As one of the most hailed and treasured makeup artists in the industry, Lucia Pica has remained a true pioneer at the forefront of beauty trends and direction. The simplicity in her work brings beauty to beauty, and can be attributed back to her absolute love of playing with makeup and embracing the perfectness of imperfection.
Words by Emma Champtaloup, Jan 26, 2025
Arriving at Lucia’s light filled Parisian home, it’s pretty easy to see that her love for beauty and aesthetic pleasure expands further than the realm of make-up, and is in fact a part of Lucia’s whole life and being. The way she has curated her home represents her love for unique yet simple pieces that feel very in flow with the way she works with makeup. Each piece of furniture – including an enormous, stunning oak bookshelf designed and commissioned by Lucia – is its own unique and stand-alone piece of beauty, coming seamlessly together to make her home one of minimal effort but utterly beautiful.
Lucia is the epitome of effortless beauty – she has become largely known for this style in her work as Creative Director for some of the world’s most covetable luxury fashion and beauty houses including Chanel and Byredo, and continuously heads up runway shows for the likes of Chanel, Gucci and Victoria Beckham.
Leaving her homeland of Italy to move to London, she discovered and experimented as a makeup artist, studying under the legendary Charlotte Tilbury, before taking a front seat in her career as a fixture in the fashion industry, as well as becoming Chanel’s Global Creative Makeup and Colour designer for six years.
Now as the appointed Creative Image and Makeup partner at Byredo, Lucia has again facilitated a revolutionary makeup line, loved by many. Lucia still attributes her style back to earlier footsteps, including memories in Italy watching her mother dab her lipstick with her finger to create a blurred, more natural application – never too much, but more a subtle touch of something – very much the way Lucia still applies and uses beauty today.
«Nooo. Non sapevo proprio che cosa fosse una carriera. Ero da sempre interessatissima alla moda, fin da piccola, ma volevo studiare Conservazione dei beni culturali. Uscivano le schede degli Impressionisti in allegato con una rivista e io le collezionavo, ma non mi consideravo creativa».
«Sono partita a 19 anni, dopo il diploma magistrale, come tutti per fare un’esperienza. Una mia amica mi disse: “Tu ti trucchi sempre e così bene”, e mi trovò un corso. Lo frequentavo solo da un mese quando l’insegnante disse: “Tu hai qualcosa di speciale: noi abbiamo un’agenzia, ti mettiamo sul set di un film a fare un’esperienza di lavoro”.Così sono finita su un set di James Bond. Ogni volta che incontravo una truccatrice le chiedevo se la potevo aiutare».
Everything to Lucia is about honouring what already is, never masking or covering up, but simply spotlighting the beauty and naturalness, embracing the so-called flaws, and ultimately bringing joy to everything, and everything being beauty.
The way Lucia shares about her work is gorgeous, it’s obvious that she loves her job and loves people. Her success seems to come down to a mixture of pure, undeniable talent, and a magneticness and honesty that is her. It goes to show that if you bring a lot of love to your work, the beauty of it all simply flows.
I was lucky enough to get in touch with Charlotte Tilbury’s agent, (who became my agent later on) to try and work with them. I was so naive in the sense that I was like, ‘Oh, I really love what this woman is doing; I really love her work, I’m just going to call her agent every two weeks’, and she would say ‘Oh, she’s not in town but call back’. She wasn’t brushing me off, she was just like, ‘This is not the right time,’ but call back. So, I would always call back until this one time, after a year, when Charlotte needed help on one show, and finally I got an opportunity. I was ready to give everything up to have that opportunity because I thought learning from people like her would be the most important thing, which it was. To work with her, and learn from her and all the people participating in creating these amazing images was an incredibly formative time – and it was in London.
Obviously London has a very specific beauty look and outlook. It’s always been in its own field compared to the rest of the world. London really taught me the freedom.
Growing up in Italy, everything is so beautiful, so perfect, but also so conservative. But London has this sense of freedom, it literally opened my mind and the way I see things.
I could really be whoever I was and admire these people who expressed themselves in a way that was so free, and so personal, and that’s so inspiring. It stimulates something in you that makes you think outside of the box. It makes you think with more freedom and less judgment, and that’s incredible.
Social media sort of perpetuates the same, doesn’t it? It’s almost like you see one beauty look in many ways. Well, that’s my experience and everyone starts looking a little homogenous, a little the same. There is a demand to look one way, for the aesthetic to be one way – its a very specific and very defined suggestion.
When I’m working on a woman, I’m always trying to retain her natural beauty and her natural features. When I’m doing her makeup it’s to enhance the differences of this person, if they have like big eyebrows maybe make it about that, or concentrate on their lips or eyes, and find a balance with their beauty already – sort of like interpreting something, rather then covering it.
I guess that would be what I stand for, the interpretation of beauty rather than just transformation. I think transformation can be exciting, playfulness can be exciting, and that’s what makeup does, it gives you a tool to have fun, but the respect for one’s individuality is what I’m drawn towards – and the honesty, it really is about the honesty and the transparency.
I sit down in my chair with a beautiful woman in front of me that I’m going to start makeup on, and I just start working and get lost in it. I still find a lot of pleasure in that. I guess, it’s my passion. Spending time connecting with somebody else, creating something, even just the gesture of ‘blending’, and that repetition is very soothing. You can make people feel good as well, you’re very close and you’re sharing the moment, you’re sharing a conversation, you’re massaging their face, you’re making them feel good – it’s a special moment. And I still really enjoy it, it’s such an intimate relationship.
Saying no sometimes is very important because you have to prioritise other things that will contribute to your happiness as well. And of course I’m lucky I have the opportunity to have that choice, but you know, that choice is also a choice.
When you do make choices (for you), it seems to flow in a way that everything is enriching to you and you bring something enriching to others, it’s not an easy balance and not always an easy thing to do, but it can happen. Of course, we have stressful moments and some periods don’t go that way and it’s not that easy. That’s just part of life, nobody has a perfect life. We are always going to have these moments and that’s okay, you just navigate them.
Sharing personal things, you know sometimes can make you feel vulnerable. But vulnerability is part of our life and we have to embrace it. We’re not always going to be perfect and nobody is, and embracing those moments is important.
I often don’t always feel the most confident or think I have it down, but other times I do. You just navigate those feelings, and try to embrace all of the aspects of life. It’s not always easy when we navigate our vulnerabilities because we have put up walls to protect ourselves from exterior things that could hurt us. But then sometimes, you can transform certain vulnerabilities into something strong about yourself.
I have a big birthmark on my arm and my hand, and my hand is something I use every day to work so it’s always part of the conversation, but sometimes people don’t even notice it because it’s carried in a way that’s more of a power than a defect, so I guess embracing what we are and our differences is important.
It’s a choice not to become a victim of something.
People sometimes say to me, ‘Oh, but you know, I don’t have time to do it’ or in the morning it just feels like a chore to them. I always say I do make up for myself – it’s not about whoever you’re going to attract, or the job you’re going to get, or whatever it is. But, you’re doing this for yourself, so that this moment (even 10 minutes), is almost meditative in a way.
That moment that I spend with myself in the morning, I never get bored. I enjoy the playfulness, it’s a very joyful moment to have in the day.
I start my mornings either using Suzanne Kaufman Purifying Cleansing gel or Aesop Purifying Facial Cream Cleanser. I like to then use Vinter’s Daughter Botanical Serum. It has been a staple in my routine for over 10 years now it’s incredibly moisturizing and keeps my complexion looking balanced and healthy. I am also a fan of SkinCeuticals Vitamin C Serum. It’s perfect for brightening the skin.
For my moisturiser, I use Augustinus Bader Rich Cream which provides deep hydration. To finish off I use the Dr Barbara Sturm Sun Drops. It has SPF 50 protection while adding a light and glowing finish to my skin.
In the evening, I like to Double Cleanse with Victoria Beckham Beauty oil and gel. It gently dissolves makeup and any build up without being harsh on my skin. I love adding a 111Skin Facial Mask to my routine when my skin needs an extra boost. The 111Skin Diamond Mask is incredible for improving skin texture and luminosity.
Skin Ceuticals Hyaluronic Acid Serum is great for intense hydration. It is then followed again by Vinters Daughter and Augustinus Bader Rich Cream. Before bed I apply La Mer Eye Concentrate. It helps to de-puff and hydrate the eye.
Finally I apply Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. It’s the perfect product to leave on overnight.
LA LUCE DI NAPOLI. LA VITA A LONDRA E LA CARRIERA TRAVOLGENTE NEL MONDO DELLA MODA E DELL’IMMAGINE. L’ANGIOMA CHE NON VOLEVA E CHE ORA MOSTRA CON ORGOGLIO. LA MAKE-UP ARTIST LUCIA PICA, DIRETTRICE OSPITE DI QUESTO NUMERO, RACCONTA ALLA SCRITTRICE VALERIA PARRELLA SE STESSA. E IL POTERE DI RIUSCIRE A FAR VEDERE SEMPRE LA BELLEZZA PIÙ AUTENTICA
Incontro Lucia Pica a Napoli, in una libreria storica di Port’Alba, la stradina dei libri di seconda mano. Ci ospitano Monica e Fabio, ci offrono acqua, caffè e silenzio. Lucia è come il suo nome: tutta luce, e come i suoi lavori sul trucco, e come la città che le ha dato le origini e dalla quale è bello partire e alla quale è bello tornare. «Se parliamo anche soltanto della luce di Napoli, quando vivi a Londra 23 anni: torni e vedi la luce arancione e rosa del pomeriggio. Io, quando torno, sento anche la densità dell’aria che mi porta direttamente ai pomeriggi d’estate: sono molto romantica. L’altra cosa che mi fa impazzire è che solo facendo questo tratto di strada per raggiungerti ho catturato tante conversazioni tra le persone».
«Quando sono andata a Londra ho pensato proprio a questo: metto il pantalone giallo del pigiama e nessuno mi giudica. Però dopo, crescendo, ti manca il senso di comunità che puoi trovare qui: a Londra non conosci nemmeno il vicino di casa».
«Sì! Quando avevo 10 anni andavo dalla vicina di casa che aveva un cassetto pieno di trucchi: mi truccavo di nascosto poi, prima di uscire, mi struccavo».
«Nooo. Non sapevo proprio che cosa fosse una carriera. Ero da sempre interessatissima alla moda, fin da piccola, ma volevo studiare Conservazione dei beni culturali. Uscivano le schede degli Impressionisti in allegato con una rivista e io le collezionavo, ma non mi consideravo creativa».
«Sono partita a 19 anni, dopo il diploma magistrale, come tutti per fare un’esperienza. Una mia amica mi disse: “Tu ti trucchi sempre e così bene”, e mi trovò un corso. Lo frequentavo solo da un mese quando l’insegnante disse: “Tu hai qualcosa di speciale: noi abbiamo un’agenzia, ti mettiamo sul set di un film a fare un’esperienza di lavoro”.Così sono finita su un set di James Bond. Ogni volta che incontravo una truccatrice le chiedevo se la potevo aiutare».
«In maniera abbastanza naïf ho chiamato la sua agente per un anno, lei mi diceva: “Richiami”, e io lo facevo davvero. Lei poi è diventata una delle donne decisive della mia carriera, con Charlotte. Si chiama Ayesha Arefin. Dopo un anno una sera ero sull’autobus e mi ha chiamata lei, ha detto: “Sei libera domani?” E io ho detto sì senza neanche doverci pensare, ero pronta a perdere il mio lavoro, avrei fatto di tutto. Mi vengono ancora i brividi. Da lì Charlotte mi ha fatta entrare nel suo team poi, dopo due anni che l’assistevo nelle sfilate, mi ha presa come prima assistente».
«Dopo otto anni sono arrivata a essere la direttrice creativa di Chanel. In sei anni ho creato svariate collezioni, tutte le campagne beauty, le sfilate e le campagne moda. Ora collaboro con Byredo, sono già tre anni: ne curo l’immagine e la parte make-up».
«Di tutto quello che è intorno a me: una mostra, una cartaccia per strada, le conversazioni, ma a volte anche la noia. Ho bisogno di annoiarmi perché scatta quella cosa in me per cui devo scappare da questa situazione di stasi e mi vengono in mente tantissime cose».
«È un misto tra ispirazione astratta e metodica. Io nelle collezioni provo sempre a mettere qualcosa di personale. Che sia un’emozione o una parte della mia storia. Ho sempre riscontrato che le scelte più personali hanno il potere di trasportare le vibrazioni più lontano e toccare di più le persone».
«La vulnerabilità: è il momento più intimo, quello in cui ti mostri, è il luogo in cui puoi innamorarti, è il punto d’incontro. Perché mostrando la vulnerabilità riusciamo a creare dei rapporti più profondi».
«Guarda il mio angioma. Quando ero piccola volevo essere tutta bianca, non volevo essere rossa e bianca. Dicevo nelle mie preghiere: “Mi fai svegliare tutta bianca, Gesù?”. Ma poi, grazie ai miei fratelli che mi hanno difesa, i miei tre moschettieri, e grazie alle persone che ho incontrato nella vita, ho preso una così grande confidenza con questa parte di me, che ormai incontro persone che mi dicono: “Lo sai che non me ne ero accorta?”. Questa mano va sul viso delle persone: dunque la mia vulnerabilità diventa un momento d’incontro».
«Per esempio ho fatto una collezione sul rosso. Con un rossetto sulle guance mi sento come se mi fossi emozionata».
«Quando arrossisci la pelle produce un colore, se piangi gli occhi si fanno rossi. Con il trucco evoco un ricordo che porta con sé un’emozione. Hai presente la mia matita per occhi rossa? Era rivoluzionaria come scelta: ho dovuto convincere un sacco di persone, giornalisti e consumatori».
«Entrambi. Lo specchio ti aiuta a trattarti bene ovvero sentirti meglio. Quando tu ti sei presa cura di te, quando ti sei informata, ti sei nutrita, hai fatto il tuo yoga, parti da una buona base che ti piace e arriva il trucco che è un bel mezzo per avere un momento con te stessa. Questi 10 o 15 minuti li devi vedere non come: “Sono orribile, mi devo
coprire” bensì “Che bello ora mi metto questa matita rossa sugli occhi”. Credo nel trucco come un momento con te stessa e come forma di espressione, non come forma di cancellazione» .
«In Rete ci sono tutorial in cui si usa una quantità di trucco sproporzionata: lì sotto non ti vediamo più. Io credo nella trasparenza e nel rispetto dei tratti individuali.Quando io trucco un’attrice o mia madre, ho un’idea: ma quando inizio a lavorare su quel viso prendo una strada diversa. Non ti voglio fare il naso diverso da quello che hai. Dobbiamo sempre pensare alla perfezione della bellezza canonica o possiamo vederci tutti in maniera più bella?».
Ich brauche anderthalb Stunden, um mich fertig zu machen. Aber diese Zeitspanne umfasst viele kleine Rituale. Für mein Make-up brauche ich 10 Minuten.
Was machen Sie sonst noch in dieser Zeit?
Ich starte meinen Tag mit einem heissen Wasser mit Zitrone, vor meinem Espresso. Ich meditiere und mache ein bisschen Yoga. Dann folgt die Beauty-Routine.
Ein volles Programm!
Ich bin schnell.
Erzählen Sie uns von den anderen 10 Minuten.
Die verbringe ich mit der Hautpflege und gehe dann zum Lippenstift über, von dem ich ein wenig auf die Wangen tupfe, um meinem Gesicht Farbe zu verleihen. Es folgen Concealer, Eyeliner, Mascara, ein wenig Augenbrauendefinition. Ausserdem benutze ich einen matten Bronzer zum Konturieren. Ich verwende ihn auch als leichten Lidschatten, den ich entlang des Wimpernkranzes nach aussen verblende.
Ist das ein spezieller Trick?
Ja, gerade wenn man älter wird, können die Augenlider etwas schwerer werden. Mit dieser «Chiaroscuro»-Technik, die innen hell und aussen dunkler ist, kann man dem optisch entgegenwirken.
Sie verwenden eine Menge Produkte, um letztlich ganz natürlich auszusehen?
Das kann man so sagen. Aber sie haben alle eine Funktion, und ich kann sehr detailliert mit ihnen arbeiten. Letztlich geht es darum, herauszufinden, was zu einem passt und wie man sich wohlfühlt.
Was machen viele Menschen bei der Verwendung von Make-up falsch?
Oft sehe ich Gesichter mit mehr Foundation, als sie eigentlich brauchen. Wenn ich Foundation verwende, trage ich sie mit den Fingern auf. Mit den Händen erspürt man das Produkt und erwärmt es, wodurch der Teint dann natürlicher aussieht, weil alles mit der Haut verschmilzt.
Was ist sonst noch wichtig bei einer Grundierung?
Die Wahl des Farbtons. Viele Menschen wählen den falschen für ihre Haut. Zurzeit gibt es den Trend, ein Produkt mit einem gelblichen Unterton aufzutragen. Das sieht in den meisten Fällen nicht gut aus. Ich bevorzuge es, die Farbe auf den Hautton abzustimmen und vielleicht einen etwas helleren Concealer für den inneren Gesichtsbereich zu verwenden, um Akzente zu setzen.
Gibt es noch einen Trend, der Sie irritiert?
Ich würde mir wünschen, dass wir zu weicheren, natürlicheren Augenbrauen übergehen. Nicht zu geschwungen, nicht zu kantig, nicht zu gestylt.
Was ist in Ihren Augen ein völlig überbewertetes Schönheitsprodukt?
Fixierspray. Ich möchte, dass die Haut atmen kann.
Wann sind Sie zum ersten Mal mit Make-up in Berührung gekommen?
Als ich ungefähr zehn Jahre alt war. Ich fand die Produkte und den Akt des Schminkens faszinierend, ebenso wie ältere Frauen, die geschminkt waren. Sehr oft besuchte ich eine Nachbarin, die einen Badezimmerschrank voller Make-up hatte, das ich stundenlang ausprobierte.
Wie kamen Sie dann später dazu, Make-up-Artistin zu werden?
Ich besuchte einen einmonatigen Make-up-Kurs bei Greasepaint in London, und das war genug, um mir diese Welt zu eröffnen. Von da an arbeitete ich in Make-up-Geschäften und assistierte etwa sieben Jahre lang in Teilzeit, bis ich Charlotte Tilburys (britische Schönheitsunternehmerin und Make-up-Künstlerin / Anmerkung der Redaktion) erste Assistentin wurde. Dort blieb ich einige Jahre. Im Jahr 2007 begann ich meine eigene Karriere, die mich nach acht Jahren zu Chanel und schliesslich zu Byredo führte.
Sie haben sechs Jahre lang als Make-up und Color-Director für Chanel gearbeitet, bevor Sie 2021 zu Byredo kamen. Wie unterscheidet sich die Arbeit für einen der grössten Luxuskonzerne der Welt von jener bei einem gehypten Nischenlabel wie Byredo?
Der grösste Unterschied: Bei Byredo ist es möglich, direkt mit dem Gründer der Marke, Ben Gorham, zu sprechen. Das machte es für mich einfacher, die Marke zu verstehen, seine persönlichen Erfahrungen anzuhören, seine ganz eigene Geschichte. Gleichzeitig ist Gorham sehr gut darin, Menschen wie mir kreative Freiheit zu geben. Byredo hat die richtige Balance zwischen Luxus und Coolness. Ich habe das Gefühl, dass es der richtige Ort für mich ist, um mich voll und ganz auszudrücken und eine gewisse Expertise in die Make-up-Sparte einzubringen.
Das gab es bei Chanel nicht?
Natürlich gab es das bei Chanel auch. Aber das ist eine Marke mit einer langen, bedeutenden Geschichte. Sie hat ein grösseres Publikum und höhere Erwartungen. Aber auch dort haben wir Neuland betreten. Schliesslich war Gabrielle Chanel, die die Marke im letzten Jahrhundert gegründet hat, eine echte Rebellin. Das hat mich damals sehr inspiriert.
Was ist Ihre Vision für Byredo, eine Marke, die seit zwanzig Jahren vor allem für Parfums bekannt ist?
Meiner Meinung nach kann ein Lippenstift eine Person genauso gut charakterisieren wie ein Duft. Ich möchte die Lücke zwischen Parfum und Make-up schliessen. Wir konzentrieren uns darauf, ein qualitativ hochwertiges und starkes Fundament zu schaffen, auf dem die Make-up-Sparte wachsen kann. Alles ist sehr durchdacht, was Textur, Farben, Inhaltsstoffe und die Geschichten hinter den Produkten und den Kollektionen angeht.
Wie viele Lippenstifte besitzen Sie?
Hunderte. Jene, die ich in meinem Schminkkoffer habe, aber auch Produkte, die ich für Chanel oder jetzt für Byredo kreiert habe, sowie welche von anderen Marken. Es gibt immer neue Texturen, Farben und Schattierungen, die mich begeistern!
Das klingt wie eine Sucht.
Ich würde es mit der Suche nach dem perfekten weissen T-Shirt vergleichen: Ich bin immer auf der Suche nach dem perfekten Rot, dem perfekten Nude. Keine Ahnung, wie viele rote Lippenstifte ich kreiert habe, aber irgendwie schaffe ich es immer, neue Farbtöne zu finden und mich für sie zu begeistern.
Teenager tragen derzeit viel Make-up, ältere Frauen weniger. Glauben Sie an einen Generationenunterschied, wenn es um Make-up geht?
Ich glaube, je älter man wird, desto besser kennt man sich selbst und weiss, was zu einem passt. Man experimentiert vielleicht noch, aber innerhalb seiner bereits abgesteckten Grenzen. Wenn man jung ist, ist man je nachdem noch auf der Suche nach seinem Stil.
In the days since our conversation, I really have been applying ‘Space in Between’ continuously, as it’s an ideal every day colour for me, a rose tone that leans brown rather than pink. The texture is sensorial dream; it glides on like velvet, remains creamy on the lips, yet doesn’t skimp on staying power. (In addition, the formulations are vegan.) I was even able to forgo lip liner, too, using use the thinner tip of the doe-foot applicator to cleanly draw a shape around the vermillion border and define the cupid’s bow. Later this evening, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I’ll be switching to ‘Fire Grace’, which happens to match the gel polish I’m wearing almost exactly.
‘With Byredo, we tend to have this mixture between primordial and sophisticated,’ concluded Pica, just before she left the call to prepare for an intimate dinner that Byredo was hosting to celebrate the Matte Liquid Lipstick collection that evening. ‘And I think, in the same way that a scent has a power of leaving a mark on someone’s memory, that lipstick does the same,’ said Pica. ‘It's also about pleasure, having fun. I sawPoor Thingsrecently and I thought… The matte lipsticks we’ve created here are products that Bella Baxter would enjoy wearing.’
Lucia Pica speaks to Wallpaper* about her latest collection of matte liquid lipsticks for Byredo, including a ‘knock out’ shade of red.
Lucia Pica is speaking to me over a Zoom call from the Byredo offices inLondon. She’s in town fromParisto mark the launch of her latest product range for the brand, the next chapter in her role as creative image and make-up partner. A revered make-up artist, Pica, who has previously headed up beauty at houses such asChanel, took the reins at Byredo in 2022, starting her tenure with a line of vinyl liquid lipsticksin muted shades of nude, and a collection of products called ‘First Emotions’ (which won a2023 Wallpaper* Design Award for Best Use of Colour). Now, it’s matte formulations she’s turning to, in a wider spectrum of colours that pack a punch. (One is even wryly named ‘Red Coma’.)Lucia Pica on Byredo’s Liquid Lipstick Matte collection.
‘I've had the shade “Calmer” on for most of the day, which is sort of like a 1990s, brown colour. And I just applied “Marriage” on top, which is a rich burgundy. I also really love “Fire Grace”, which is more of a blue-toned red. Then there’s “Space in Between”, which is exactly what it says: an in-between colour,’ says Pica, when I ask what she likes to wear herself. Matte lipsticks have a reputation for being rather drying and claggy, which is something that Pica was keen to avoid for the Liquid Lipstick Matte collection. ‘For me, when it comes to make-up, senses and touch are so important, because it’s something that becomes a part of you. And I didn’t want to make a heavy, dry, powdery matte texture. So what we have here is very nourishing and moisturising,’ she continues. ‘It glides on the lips very easily and the applicator means that you can do a bold lip, or blur out the edges for a softer effect. It has a very strong delivery of colour, but the experience of it is so sensual. I find it almost compulsive the way you want to continue to put it on and on and on.’
Love is a tricky, beautiful business—and one that makeup artist Lucia Pica looked to when envisioning Byredo’s first-ever makeup collection, First Emotions. “My head kind of went to the first emotions of when you fall in love,” says Pica. “It’s about the individual’s state of being at the moment, and how the body is inundated with these
emotions, which might be contrasting but are all happening at the same time.”
To translate said flood and flux of feeling into something tangible, Pica focused on color: muted mauves and rosebud pinks merging with burgundies and beiges, and even a touch of gold, all endeavoring to embody the rapture, hope, and hesitancy that comes with a blossoming relationship. The State of Emotions Eyeshadow Palette houses all of the aforementioned hues, offering accentuation via a brown-meets burgundy Kajal Pencil in Ambivalent and the Mixed Emotions Mascara of a similar shade. Lipsticks must be selected depending on mood, with Transported, a berried red, communicating a much surer sentiment than the nude neutrality demonstrated by On
the Fence.
The collection feels intimately of the moment: TikTok is flooded with makeup trends based on physical states and ephemeral emotions, a want of playful beauty transmuting to an opportunity to enhance those human moments rather than obscure them. “I love an intense emotion showing on the face through the use of makeup,” says Pica. “Bitten lips, flushed cheeks, things that happen really in your life. How the skin produces the texture of the tear, the blush in your cheeks, it’s all very sensual, all very alive.”
For an unabashedly romantic look, ditch the brushes. Pica urges fans to apply the collection (and V-Day makeup in general) with their fingertips, layering, smudging, and generally coloring outside of the lines. “There’s something about feeling the makeup that I’m interested in,” she says. “I want people to experience it.”
While Valentine’s Day makeup tends to center on the lips—the better for kissing, or thinking about kissing—Pica suggests celebrating with an enhanced gaze. “Maybe you’ll be on a date, so there’s a lot of talking and playing with eyes,” she says, recommending ample eyeliner to define and deepen, finished with a generous pull of mascara.
Should you opt for eyeshadow, Pica recommends keeping things soft and blurry, the better to mimic the dreaminess that you’re feeling. “You can sort of translate these emotions, almost as if they were coming out of your eyes,” she says. (Heart-eyed emoji, anyone?)
Whether you favor neutrals, petal pinks, or deep reds, a final, well-placed touch of warm metallic will help keep things celebratory—and optimistic. “A gold accent provides some brightness and glow, like when you’re in love, and you feel like you can do anything,” says Pica. So add a feathering of gold to lids, or let a gilded highlight offer extra radiance.
Lucia Pica was 10 years old when she’d go around to her neighbour’s house in Naples and try on all her make-up. “I would put it on and transform my face into an adult,” she recalls. “I wanted to look like these women that I had been observing. I had this real attraction to make-up and being playful with it.” It wasn’t until she moved to London in the mid to late 90s, however, that she realised she could pursue it as a career, after a friend in PR suggested she enrol in a beauty course. Since then, Pica has carved out a name for herself as one of the industry’s leading talents. Her abstract approach to colour and texture has seen her work with everyone from Armani to Chanel, where she was global creative make-up and colour director for six years.
Now she embarks on her latest chapter as creative image and make-up partner at Byredo, taking over the reins from Isamaya Ffrench. Pica’s vision for the brand is more pared back with a focus on the core elements. Her first drop, for example, Liquid Lipsticks, focused on liquid textures and the notion of transparency, bringing the make-up offering closer to the fragrance side for which Byredo first became known.
This week, Pica debuts her first full collection: First Emotions; a love letter to the complexities of the colour red. Deep burgundies, browns and rosebuds, those warm hues associated with the first flush of being in love. “There are different tonalities of love,” she says. “The different facets – erotic, sincere, unconditional, even unrequited. There is light and excitement in the gold and something darker in the burgundy.” The collection comprises two lipsticks, an eyeliner, mascara, and an eyeshadow palette housed in the brand’s iconic oyster compact. It’s quintessentially Pica, an exciting taster of what’s to come.
We sat down with the make-up artist to discuss her journey so far.
Lucia Pica: I would always observe my mum. She would only put a little bit of lipstick on, but the way she did it was interesting, it was more like dabbing it on. It looked a little bit like a stain. She would then pick up a little bit of that same lipstick and put it on her cheeks to create a really fresh look.
Lucia Pica: I remember in the mid/late 90s using an off-orange/ brown colour to announce certain places of my eyes. I wasn’t just putting it on for the sake of it. I remember precisely choosing one brown pencil over the other. I do remember doing a monochromatic orangey-brown peach eye and lip. That lip was a bit off, but I liked it.
Lucia Pica: I was obsessed with Charlotte Tilbury at the time, so I would call her agent every two weeks for over a year. Finally, after one year, I had the opportunity to work with her on a show. This is when everything changed for me. I assisted Charlotte for two and a half years and then started doing my own things; some shoots for Love with Katie Grand, a cover of Self Service; and a shoot for i-D with Alastair McLellan. I continued developing until I got the call from Chanel to do a beauty shoot. A year and a half later, after all the interviews, I got the job as creative director, and of course, six years later, I finished with that.
Lucia Pica: Last October, I got a message from Ben [Gorham, founder of Byredo]. He asked if I would be interested in doing a project for Byredo. I said, ‘Sure. We can talk about it.’ I didn’t even know that it was about developing the brand’s line. At the time, it had been a year since I had finished my contract with Chanel and I was just easing into different projects.
Lucia Pica: I had an incredible rapport with him. I really liked him, and I admired him. It felt like we were talking the same language. I liked the way Ben was talking about perfume and the brand in general. The way he based a perfume brand on memory and emotion was really attractive to me.
Lucia Pica: In terms of colours and textures and how they can help you to express yourself, I like the way he talked about make-up. The fact that he was highly creative and willing to try something. I just love that freedom.
Lucia Pica: For me, it’s important to convey a certain idea, emotion or expression, but you can still see the women behind the look. The way I use colour and texture is in an abstract manner. I think my main thing is to have a beautiful finish and not conceal the woman completely.
Lucia Pica: I want to bring the make-up closer to the perfume. The first texture we worked on is a liquid texture that penetrates your skin. The Liquid Lipsticks become a part of you, a signature. So, it is kind of like perfume. The fluidity of it is close to a perfume. We wanted to start with a clear formula and this idea of transparency. There are ten colours in the range, but I was interested in that clear colour as a starting point. I felt like the liquid, glass texture makes you feel an emotion. Also because you can use it on the eyes and lips. Its versatility was interesting. It’s very uncomplicated and it’s a part of you. I don’t feel like I need to go and do something very complicated. I can just do something that looks good, feels good, is easy to apply, and it says something about yourself.
Lucia Pica: There is a lot of space for beauty now. There is more experimentation and people are getting familiar with products. People are aware of everything such as textures, colours, applications and tutorials. It feels saturated but I think what is going to happen and what is happening now is people have the desire to come up with something honest, something that they believe in and are proud of. We can’t just fixate on marketing and constantly look at the numbers. In the future, we should be going even deeper into what we are trying to say.
My personal style signifier is a vintage suit. I have so many: I go back to Naples and there’s a tiny little shop called Doctor Vintage, and he’s my guy. He’s not a tailor, but he sources everything himself and has a good eye. I find all these nice old ’70s linens – usually light blue or dark blue. It’s men’s tailoring but I don’t really change much. And then there is the birthmark on my hand. I’ve been really lucky that I’ve met people who have seen it as this beautiful, attractive, interesting thing. When I was younger, there was this moment where I wanted to look like everyone else. And then I came to understand, well, this is part of me – I’m not going to be sorry about it for the rest of my life. I carry it well now. I am who I am.
The last thing I bought and loved was a The Row velvet evening bag, with a thin strap. It’s speaking to my nostalgic ’90s mood. I like things that are not too obvious or of the “now” – not screaming something.
The place that means a lot to me is Naples, because I was born there, and because I feel like if you survive that, you’re good! It’s interesting, it’s difficult, it’s a place with strong energy. When I think of the city, I think of the summer when the light turns orange and warm and there’s the contrast of the blue of the sea and sky. There’s also the texture of the air – this density, because the heat makes it quite heavy and sensual. I know I’m home when I land off the plane and smell the scent of the city. I get this feeling of unconditional love.
I’ve recently rediscovered breathing space. In the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to work on projects that sound interesting to me, like my work with Byredo, but I’ve also given myself more time to think, which allows for more creativity. I read this quote in a book recently that says, “your life is what you do every day”, quite simply that. It really shocked me. Life isn’t this idea; it’s what happens every day.
The best souvenir I’ve brought home is art equipment: for example, some Japanese watercolours. I do my own quite naïve watercolours – I’m not prolific, but every now and then I sit there and play with colours and something happens. Watercolour is such a nice medium because it’s kind of like it has its own life. You have to follow and see where it goes.
The best book I’ve read in the past year is The Body Keeps the Score. It’s about how the body keeps the memory of trauma and how the new generation of psilocybin and psychedelics can help with that. I find microdosing fascinating. I’ve read Michael Pollan’s book but I’m leaning more towards this one.
My style icon is Lauren Bacall, for her casual masculine-feminine vibe. The suits, the shirts, the lipstick, good brows, cheekbones, hair. Her look was so consistent. I’m thinking of that picture of her in a white shirt with the cigarette and the orange lipstick.
The best gift I’ve given recently was make-up to my mum’s friends – they get so beyond excited. I sometimes give them makeovers, though less and less because I’m usually so busy. But they love them. If I give them a make-up or beauty tip on how to do something, it really touches them. The tip I usually give people is: use less foundation. Your skin is not as bad as you think it is. So use thin, glowy foundation with concealer where needed.
And the best gift I’ve received is a star, which my friend named “Lucia” for me.
The last music I downloaded was quite embarrassing – a Bad Bunny track, though my niece thinks it’s really cool. I was on holiday with my friend. But my favourite song of all time is “Into My Arms” by Nick Cave.
The beauty staple I’m never without is lipstick. Before mascara and sometimes even before foundation, I put colour on my face. Lipstick first. I used to use a lot of NARS. Then I started to create for Chanel so I had a few favourites there. From the last Byredo collection I like Scarlet River, which is between a gloss and a lipstick. It’s quite easy to apply because it’s got a pointy applicator so follows the shape of your mouth. Sometimes I use pencils underneath as well. Lipstick is about a feeling for me – you brighten your face, you brighten your mood. Recently I’ve been wearing Transported, a reddish/burgundy brown, which I created for the Byredo collection that’s coming out in February.
I have a collection of jeans and white T-shirts, because I’m always on the search for the perfect example of each. The closest I’ve come so far is a Margaret Howell T-shirt – a men’s one. It has a good neck, is really strong and a bit more elevated. And for jeans, probably a pair of straight-leg, mid-rise jeans my vintage dealer in Naples found for about €20. I’ll also trawl the old-fashioned underwear shops in Italy – for little labels such as Cagi.
In my fridge you’ll always find Parmesan. In an Italian household you have to have that. Blueberries, goat’s milk yoghurt, French cheeses and charcuterie of some kind. White wine, beers. I like to have a little bit of everything. Among my friends I’m considered a good cook but at home I’m considered the least successful in the kitchen – they all cook amazingly well and I’m always the little sister, though very well looked after.
The thing I couldn’t do without is a bathtub. It’s not very eco, and I am trying on that front. I’m turning my radiators off but I run a bath… I don’t think I could take a house or a hotel without a bath. It’s the quickest way to ground yourself, especially when you go to a different country. Being in that element is comforting.
The last item of clothing I added to my wardrobe was a Celine tuxedo, to wear to a wedding. That kind of wider cut in a tuxedo is quite hard to find and Hedi Slimane does suits so very well.
The object I would never part with is a George Nakashima coffee table I bought a few years ago at a vintage auction that I think I will take with me wherever I go. It has a very organic, natural shape and has such simplicity and elegance to it.
The one artist I would collect if I could is Cy Twombly. No question. I love the naïvety, the colours… I’ve just bought a book about the houses he had in Rome and Gaeta. I love his aesthetic – I’d love to live in his world. For my moodboards, when I’m developing make-up, I’ll often look at someone like Rothko. It’s about texture as much as colour – the two have to work in combination when I’m planning a product. A shiny red and a matte red are two very different things.
My wellbeing guru is my yoga instructor Tatiana Avila Bouru, who does a very upbeat, dynamic yoga class. And I do Pilates in a studio, Rituel. It’s five minutes from my house. Sometimes I see Elaine Huntzinger here for acupuncture, including face acupuncture. I get a lot of shoulder pain from my work, so I need to keep moving. Next on my list since I moved to Paris is finding an osteopath.
An indulgence I would never forgo is crisps. British crisps and also the Italian San Carlo Rustica wavy ones. It’s a very commercial brand but they are my favourite.
My favourite website is Idealista – I’m constantly looking at houses in Italy. And Cult Beauty for skincare and make-up.
My favourite building is the Luis Barragán house in Mexico City. The blocks of colour together with the wood and the organic natural feel to things is so beautiful to me. I was so impressed when I saw it.
The podcast I’m listening to is a Dr Tara Swart one, Reinvent Yourself. I love her voice and how she speaks. I’ll also listen to the Chopra app for meditation courses.
My favourite room in my house is the living room. It’s got two sofas, and plants around and this beautiful wooden bookshelf. It all feels quite warm and it faces the Jardin du Luxembourg so it’s got green to look out on. I like to host a lot of lunches and dinners. The dining room faces the park also.
Some of my best ideas have come from boredom. Or, conversely, from conversations with friends. Either way, it’s about creating that space to think or let ideas bubble up.
The best bit of advice I ever received was on an uphill walk with my friend last summer that I was finding challenging, and she said, “It’s when you push your limits that the magic happens.” I laughed, then I thought about it. I liked the idea that you could break through boundaries you’d made for yourself. It’s about getting outside of the box and being comfortable being uncomfortable.
She is a make-up artist, he is a writer and director. Lucia Pica and Nicolangelo Gelormini discuss the siren-like place where they were born, which continues to inspire them, and where vulnerability and flaws become strength.
I would start with the city as a calling. Naples owes its name to the siren Parthenope, who lured a tormented Ulysses to her. You are the architect of a personal Odyssey. You left Naples at a very young age, traveled the world, yet this city continues to draw you back.
Exactly. And I think this call I still feel today has to do with the identity I developed growing up and living in such a particular place. A place I left to discover elsewhere, but which bound me to its sense of precariousness and its desire for redemption. I love Naples, even though it is not perfect, because I love its contradictions, its contrasts, and its decadent beauty. It is a city that overwhelms me with feelings of protection, desire, and anger. Conflicting emotions that are also tied to my identity.
Lucia Pica was born on June 7, 1976, in Naples. At 22, she moved to London, enrolled in a fashion make-up course, and quickly became Charlotte Tilbury’s right-hand woman. Former Global Creative Make-up and Colour Director at Chanel, she has worked with the most prestigious fashion houses in the world, from Louis Vuitton to Dolce & Gabbana, international stars, and renowned photographers.
Goethe wrote that “in Naples, everyone lives in an intoxicated forgetfulness of the self.” You, instead, return to Naples to rediscover your identity.
Traveling and comparing myself with different realities allows me to keep growing and evolving, but I truly rediscover my essence only when I return to Naples. The city does not allow you to pretend. You cannot bluff. When I return, I feel relaxed, more open, and I recognize myself more.
Is Lucia different in Naples?
Yes. But it’s not about behaving differently depending on places or circumstances. I think there is a truth that this city inevitably brings to the surface. Naples pushes you toward authenticity.
I understand, and as a Neapolitan I am proud of Naples’ ability to bring out emotions.
It is a city so real and so open to others that you cannot put up any filter. Lying is pointless. No one would believe you. You can decide to become anything, but when you arrive here, the confrontation with the city strips you bare. Everything you have learned is questioned. What is existence really? How do you truly live? Which emotions deserve your attention?
With Naples you cannot bluff, yet it teaches you how to do it in the best possible way.
From childhood you are forced to live through difficult situations, so you must keep your eyes open and stay alert to grasp everything. In the end, you develop a sharp intuition that becomes useful in the most disparate situations.
This city is the only place in Europe where this still happens. When fashion felt the need for truth, for something truly real and not constructed, it came here. For those who see Naples from the outside, it is an exciting and stimulating place, of absolute beauty and relentless energy. This is the impression of those who do not have time to dwell on its problems. For me it is different, because I hold both perspectives: that of someone born and raised here and that of someone who sees it from the outside. Every time it strikes me with its ability to inspire, I know too much about it not to also see its more suffering side.
You created an entire collection inspired by Naples.
I wanted to create a vibrant collection, and Naples was right not only in terms of color, but also in energy and contrasts. The city moves from melancholy to excess vitality. It is always driven by a double feeling: a depth that pulls you down and the vitality of the unexpected. You never know what will happen. You are swept into a vortex you cannot control. I played with these opposites, especially through the inspiration images of the collection. My personal story is like this too. I have this same duality.
When I saw your collection, what struck me was the union of the four elements—earth, lava, sea, and sunlight—with the city’s fifth element: the soul.
That’s true. Our land has a fifth element, its soul. Something not easily found elsewhere, and for me it comes from the collective condition of survival and its generosity.
Great cities have an atmosphere, and in this Naples, which was once a capital, has nothing to envy London or Paris.
It has a unique atmosphere, and sometimes it doesn’t even feel like Italy, as if it were a state of its own.
Yet Naples always lives in abandonment.
It is not easy to live here, especially because of my work, but I never ran away. I never abandoned it. I simply left to discover the world, without knowing what to expect. The city shaped me completely. It gave me inner strength, empathy, and emotional awareness that led me to unconditional love. Love for something not necessarily perfect. It is as beautiful as it is aggressive, as intense as it is bold, yet I cannot criticize it. I cannot help but love it. I feel very protective toward it. Like a mother. And I do not expect it to prove anything to me.
Accepting flaws means truly loving.
Being able to see things from a different perspective. I try to do this with myself and with my relationships. The birthmark I have on my body is a form of acceptance of imperfection. I turned it into something that makes me special and I show it as an element of beauty. I no longer hide it. But it took time. As a child, I prayed to wake up without marks, but fortunately God did not listen to me. Vulnerability becoming strength is a concept that touches me personally, that I inherited from this city, and that I share with this siren named Parthenope.
What do you miss about Naples?
I miss the smell and the light so much. As soon as I land, I no longer feel lonely. It’s very strange. In Naples, no one is alone. I perceive the city through scent, and I feel loved. Again.
"For this portrait, I wanted to show off my birthmark and reference it in make-up, in a playful way. It's my job to make colours; I have colours in my skin - it's a good message. People in England, where I've lived since 1999, are quite interested in strange things; they like eccentricity.
So 1 always feel quite comfortable with it. I'm happy and strong and accepted. It was different when I was a child growing up in Naples, where people are much more conventional. I was taller thon my friends in class; my legs were too thin... I just wanted to conform." Lucia wears a white vest by SUNSPEL.
"Growing up with three older brothers, wanting to be just like them, I'm perfectly happy in men's clothes. I like the way a suit looks on a woman - it counteracts even quite a bit of make-up. It tones things down; you don't feel as if you're overly 'done'." Lucia's white shirt is by CHANEL, and her pale blue high-waisted LEVI'S are from Resina second-hand market in Naples, "I visit when I go home, and I always haggle: three things for €20! The shoes, socks, watch and jewellery, worn throughout, are Lucia's own.
Hair: Damien Boissinot at Art + Commerce. Manicure: Elsa Durrens.
Photographic assistance: Antoni Ciufo, Florent Vindimian. Styling assis-tance: Fan Hong. Hair assistance: Kyoko Kishita. Make-up assistance:
Siobhan Furlong. Digital operation: Eduard Malfettes at DigitArt.
Production: Brachfeld Paris.
"This is how I put my skin on: moisturiser first, then concealer and highlighter on top. I don't use foundation. Or if I do, I mix it with oil - I like it when it becomes part of the skin. If I look tired, I don't use concealer to hide the shadows; instead, I'll dab a touch of red on top of the cheeks to brighten things up." The trench coat, by MACKINTOSH, reminds Lucia of her father in the 1980s. "He was always more fashionable than my mum and wore a suit every day with a polo-neck, casually put together.
I wear polo-necks a lot too, but my style is more 1960s beatnik, with my fringe, flick of eyeliner, miniskirt and Chanel pumps."
"Every emotion shows on my face - wear my passions close to the surface. The heat of Naples has never left me and inspires my taste for red. It was the theme of my first collection, Le Rouge Collection No 1, for Chanel last year: red lips, red nails, red eyeshadow. As a child I wasn't allowed to wear make-up, so instead I used to bite my lips to bring the colour to the surface. Now it takes a mix of three lipsticks to get the same effect."
Brownish-red eye shadow, perfect winged liner, crimson lips—Chanel Global Creative Makeup and Colour Designer Lucia Pica referenced some of her favorite runway and campaign looks in her pics. She also revisited the ’90s, when she says she “loaded on makeup to go to school—taupe shadow, black lashes, a brown lip. They were glamorous mornings!” Pica still wears makeup every day, even during the pandemic. “I definitely put on more eye makeup, as we are all using our eyes to express our emotions these days,” she says. “But I must admit, I also wear lipstick under the mask. I just use longer-lasting and less transferable textures.”
In this modern world, there’s not a lot of room left to dream anymore. It seems we’re working harder than ever, focused on efficiency and output. Perhaps that’s why Lucia Pica’s dreamy new S/S 2020 makeup collection for Chanel, Desert Dream, resonates. In a society with so much noise, she is drawing us into a quieter space where there is room to be playful and introspective.
The idea for Pica’s latest collection started with the story of a woman crossing the Moroccan desert. “I was so inspired by her journey that I decided to embark on one of my own in Namibia,” Pica says. If that dusty, hostile environment seems like the last place you’d expect to find Chanel’s global creative makeup and colour designer, it’s only because you haven’t met Pica. She’s a confessed romantic, meaning where others may see dust and desolation, she sees a place of otherworldly contrast, immensity and colour. “I always get lost in my daydreams,” she admits. “And I tend to escape to nature when I’m feeling stressed.”
Of course, like most adventures, the trip took an unexpected turn. “I went there with the idea that it would be all about the glamorous dunes and lunar plains,” she recalls, “but what caught my eye was the in-between colours of the quartz, basalt and shale, and the way they changed in the light bouncing around all that vastness.”
Perhaps part of the appeal for Pica is that the desert not only resists being reduced to a single idea, but is also endlessly metaphorical. Scanning the dreamy Polaroids shot by photographer Laura Sciacovelli, who accompanied Pica on the trip, a lone tree bent against the wind in that silent and empty landscape is almost meditative. Depending on your point of view, the desert seems either utterly beautiful or terrifyingly lonesome. The word Pica keeps coming back to about her travels and the resulting collection of soft, muted shades characterised by peachy rose tones and cool browns is “unfiltered”. Is it a response to how she feels about our overly curated digital lives? “I wanted to create a palette that exemplified the deep sense of calm I felt in the desert,” she says. “This is very relevant today. We need that sense of stillness more than ever.”
We also need a sense of ease, which is a huge focus for Pica when she works on formulations and shades. “I’ve always preferred more blendable textures that enhance the skin rather than mask it,” she says. For nailing a lit-from-within complexion, Éclat du Désert is a satiny pink highlighter inspired by the hunks of rose quartz Pica spied in Namibia. “I use it on my cheekbones, temples and eyelids,” she says. “You can create a halo around your eyes by simply dusting it on.”
And then there’s Baume Essentiel in Golden Light, a new take on Pica’s category-disrupting transparent hydrating stick that imparts a satisfying hit of radiance without a hint of sparkle. The flattering new shade adds the same iridescence but with a healthy glow, and can be swiped anywhere from lips and lids to cheeks and forehead. Not to play favourites, but “it’s one of my favourite products,” she admits. “It’s perfect for when you want a little light on the cheekbones and nose.” Needless to say, it’s an instant staple, alongside Éclat du Désert, a satiny pink highlighter.
Another formulation innovation making waves is Pica’s Ombre Première Laque, a range of metallic liquid shadows in shades ranging from soft apricot to burnt mauve. “I wanted to capture the contrast of the dusty, blurry desert punctuated by the blinding light and jewel-toned accents,” she says. The point, notes Pica, is you really can’t go wrong with these creamy metals. Whether you’re adding paler tones as an accent or smothering your lids in the darker shades, “it’s hard to make mistakes,” she says. “You can just keep blending it alone or with other shadows.”
Ultimately, I see so many women who are afraid of playing with makeup,” she says. “But these feminine shades are so flattering and easy to apply that it really is a chance to have fun.” Challenge accepted.
Being true, authentic, and pure. Originality is staying close to one's essence, purchase? which naturally reflects individuality.
Someone who fearlessly follows their heart and instincts.
My das once told me if you decide to wear a miniskirt, don't tug at it, don't try to pull it longer... just own it. I think it applies to everything.
I'm attracted to women who have strength of character. Whether it is kindness, confidence, wit, mystery... it is about them being unapologetic about who they are. The strength of Monica Vitti's eyes and voice inspires me. Or the perfectly unusual beauty of Isabella Rossellini.
Any character from a Michelangelo Antonioni film.
A Helmut Lang shirt with a slit at the elbows.
My grandmother's rose-shaped earrings.
I plucked my eyebrows really thin in the '90s. Like one line—it was really sad.
Big sweaters, T-shirts, and jeans. I wanted to look like my brothers.
I want to say the kind of restrictions that social media might bring— the sort of overthinking of your life and what you wear and what you do, just because it might be exposed, and it might be criticized. It must be really hard being a teenager right now.
I sometimes like to paint simple little watercolors, but I don't know if it's a skill— it's just an interest. I like the medium because the paint kind of directs you and you're not in control so much. Literally— sometimes it goes its own way, and you have to try to work around it. But I'm not an expert at all!
To be honest, I don't shop that much. I only go to this vintage place called Doctor Vintage. I get all my denim, like jeans, there. I was there this past August, and I got this really nice pale blue jacket, a trenchcoat, and a pair of high-waisted white corduroy trousers.
I go to Ristorante da Dora for fresh fish, and the best spaghetti alle vongole, or this old-school local place called Amici Miei for comfort food. Osteria da Tonino for lunch is like your mom's cooking, you know? I also like to have an aperitivo near Piazza Santa Maria. They're all authentic places, not overly done or anything. For culture I go a lot to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.I also love Cimitero delle Fontanelle, which is an ossuary full of skulls. And then, right near Posillipo, there is the Gaiola Underwater Park, where you can see submerged ruins and walk down to a little beach.
It wasn't a person but a town: London. When I moved there, it completely changed my perception of things and inspired me to push myself.
Did you ever imagine...this?" It's a bright morning in Paris and Lucia Pica, global creative designer for make-up and colour at Chanel for more than four years, greets me effu-sively.
The "this" to which Pica refers is meeting in Chanel's glossy monochrome HQ (with three Chanel publicists in tow) to celebrate the launch of a new foundation, Les Beiges Water-Fresh Tint. And the truth is, while Pica is technically right - I might not have imagined seeing her in precisely these circumstances (we first met 13 years ago when she was an assistant to make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury) I suspect everyone who knew her back then could spot the signs of future success.
Renowned for her bold approach to colour and ability to set trends, Pica honed her craft working for magazines like Love and Self Service, and as an assistant to Tilbury, having first arrived in London from Naples, aged 19.
Pica didn't come from a creative fam-ily. "My dad worked as a mechanical engineer in a factory, and my mum was fully occupied raising the four of us (she has three brothers). Noris hers the classic story of watching her mother painstakingly apply make-up - instead she would sneak into her neighbour's bathroom when she was 11 years old and raid her drawer of lipsticks. "Id lock myself in her bathroom, do a full face of make-up, then wash it off and go out thinking no one would guess. Years later, when she heard Id become a make-up artist, she said, 'You had it in you all along! so I guess I wasn't as good at hiding it as I thought."
Now 43, Pica's role is considered to be the most prestigious in the beauty world
- even more so since Chanel, a privately held company, released figures showing operating profits (for all their fashion and beauty divisions) of $2.7bn and revenues of $9.6bn.
"I start working on a colour collection about a year-and-a-half in advance," she says of the collaborative process by which she creates each new collection.
"Sometimes I go on inspiration trips. California. Naples. Tokyo and Seoul. I travel with a collective of people and create a mood book, documenting and collecting pictures and words."
Pica credits the house's founder Gabrielle Chanel and her love of travel for being the originator of these trips, although one suspects Chanel would have had rather longer than the four days Pica gets to explore new territories.
"Mademoiselle Chanel loved to hang out with people like Dali, Cocteau and Misia Sert - people who would influence her in some way.
I'm always thinking about her, and how she could portray what was happening in the reality of that precise moment and yet transform it into something a little more sophisti-cated. It's important with Chanel to look at the details, respect the house's crea-tivity, but also to remain modern and keep it moving forward. You can't do that if you're only responding to demand."
Once back in Paris (she divides her time between her home in London's Dalston and an apartment in Saint Germain) she prints out the pictures and gets to work in the studio, mixing up combinations of pigment. "And 1 think, 'Oh this colour can be a nail polish, or this can be a lip-stick: And then I see the labs and challenge them to find an exact undertone.
Sometimes they
come back with what we wanted, and other times we discover that certain pigments are more temperamental with certain formulas and won't work." (Unsurprisingly for a multibillion-pound business in which a nail colour such as Rouge Noir remains a bestseller more than 20 years after its introduction, Pica's studio is strictly off limits. I am forbidden from getting the slightest glimpse.)
Despite outward appearances
- with her jet black hair, dark plum lipstick and Manolo Blah-nik pointy pumps, Pica is the epitome of calm composure - her schedule is relentless.
Besides her main role creating seven or eight cosmetic collections a year, she also designs the looks for each of the house's campaigns. Then there's the six catwalk shows for which she must create a look. What is the process for creating make-up for the shows? "I used to have discussions with Karl, and now with Virginie Viard [who was named Chanel's artistic director of fashion soon after Karl Lagerfeld's death and you go through the idea for the collection," she says. "But fuse make-up that's from the entire archive, not just from the current collection. The important thing is to create what's right for the show"
Real wearability is at the heart of everything Pica creates. Her first "rouge" collection with Chanel, for example, might have seemed at first rather daunting - few people would think to paint their lashes maroon red. And yet Pica pairs edgy shades with colours that make it all easy to wear.
"The Les 4 Ombres Red eyeshadow palette has become a bestseller," she tells me, "despite the red in the palette being such a powerful statement colour.
Because, yes, you have the red, but next to it you have the beige and the dark brownso you can mix the red with those shades to dilute the intensity. Red is very wearable," she continues. "Your face produces red when you feel emo-tion, so it's not an alien colour for us at all. When I made up Kristen [Stewart] for the campaign, she said it's important for actresses to use red in their eyes as it makes them look more intense."
In a world of beauty vloggers and millennial wellness billionaires, Pica is well aware that she must deliver novelty for the heritage house. "What's interesting is that people are playing so much more with make-up now, but you can't be too abstract because otherwise it doesn't reach anyone," she says. "And yes, the colour collections I create have an edge, but it's more like. what do you call it? Turning it up a notch." (Later she mentions that four out of five of the bestsellers in the Rouge Allure Velvet range, Chanel's matte lipsticks, are also her creations - clearly her willingness to take a risk is payingoff.)
Her great talent, however, is her intuitive understanding of women's insecurities and her wish to help them look their best without masking themselves in the process. Never able to fit in easily as a child, due to a large strawberry birthmark that covers much of her arm and right hand, Pica grew up being acutely conscious of her looks. "I remember in high school thinking my birthmark is something that can be used as an excuse to hide myself away, or I can push myself, show it, not let myself feel like a victim because of it," she says. "There'd be a few awkward moments as the seasons changed where you d have to go from long sleeves to short sleeves, but once that was over, I felt confident again. In London people seemed to almost not notice it at all. It
It was accepted as a beautiful ornament."
She applies the same logic to her for mulations. More afraid of any constructed ideas of perfection than she is of perceived flaws, the sheer texture of the new foundation is in keeping with her own signature approach to applying base, which is about allowing the skin to look as real as possible.
*I have a real thing about being able to see through to the skin, " she says acknowledging that this runs counter to what other make-up brands are generally doing at the moment. She then demonstrates the new foundation on me by dabbing a few pumps of the watery product on the back of her hand squishing it with a stubby brush until the tiny globules of colour are evenly dispersed, and then applying it all over the face. She layers it until she feels she has the exact finish required, then adds a few touches of concealer from her Palette Essentielle (which includes a con-cealer, highlighter and lip and cheek col-our), to even out "those tiny things you said were bothering you".
She finishes by applying a touch of highlighter to my temples and cheek-bones. "We're seeing the best version of your skin," she adds. "There are only six shades of the new foundation, but between them they cover a much wider spectrum of skin tones."
After years of heavy contouring and highlighting, thanks to the YouTube tutorials via which a slew of thicker foundations and concealers have been launched (a report by market analysts Nielsen noted that there are now 679 unique colours of foundation available), is she ever under pressure from Chanel to bring out something a little thicker, or with a greater shade range?
Actually not. "They're pretty supportive of creativity in general," says Pica. "If I had wanted to do a heavy foundation I could have done it, but I wanted to bring something that felt more real, that was reflective of what I use on my clients and models. I believe skin should be transparent, natural and sophisticated at the same time. And what I really don't like about all those tutorials is that there's only one aesthetic - the one that dictates that women need to cover everything with a centimetre of foundation, and change themselves completely. I have a little bit of a nose, so if I was playing by the rules I'd have to be contouring my nose every day. I choose to draw attention to my lips instead."
It's a philosophy that may yet see Pica outshine them all. Her style isn't as flashy as that of Tilbury or as dramatic as the catwalk's favourite make-up artist Pat McGrath (whose own label recently launched in Selfridges), but it is earthy, quietly beautiful and most importantly — as she dabs a touch more lip colour on to my cheeks, working it into the skin like a blusher just as her mother used to do - it is authentic.
Says Pica: "Ultimately you're creating dreams, but you're also creating products to put on to look prettier." It might just be as simple as that.
Lucia Pica has one of the best jobs on earth. As Chanel Beauty's global creative designer for makeup and color, Pica's job is to dream in pigments. She travels around the world for color inspiration and returns home to Paris to identify the 50 or so lucky colors that eventually get made into a Chanel beauty collection. Did you put yellow varnish on your nails last summer? Pica came up with that. The Cut talks to Pica about what her job is really like, having "color block," and the emotions that inspired Chanel's new fall 2018 collection.
I do it in different ways, but usually I take myself out in the world and start recording. Sometimes I do a travel journey with a photographer and go around looking for the colors. For fall 2017, I did a California road trip. Another time, for spring 2018, I went back to Naples, my hometown.
Then I come back to the studio in Paris, where I work on a moodbook and create the concept. I look at the colors I’m attracted to: Which will make a good lipstick, nail polish, or eye shadow? I spend time in the studio mixing up pigments and colors. Afterward, we send them to the lab, and the lab transforms them into recipes.
For this collection, it was a little more abstract. I was interested in the way that artists used certain types of colors and texture to create intensity.
An “apotheosis” is the highest point, and I wanted to do the highest research I possibly could into the texture of matte. I wanted to go deeper into things — sort of like what I did for my first collection, exploring red to its deepest points. I wanted to explore how to express matte texture in different ways for the lips and eyes.
Normally, when you think of matte, you picture something a little old-fashioned, heavy, ’80s, and maybe it doesn’t blend well. In this collection, it’s really modern — it’s about the interpretation of colors and the texture itself. For these, I worked hard to make sure the eye shadows looked luminous; they’re translucent while being matte at the same time.
We have a three-in-one crayon for the eyes (the Style Ombro et Contour). You can use it as an eyeliner, inside your eyes as kohl, and also as an eye shadow blended all over the eyelid.
Then you have the lip crayon (Le Rouge Crayon de Couleur Mat). It’s a lip pencil and lipstick together, with a defined and creamy finish. I’m really excited about the Liquid Ink — it’s a liquid powder. I know that sounds weird, like they should oppose. But it’s a new texture we’ve dreamed up that gives you a thin veil of color, but still a lot of lip pigment. It’s nice for people who want bold lips but aren’t comfortable with heaviness of a lipstick. It’s diffused — which is a good word for this collection. It’s a welcome to the world of bold lips. I’m super happy with it.
I find this one to be more serene, centered, and diffused. When I picture it, it’s a woman who is super strong, elegant, unapologetic, and quite centered. She is owning herself. When thinking about the feeling that mattes would give you, I thought about serenity and expansion with earthy, velvet, and mauve colors.
I looked at a lot of art references, and the way they used matte to make really, really deep colors. I’m always going to museums. Anish Kapoor, for example — the black holes he used to create were an inspiration, Rothko, and Georgia O’Keefe landscapes in New Mexico. I thought about the technique being used to create light and shadow. I then imagined that same technique being used for eye contouring to bring out the eye.
Not yet. Maybe it will happen. It’s so confusing. I’m talking about this collection now, but two days ago, I was working on spring 2020. I just don’t know where I am most of the time. It’s very challenging to think of new colors and shades, especially in a brand that has already done so much. We are constantly checking to make sure that the color doesn’t already exist.
I’ve been quite lucky so far. What is important is to stay open and find compromise. For instance, sometimes we get news that a pigment is not reacting very well with the texture, like a certain blue doesn’t respond to a certain recipe. That’s when you have to work with it — add more gray or go lighter or darker or add shimmer or take it out. But I’m quite resourceful. Maybe that comes from being from Naples. I’m good at survival mode.
I mean — the moment that I was allowed. I was lucky, my parents were quite open, and I started wearing makeup around 15 or 16. I wore more makeup at 16 than I ever have again in my life. It’s just that feeling, you know — you just can’t wait to wear it and then want to wear it all.
But the whole thing started even before then. When I was 10, I was so excited about putting a lot of it on. I was fascinated the change I thought it would make to my face, that it would make me look like a woman. I liked that type of transformation, that glamorous feel. You could draw on your face — I found that really exciting.
It hasn’t always just been red lipstick. I’ve been through different phases, like ’90s supermodels and a brown contoured eye. I’ve done red, dark red, also a deep brown Rouge Noir like I made for the first collection. Now, I’m at the point where I can put on lipstick straight from the tube. I know it by heart. I could do it without a mirror.
A warm sea of blue, red, and yellow flows throughout this Naples-inspired collection.
By Nora Maloney
We could all use a vacation. Honestly, more often than not, we could use a vacation after returning from a vacation because that vacation just wasn’t vacation enough. In short, we work too hard, so when a brand like Chanel comes along introducing a spring-summer collection colorful enough to transport us, we dive right in.
In this collection, we explore Naples through the eyes of Lucia Pica, the brand’s Global Creative Makeup and Color Designer, who was born in the historic Italian city. Inspired by the colors and textures of her birthplace, Pica placed great emphasis on the lips, developing new fruity shades of the brand’s cult classic Rouge Allure, Rouge Allure Velvet, and Rouge Allure Ink. She also helped to develop four new shades of Rouge Coco Gloss—Parthenope, Sibylla, Poppea, and Aphrodite—including a baby blue that can be worn on its own or layered on top of other hues (important to note that blue-tinted glosses make your teeth look whiter!). The highlight in the lineup of colorful delights is Poudre À Lèvres, a limited-edition balm and powder compact for lips (and cheeks!) that comes in three convertible shades. The formula was inspired by traditional tempera painting techniques which were used in the making of ancient frescos.Also worth noting is Les 9 Ombres, an eyeshadow palette with shades ranging from bright yellows and blues to more neutral tones, Ombre Première Creme’s newest dusty green addition, and Stylo Yeux Waterproof in two greenish-blue hues. Chanel concludes the collection with 4 new Le Vernis colors in pale pink, mint green, bright yellow, and a vibrant orange—Pica’s first time playing with pastel shades.
Luckily for us, this is a vacation we never have to come back from— assuming it doesn’t sell out, that is.
By Laura Neilson
On a recent morning, Lucia Pica, Chanel’s global creative director for makeup and color, stops into Cafe Gitane in SoHo for a chamomile tea. In just a few hours, she will be consumed by all things Chanel, starting with its much-anticipated Métiers d’Art fashion show, which will take place the next evening. “I came in Saturday and took a down day yesterday because I have a big week ahead of me,” says the Italian-born beauty director, who mostly divides her time between Paris and London.
Soon she will begin a long day of makeup trials for the show, which will be held inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art — the first runway presentation to be presented there since Valentino in 1982 — for which Pica will create and oversee all of the beauty concepts.
It’s a massive undertaking: This year, Pica is responsible for a team of 37 makeup artists as they execute makeup looks on 80 models, some of whom will be wearing gold body paint. She has worked closely with Karl Lagerfeld to devise makeup that complements his vision for the show — and at today’s makeup trial, the team will be reviewing all of the looks with Lagerfeld himself. “He’s very open. He has a very strong vision of the collection, but then I’ll propose something and we’ll direct it from there,” she says.
Launched by Lagerfeld in 2002, the Métiers d’Art presentation showcases the craftsmanship of the brand’s various specialty ateliers, each devoted to a specific trade, such as leather, embroidery and lace. And, as the show is presented in a different city each year — Dallas, Hamburg, Paris, Rome — it has earned a reputation for being an extravagant runway spectacle.
As the brand’s creative director for makeup and color, a role she assumed four years ago, Pica is responsible for the creation of seven to eight new makeup collections annually (each comprising 20 or so new colors). Over the years, she has become known for her embrace of bold, rich hues, sometimes cultivated from dedicated research trips to places like California, Tokyo and her hometown, Naples.
Back at the Mercer Hotel, or perhaps more fittingly, base camp Chanel, an army of Chanel-clad employees with American and French accents occupy the downstairs lobby. Upstairs, Pica briefs an eight-person makeup team on the show’s beauty concept: a relatively minimal look contrasted by a single brush stroke surrounding the eye in black, white, deep blue or gold, to match the season’s Egyptian-influenced collection. “This show is inspired by ancient Egypt, but I wanted to have a more futuristic take on it — something really aerodynamic and strong,” she explains. The result is a kind of hybrid between Cleopatra and “Blade Runner.”
The next day, with just a few hours left until showtime, workers prepare the Met’s cordoned-off Egyptian wing for the big event. (Models will process around the Temple of Dendur for the show.) Pica and her 37-person team are stationed in the basement. She is moving quickly now, and she calls to everyone that they should finish as many looks as possible before they pause for rehearsal.
When the models return from their walk-through, several will also need to have their legs varnished with gold body paint (an especially dramatic nod to ancient Egyptian iconography). Some models have black-rimmed eyes, others wear swipes of white and deep blue. Each gel liner stroke, however, must be adapted to their individual facial contours. Pica moves from one station to the next, reviewing each artist’s work. “I feel good. I got a good night’s sleep, I didn’t make it to a yoga class, but I got up and did some meditation and chanting this morning. I’m getting really funny and spiritual in my old age,” she says, smiling. “I just have to focus today.”
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A little after 8:20 p.m., 20 minutes past showtime, a phalanx of models takes to the runway, the iconic temple in dramatic silhouette behind them. For Pica, there’s still much to be done before leaving for Paris later in the week: press appointments, a master class with Chanel’s team of U.S.-based artists and hopefully another museum to visit — the Whitney, to see the Warhol show — only this time, without her makeup kit.
D'où l'idée du rouge comme point de départ, avec des lipsticks et des vernis évidemment, mais surtout des blushs, des fards à paupières poudres ou crémeux, et même des crayons pour les yeux dotés d'une touche de rouge plus ou moins intense. Mention spéciale pour la mineEros, un burgundy vibrant, "qui donne un maximum de panache à tous les iris", et pour la laqueRouge Radicalqui, "sous son allure sirop, s'opacifie en deux couches, délivrant un fini chic ou rock selon le look recherché".
Une capsule incarnée par Kristen Stewart, égérie fatale de cette collection. Kristen Stewart visage de la Collection n°1 de Chanel. Retrouvez aussi sur Vogue.fr :Le premier spa Chanel au Ritz L’esprit de Christian Dior en 53 teintes Jason Wu for Caudalie: l’Eau de Beauté, version grand soir
coffee expert. Stationery lover. Wearer of red lipstick. Dreamer. Self-confessed girl’s girl.
And newly crowned recipient of what is arguably the biggest job in make-up: global creative make-up and colour designer at Chanel.
Lucia Pica is not so much the make-up artist to watch, as the make-up artist to wonder at. You only have to look at her house, her wardrobe and her body of work to recognise her instinctive ability to express how modern women want to see themselves.
“I do love glamour,” she says, “but my glamour is a bit more deconstructed. It’s a bit more lived in.”
She loves a bold, strong, lipstick look. Black eyeliner, never too perfect.
By Sarah Harris
With her singular beauty vision, the makeup artist Lucia Pica is bringing a cool new attitude to Chanel.
Lucia Pica's big love of color should hardly set alarm bells ringing. And yet it has. Literally. At London's Tate Modern. It's a Saturday afternoon, and in her attempt to really inspect the brushstrokes and exacting undertones of a Sonia Delaunay masterpiece, Chanel's new global creative makeup and color designer has accidentally tripped the security borders, and the alarm is now reverberating across the busy exhibition hall. Mortified, the Italian makeup artist slides away from the scene until she safely turns a corner, whereupon she bursts into a fit of can-you-actually-believe-I-did-that giggles.
Bold pops of color are her thing, and Pica-who will be responsible for conceptualizing and developing Chanel's cosmetics-represents something of a brave move for the French luxury house. She thinks nothing of applying glossy acid orange to lips, dusting lids in canary yellow ombréd-out to sooty black, or artistically painting a single stroke of Wite-Out white just below brows with the style of an Abstract Expressionist. But that's not all she can do; Pica can just as skillfully turn her hand to a natural no-makeup makeup look. I's a versatility honed on set with photographers Mario Testino, Mikael Jansson, Alasdair McLellan, and Willy Vanderperre, and backstage at shows like Roksanda and Peter Pilotto. She's also behind Chanel's beauty campaigns, making up the faces of Keira Knightley and the model Sigrid Agren.
At lunch at Brawn, one of her favorite local restaurants, not far from her home in neighboring Dalston, East London, she’s wearing vintage black Levi’s 615s paired with a chic white turtleneck. Her oversize stone-colored trench from Armani menswear is jauntily accessorized with Margaret Howell’s foldaway trilby and—what else?—Chanel’s classic monochrome ballet flats and 2.55 bag. “I’m really into black and white at the moment,” she says, smiling and sipping an Americano. “I’ve been Chanelified.“
Coco Chanel was such a punk in the way that she approached style and feminism,” Pica continues. “She gave power to women, made it about how we wanted to look and not about dressing to please others. She pioneered that, and it couldn’t have been easy.” The heavy-fringed brunette pauses before adding, “Yes—I’m reading a lot of her biographies. . . . ”
Pica, who grew up in Naples, was always interested in makeup but didn’t consider it as a career until much later. She moved at 22 to London, where she waitressed, working the night shift at Soho’s lively Cafe Boheme. After completing a brief makeup course, she did a stint at Shu Uemura’s counter and assisted a roll call of legendary female makeup artists, including Charlotte Tilbury.
“I knew she would be a star,” says Tilbury. “She’s got creative vision and really knows her art, film, and fashion references. It’s been great to see her develop her own makeup style over the years, which has a fresh, cool edge to it.” Plus, she adds, “I love her naughty sense of humor!”
Though Pica’s first full collection for Chanel won’t launch until late 2016, she is already clear on one thing: “I want the lineup to be modern and very straightforward. I want it to be super now, precise, and strong.” In preparation, she has been spending her time creating mood boards, gathering visuals that inspire her. Her references are broad: Art Deco postcards, images of Brutalist architecture, a snap of an edgy young girl spotted in an L.A. nightclub, a series of Polaroids of single-stem flowers pulled from the vast congratulatory bouquets she received when news broke of her appointment, and a handwritten note from an ex-boyfriend. When we duck into the florist Grace & Thorn on Hackney Road, a spriggy purple shamrock—otherwise known as a love plant—catches her eye. “Everything translates to a palette or a lipstick,” she says. “Whatever I look at, I see makeup.”
Lucia Pica est une maquilleuse italienne née le 7 juin 1976 à Naples. Ancienne assistante de Linda Cantello et de Charlotte Tilbury, Lucia Pica fait ses débuts chez Pop Magazine en 2008 avant de travailler sur les défilés de la maison House of Holland dont elle s'occupe depuis, chaque saison. Admirant les femmes "qui n'ont pas peur d'assumer un eye-liner appuyé ou un vrai rouge à lèvres qui claque", elle ne tarde pas collaborer sur les publicités de nombreuses marques de prêt-à-porter parmi lesquelles Ice Iceberg et Louis Vuitton (pré-collection automne-hiver 2010-2011). Après avoir travaillé pour Elie Saab (printemps-été 2011) et pour Giorgio Armani (automne-hiver 2011-2012), Lucia Pica transforme les mannequins Joan Smalls et Hailey Clauson en femmes fatales dans la série French Connection, réalisée par Josh Olins et parue dans le numéro de septembre 2011 de Vogue Paris. Interviewée par Frédérique Verley dans le numéro d'avril 2012 de Vogue Paris, elle apparait dans la série Outsiders aux côtés de James Pecis, Anthony Turner et Yadim, quatre jeunes talents du make-up et de la coiffure symbolisant la nouvelle garde de la beauté.
