I decided to take advantage of the offer I saw tweeted on VogueParisLive a couple days ago, who has set up their headquarters for fashion week at the Crillon hotel. There, Lancome is dolling up the press “pipole” (that’s French slang for famous people!) and the rest of us who want to play dress up too. And we did. I took a friend with me and we skipped over in our fashionable best, she in a black JPG dress and a long coral Lacroix coat, I in a plum Grazia Bagnaresi dress and Louboutin shoes (swoon!), and waltzed into the palace hotel as if we belonged…. but of course!

To locate the room where Lancome has its make-up stations installed, we had to pass through the VogueParisLive “éphémère” bar (a lovely word for temporary in French), where they have flat screens for viewing the fashion shows live as they roll, and to catch their minute by minute tweets of the who’s who in the Parisian fashion world. (i.e. VogueParisLive Carine Roitfeld: “a military show at Junya Watanabe, that we would like to see in stores already, and a desert camouflage make-up #PFW“ 5:05 PM Mar 6th ) So far it has been a huge hit! On opening night of fahsion week here in paris, they were expecting 250 people to come, they got 500! I have no idea where they put them all! I certainly didn’t see enough plush red velvet divans for 500. It seems there is no need for an invitation, so show up if you dare!

We found the rooms where the make-up magic happens, and the whole time I was expecting to see a line of women waiting for their turn. Guess what? There was not a stocking-wearing, high-heeled-bearing, hairspray-scaring soul to be found! We entered the room, which looked sparkling and fresh, and was surprisingly quiet and peaceful, as if they had been waiting just for us, merci beaucoup! Not at all what I had prepared myself for. Three gracious make-up artists greeted us, and we had our choice of the empty mirrors. Perched on the white and chrome stools, our vision was graced with a view of the charming courtyard below. Talk turned to make-up, fashion, careers and our afternoon activity (a concert at the Salle Pleyel) as the artists turned us into divas with their brushes, powders and palettes all lined perfectly in rows on their counters. With Enya playing on the stereo, fresh flowers scattered in vases and Beata Rosinska my make-up artiste delicately bringing my face to life, I couldn’t have felt more like a star than if I were one.

Lancome Paris will do your make-up for free at the Hotel Crillon in Paris at la place de la Concorde, March 4th to the 10th, from 11:00am to 8:00pm according to availability of the make-up artists. Rooms 41 & 43. Tell Beata “bonjour” for me!

(Beata Rosinska was hired by Lancome Paris for the occasion, but is a free-lance make-up artist. She can be contacted via her website : www.babybuzia.com or her email : babybuzia@hotmail.com ; Beata Rosinska était embauchée par Lancôme Paris pour l’évènement, mais est une artiste free-lance. elle peut être contactée sur son site web : www.babybuzia.com ou via son adresse courriel : babybuzia@hotmail.com )