintage Hair Lounge Emporium www.vhlemporium.com

How Casanova led to a Goodwood Revival coup

Jade Hargood by Scott Chalmers. Hair & makeup Sharon Holloway at Vintage Hair Lounge

As Vintage Hair Lounge opens for bookings for Goodwood Revival 2013 this week, a peculiar chain of recent events has resulted in a particularly special coup in securing the involvement of supremely talented Hair and Makeup Designer, Christine Allsopp, and sponsorship by her wonderful The Make-up Brush Company. So how did we snatch 3 times BAFTA nominated designer from the claws of a rigorous international filming schedule to join us for 3 days in Chichester this September?

I could say it began 3 years ago (there are a lot of 3's in this post which probably means it's my lucky number!), when Vintage Hair Lounge first opened, and we began to stock The Make-up Brush Company brushes and makeup bags in our salon. The distinctively pink, and unashamedly retro style brushes have graced my own make-up kit ever since. And then along came an extraordinary photoshoot concept from Scott Chalmers Photography...

The Make-up Brush Company brushes

So the proposal was for our longstanding client and friend, Jade Hargood, to be photographed in her wedding dress. Now that doesn't sound much of a shoot, until you know that Jade was married in a deep red dress, complete with cape and tricorn hat, in December 2012, with hair and makeup by Vintage Hair Lounge in late nineteenth century meets 1940s glamour style. Mmmm, this could be interesting! Scott and Jade began to create a mood board of gothic images on pinterest for me to have a look at, and the recurring theme was horns. Yes, horns. And not to mess about, Scott actually delivered a huge pair of real ram's horns for Jade to wear for the shoot. So I pondered the images, thought about Jade and her spectacular dress and began to think of the hair and makeup design of the BBC Casanova television series that first aired in 2005. It made a huge impact on us at the time, and was one of the most exciting pieces of period hair design I'd seen in a long time. And that was down to Christine Allsopp who received her second BAFTA nomination for it. So far so good.

BBC Casanova tv series 

Jade has very very long hair! Which will come as a surprise to many who see her featuring in our Vintage Hair Lounge at Goodwood Revival 2013 (Anything Goes) publicity film, where Gloria Holloway's extensive experience in traditional waving and setting techniques allowed her to effortlessly create a stunning short 1930s hairstyle, notwithstanding the sheer volume of hair Jade has!



But the gothic/eighteenth century inspired look for the new photoshoot was left in my hands, so I started with sectioning off two sites on the top of Jade's head where the hair horns would sit. They were crimped and sectioned off again whilst I methodically crimped the entirety of the remainder of Jade's hair, using Davines Defining Ecohairspray on each piece. I backcombed the horn sections and wrapped the hair around itself until the horn shapes began to satisfy, and then got to work on on the front and sides sections, effectively creating reverse "Victory Rolls". On went the real ram's horns, and with some hair padding inserted behind to secure them (they are very weighty items) to the best of Jade's comfort, I then created a huge french pleat in the shape of a heart, to ensure the balance of the hairstyle was in tune and looked spectacular from all angles. With a small section of red hair extension pinned into place from the top of the head and down into the side pony tail, adding a flash of colour to pay homage to the Casanova hairstyling,  the creation was complete.
In between these stages, we had also taken to the makeup, creating a layered effect around the eyes using variations of brown and red, gave the blusher a miss in preference to strong contouring, and perfected the finished look with Besame Cosmetics Classic Color lipstick in Merlot. Once Jade was dressed, it was possible to get out the airbrush and work down her neck and shoulders with a good combination of Temptu foundations, freshening up the face makeup with a mist all around the hairline, jawline and down the bridge of the nose. Thanks to my recent airbrush training with Martina Parmar at the Professional Makeup Academy, this proved a good decision, as the final images show a great colour balance between face and body, that just leaves a haunting look that worked to perfection.

And so, the following day as I was leaving Southampton's shores for a couple of days' May Bank Holiday break, I saw a flash in my Facebook inbox only to find Mr Chalmers had uploaded the image from the shoot online, a fine going away present if ever there was one, and shortly after came the defining moment of approval : Christine Allsopp had seen the image and shared it on her own facebook page, praising the look as something that would have sat more than comfortably within her designs for Casanova all those years ago. Well, one doesn't miss an opportunity like that, so needless to say, I got on the phone to Christine, and the rest, as they say, is history.....

Christine Allsopp will be joining the Vintage Hair Lounge at Goodwood Revival 2013 team (13-15 September) and The Make-up Brush Company will be an official sponsor. Additional sponsors include Davines, Besame Cosmetics, Professional Makeup Academy, Scott Chalmers Photography, EasyDry, handpickedvintage.com and Babyliss.

To pre-book vintage hairstyling and vintage makeup (airbrush) appointments for this year's Goodwood Revival, email enquiries@vintagehairlounge.com