Close your eyes and envision the ideal makeup collection created by Zoë Kravitz. It was a line of red and nude lipsticks, right? We thought so — and so did YSL Beauté, who named Kravitz a global makeup and fragrance ambassador in 2017. In the years since, Kravitz has become a muse for the brand and, apparently, vice versa. Kravitz has taken her experience with YSL and turned it into her very own lipstick range: YSL Beauté x Zoë, launching today.
Instead of tackling the whole wide world of lipstick at once, Kravitz honed in on nude and red shades inspired by her own cherished family and friends. The end result is six new shades of Rouge Pur Couture, a creamy, pigmented — and Allure Best of Beauty–winning — formula. The line consists of three nudes and three reds, in matte, satin, and “radiant” texture.
To celebrate the launch, Allure sat down with Kravitz for all the details on the new shades, including her own favorite way to wear red lipstick.
Allure: Tell me about the lipsticks, the colors, the names, the inspiration, everything.
Zoë Kravitz: “The names are all people in my life who I care about, who have inspired me in some way. For the colors, I wanted to stick with nudes and reds. I wanted this to be the beginning of my exploration of creating lipsticks, and reds and nudes are my go-to. These are the kinds of colors you can wear on a daily basis. I wanted to create colors that you could own — a classic, on-the-go, always-appropriate color.”
Do you lean more toward the red or the nude?
“I think it’s both. Usually nude for daytime, but sometimes I love a red with a white T-shirt and jeans or simple black dress. I just love a classic red lip, especially for nighttime. I also like with a red that you can do basically nothing else on your face, you’re good with just a little mascara.”
Which shade is your favorite?
“To be honest, I don’t have a favorite. We created this range of colors because my mood changes all the time. Sometimes I want something bold, sometimes I want something light, sometimes I want something glossy, and sometimes I want something matte. It’s all about what you’re feeling.”
Let’s go through the names.
“Arlene’s Nude is named after my grandmother. Wolf’s Red is named after my brother, whose favorite color is red. The others are named after my godmothers Honey and Maris; Scout, my dog, who wears a red bandana; and Lale, a nickname from my mother.”
Let’s talk about the formulation process. How long did it take? Did you have help?
“I definitely had help. It took many months. The process involved a lot of back and forth: They send me a bunch of things, I look at them, I send them back with notes, they send me new ones. They sent me many different kinds of textures and colors and I would mix them together. Sometimes it felt like, ‘Oh, there’s too much of this and not enough of that.’ Once we nailed down to the combinations and the textures that I really liked, then we started working with the packaging, which also was its own back and forth thing. It just took about a year from the idea to now.”
Did anything surprise you about the formulation process?
“There were so many options. We look at lipstick and just think like, ‘Oh, coo, lipstick,’ but a lot of time went into creating that exact finish and color and texture. Adding just a drop more of a different color changes everything, sometimes in a good way and sometimes not in a good way. It was really creative to see how many options there were. It was difficult to narrow the lipsticks down because so many of them were great.”
Did you end up having to leave out any shades that you really liked?
“No, I’m very content with this collection. This is a really wonderful place to start. The goal was to create something for everyone that you can wear every single day. I want feedback from people. I want to see what people are gravitating toward, listen to how people react, and keep that in mind for next time.”
What’s the message you’re trying to send with this collection?
“I always say that I really hope that this encourages people to highlight the things they love about themselves instead of covering themselves up. I think there’s a lot of beauty trends right now that are kind of telling people that there’s one way to be beautiful and you have to contour and shape and make yourself look like one kind of a person. That makes me really sad. Makeup is an enhancer of who we are, and I think beauty is individuality. That’s the message that I send out.”
Which shade is the most you?
“They’re all me. I mean that’s the point of the collection. Selfishly, I really wanted to create all the things that I would want to wear. If you’re going to make a lipstick collection, why not make the shades that you want?”
Can we expect more makeup?
“I hope so. I love working with YSL. The brand gave me a lot of space to be creative and be myself and insert myself into everything we do together. It’s not about my name and my face and selling something. They really allow me to just have a say in how things are presented.”
Now that you’ve done lipstick, what more do you want to do?
“I would maybe do a light concealer of some kind. I’m also a huge fan of a strong brow.”
One lipstick from the YSL Beauty x Zoë Collection will launch each day from Tuesday, August 20, through Sunday, August 26, on yslbeauty.com. Collect ’em all — and in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at each shade:
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Additionally reporting by Sarah Kinonen
Read more on YSL:
- Tom Pecheux Talks About His New Role at Yves Saint Laurent Beauty
- Why YSL Beauté Tatouage Couture Liquid Matte Lip Stain Is the Best Liquid Lipstick of 2018
- Yves Saint Laurent Beauté Announces Collaboration with Halsey
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