THE MATERIAL GIRL'S GIRL BACKSTAGE AT VIVIENNE TAM
Style.com (September 13, 2009)
Those who know us well know that we are marginally obsessed with Gina Brooke. The Shu Uemura Artistic Director known for her dedication to great skin above all, Brooke is the only person Madonna lets tend to her increasingly youthful complexion for personal appearances and live shows. We got word a few weeks ago that Brooke, fresh off Madge’s Sticky & Sweet tour, would be making a rare appearance at the tents to key the makeup team at Vivienne Tam, which made the designer’s show last night all but mandatory. “I travel a lot,” Brooke joked about her past fashion week absences. Doing a solid for Mr. Uemura, who happens to be close friends with Ms. Tam, Brooke brought her special brand of “beautiful, clean, flawless skin” backstage with the help of Shu Uemura’s Nobara Cream Cover Stick Foundation - as well as another of her trusty standbys: lashes. Tam told Brooke that the collection was inspired by nature, so Brooke dipped into Shu Uemura’s new Tokyo Lash Bar collection, for which Mother Earth also happens to play muse, and chose the Farfallina for the occasion, triple layers of brown and black tones with longer lashes toward the outer edge for a delicate but voluminous effect. As camera crews, publicists, and a flurry of models passed by her station, we asked Brooke how the experience differed from the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. “It’s the same!” she laughed. “Totally crazy, but fun and creative.”