Have you been hunting for how to have luscious lips like Jennifer Lopez’s? Do you want to get Gwyneth Paltrow’s perfect skin, or terrific tresses like Julianne Moore? If so, maybe you should start in the kitchen. Make-up maven to the stars, Scott Barnes does, and his fabulous faces have been featured on the covers of Glamour, Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, In Style and Premiere among many more.
Barnes prepares his personalized potions like a great chef whipping up a seven course meal. “My kitchen looks like an… Um… I don’t know what!” He laughs. “I make (cosmetics) in my Cuisinart. I melt stuff on the stove. All of my kitchen appliances are filled with make-up. Friends come over and ask, ‘What are you making now?’ Everyone digs in my refrigerator— not looking for food, but for make-up!”
Now Barnes’ brilliance is coming out of the kitchen and on to the shelf. Working with Japanese innovator Shu Uemura, Barnes has helped re-launch “Shu Uemura Atelier Made.” The new line, which will be sold by Bergdorf Goodman, is being offered by Sephora—a leading beauty chain in Europe just now hitting US shores. Barnes is very excited about his new products, a stunning array of finger-friendly shimmer, matte, cream and metallic formulas that come in vibrant colors for eyes, lips and cheeks. The object of these cruelty-free cosmetics is, Barnes says, “To make every woman immediately beautiful.”
Scott Barnes first became intrigued by fashion as a teenager. It was while watching the short-lived, early 80’s television series “Paper Dolls,” that he realized he wanted to work as a make-up artist. In school he studied fine arts. When it was time to make the change from learning about beauty to creating it himself, he didn’t have much trouble. “Every face,” he says, “Is like a canvas to me. It’s great when you get to do somebody more than once, that way you can keep trying and doing different things.”
Not only a lover of fabulous female faces, Barnes is a dog devotee as well. He owns two very photogenic pups. Max was his first, and Barnes brags on his pooch’s perspicacity. In other words, Max is one canny canine “Max has thirty toys and knows the names of all of them, “ Barnes beams.
Because business is booming and he must travel, Barnes bought a new puppy to keep Max company, which he named Carlo. The two critters have grown quite close, albeit in a sad and utterly adorable way. “If Max goes out of the room,” Barnes says, “Carlo starts to cry.” Carlo, it should be noted, is a Miniature Pinscher with bright, happy eyes. Max is a cuddly Golden retriever whose face is getting a little gray around the muzzle.
Back to the subject of human faces, Barnes explains how he likes to keep his clientele looking subtle and clean. His work with Jennifer Lopez for this year’s Academy Awards is a prime example. Perhaps the highest praise he received that night was inadvertent — and it came from Ms. Lopez herself. While being interviewed (and complimented) by the notoriously catty Joan Rivers, the red hot JLo excitedly said, “I don’t even feel like I have a ton of make-up on!” Barnes couldn’t have been more pleased.
“When I did Jennifer for the Oscars,” He says. “She looked very natural, approachable and soft.” He goes on to explain his overall approach. “The biggest beauty compliment you can give somebody is that they look fresh, clean, healthy and happy. You want to look so beautiful people are kind of afraid of you, but you’re still approachable. It’s a bit of a fantasy.”
Animal Fair asked this fixer of famous faces what was cooking in his cosmetics kitchen these days—what the next big trend will be. Barnes was philosophic in response, “There is no trend,” he says with a gleam in his eye, “The trend is to be yourself.”
Great advice for everyone, whether you have two legs or four.
Shu Uemura Atelier Made is available exclusively at Sephora locations or by visiting: www.sephora.com
For more information on animal welfare and pet tips check out Premier Pet Lifestyle Expert and Animal Rescue Advocate Wendy Diamond at www.wendydiamond.com and www.animalfair.com.