How to Get the Berlin Look

How to Get the Berlin Look

While Berlin’s weather is too unpredictable to count on it, at least you don’t have to worry about always having to find the appropriate outfit for the current circumstances. Berliners tend to be quite liberal as far as putting together a look goes. Or taking a look apart, for that matter: showing some skin is often a viable option. At the first glance, it might look like they’re just throwing on random stuff they just picked up at Humana, but there’s a logic to this aesthetic madness.

Together with the illustrator Sophia Halamoda, we’ve analyzed some of the most prevailing Hauptstadt fashion trends for our book Like A Berliner (available here) and extracted some advice for you on how to get the Berlin look from the chapter Look Like A Berliner!  

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How Berlin Let Me Declare Independence From Female Beauty Standards

How Berlin Let Me Declare Independence From Female Beauty Standards

photos: Vismante Ruzgaite. 

The three of us used to be inseparable. I would always include them in my plans, practically wouldn’t leave the house without them. Up until very recently, I just felt like I’m not quite complete without my makeup and bra on. We’re still seeing each other now, but sometimes I just choose to go solo.

Since my usual look used to be some kind of a 60s groupie wannabe, I was quite surprised by this development in my personal style. Did I get tired with the time-consuming rituals? Have I inadvertently caught up with a trend? Why do I feel like I have to analyze this in terms of the mainstream beauty standards anyway?

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Meet Mr. Max Factor and Win Make-Up Packages

Meet Mr. Max Factor and Win Make-Up Packages

Collien Ulmen-Fernandes

Mr. Max Factor, the original make-up artist to the stars, created the looks for such luminous Hollywood faces such as Bette Davis, Ava Gardne and Jean Harlow. He opened a studio in Hollywood where the stars could come by and have their ‘look’ individually tailored to their faces. Did you know Lucille Ball was not a natural red head? The color and the makeup to match were developed for her by Mr. Factor! This practice of personalizing the look grew into the first make-up for the non-stars or ‘society make-up’ with such must haves as ‘flexible grease paint’ for the face (lovely), the first portable lip balm pots (looking like little tins of shoe polish) and of course Max Factor’s renowned mascara wand, the first of its kind – just trying to imagine life without mascara – makes my eyelashes shudder…

Anyway, the moral of the story is that evoking the spirit of the legendary Mr. Factor, The Max Factor team have ‘popped-up’ a Make-Up Studio on Alte Schönhauser Straße 48 in Berlin Mitte, where for the next three weeks their welcoming space and team of professionals is ready, waiting and devoted to helping us non-stars develop our own personal look or ‘develop the make-up artist within’ and purchase the associated Max Factor products in store. And of course to bring it all into today’s digital age there is a special iPad terminal to record your new look and share it immediately with your online fan’s (ahem, friends) to bring out the star in us all!! Read more about my first visit there and win 3 Max Factor packages after the jump.

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Cinéma de Mode: Out of Darkness

Cinéma de Mode: Out of Darkness

On my way to Buenos Aires I bought the new issue of style magazine The Hunger by star photographer Rankin. The thing comes as thick as a bible and it’s so heavy I couldn’t hold it for more then a few minutes. But I did manage to get as far as the beauty section where I found this amazing photo series titles Out of Darkness by make-up artist Andrew Gallimore photographed by Rankin himself. They also made a stunning fashion film with the most amazing effects for this series. Have a look at the film after the jump.

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