Stila, The Artist

The French sculptor Auguste Rodin once said when he was compared to Rembrandt, “Compare me with Rembrandt! What sacrilege! With Rembrandt, the colossus of Art! We should prostrate ourselves before Rembrandt and never compare anyone with him!” However, sometimes it is important to pay homage to our inspiration. And this season Stila, the beauty brand goes to Rembrandt for theirs for the A/W season read our article The Artist.

Main image on left Harry Stonehill.com

Rembrandt was one of the most masterful artists the world has ever known. He was a draughtsman, painter, and printmaker. He was also famous for his realistic paintings of the people around him and of his self-portraits. His skin tones were admired as natural and his colour palette was made of raw dark earthy hues and gold as an accentuating tone. The stunning hues have lasted centuries because of his greatness.

Rembrandt was also inspired by Caravaggio’s work and developed a new method of highlighting the face with light and shadow and was a master of the chiaroscuro technique. Chiaroscuro, the Italian expression for ‘lightdark’ is the use of contrast of dark and light shades to describe appearance. Rembrandt’s portraits are painted with the Chiaroscuro style using heavy shadows and strong lights bringing the face in the spotlight, showcasing the artistic skill, the depth, and the drama the painter was famed for.

The pigments he used were limited because of the time in history but were enough to create a number of optical illusions and that is, in many ways, what when we think of modern-day makeup; there to build all our facets of beauty. Highlighting your naturally gifted features with colours, shades and experiments with different methods of tones and textures.     

Stila this autumn brings you the ‘Bohemian Renaissance’ collection to awaken that carefree spirit in you by using a Rembrandt inspired colour palette.

Painting on a blank canvas is a delight that any artist feels when about to paint their next masterpiece; one canvas and infinite possibilities. Makeup is about using your face as a blank canvas but the first step should be to create the right base.

For example, the model in the painting “Woman in the Turban” whatever her skin type, radiates with warmth and it glows with health. Stila’s One step correct Kitten Skin Tone Correcting & Brightening Primer is the perfect corrector to give you a glowing natural tone as a base for your make-up. Combined with 15 vitamins, antioxidants and minerals, you feel your facial canvas fresh, smooth and brighter.

Just to give your eyes a wake-up call by using Stila’s cult classic one step primer for eyes perfect to de-puff, brighten, and to erase dark circles. The peachy tones in the eye corrector help to soften the dark under the eyes.  Your base is now ready to create your own Renaissance art.

To start sketching your face, first sculpt your brows and define them just like the Woman in Turban by filling in the sparse areas to get those perfectly arched eyebrows by using the Sketch & Sculpt brow pencil.

For jewel-toned painted eye colour, swipe Stilla’s Kaleidoscope eye shadow on your eyes to give that jewel hue which is a resemblance of the basic rich tones of Rembrandt’s favourites colours in browns, golds and rose golds.   

Rembrandt’s depiction of women showed that he painted them having a wash of colour on their cheeks just as he painted his daughter Rosalba Peale in the famous portrait ‘ Girl at the Window’.

To get a flushed look like one of his models, use Trifecta Metallica lip, eye & cheek stick rose gold colour on your cheeks or use the other shades in the range on your eyes and lips. One step Bohemian perfection.

For a picture-perfect pout like in the painting ‘Study of the Crying Woman’, why not use Stila’s well-loved plumping lip glaze and give your lips that fresh luscious look just like Rosalba Carriera Peale.

Use a combination of the Stila’s Bohemian Renaissance colours and make your own palette. Be an illuminating painting by using raw hues of browns and rich golds and add a hint of colour on your cheeks and lips and meet your bohemian renaissance self.

For more information on Stila products go to their website Stila.co.uk and if you enjoyed Stila the artist why not read a feature on music and sleep here