Damien Dufresne, whose outsized talent built him a reputation, will express his vision of makeup through a gallery of photos exposed during the two day event, 24 and 25 June, at the Espace Cardin, Paris. Damien Dufresne is used to work with prestigious companies in the beauty industry, such as Amore Pacific, Intercos or L’Oreal. In cooperation with MakeUp in Paris [1], he has accepted to share his personal insight on the world of makeup.
MakeUp in Paris - At 22 years old, Manager of a hairdressing salon, in Lille -one of the busiest cities in the North of France, employing 15 people, then Manager of a "make-up bar" in Paris in 1997, a few steps away from the Place des Victoires, you obviously have a strong entrepreneurial spirit!
Damien Dufresne - That’s true! It’s one side of my nature. It probably helps me to better understand the constraints of companies I’m asked to work with. Incidentally, it’s through this "makeup bar" and because of my privileged contacts with consumers, that the Amore Pacific Group got interested in me. And, as you know, I have been working for ten years as Artistic Director for the Hera range, but I’m also a makeup man for the trend books of the Intercos Group and make-up man for the L’Oreal events.
MakeUp in Paris - But above all, you are a "make–up man"!
Damien Dufresne - Yes, I consider myself a make-up man and I pride myself of saying so. The side I like the least is the "Make-up Artist" one, I prefer saying I am a craftsman. A craftsman is someone who works with his hands. Which also involves passion.
It takes time to become a make-up man. I first learned the technique and it then took me some time to forget all about it to only let my inspiration express itself.
Today what means a lot to me is probably what interested my industry partners in the first place: working on the global design of a make-up range, participate in the lab to the development of new colors materials and textures, draw on my "studio" experience to use the creative and ground-breaking side of it and use my knowledge of what the "woman in the street" demands to adapt it to the everyday make-up.
MakeUp in Paris - What is the purpose of make-up?
Damien Dufresne - It is above all an element of fun, a moment of pleasure. It’s only made to make you feel better. We cannot make a woman actually look more beautiful. On the other hand, with make-up, she can have that feeling of looking beautiful and therefore more self-assertive. That’s what counts!
The perception of beauty is something very personal too. We’re all beautiful to someone ...
Beauty can sometimes also be exotic because of its differences. For my part, I am susceptible to Asian beauty because it has an element of mystery to it.
I have done quite a few make-ups on women and I am always amazed to see how one brush stroke can change the look a woman takes at herself. And this last look in her mirror illustrates the moment when she finds herself again, ready to face scrutinizing looks.
At the same time, make-up is something ephemeral, it’s a game, the game of seduction, nothing more.
MakeUp in Paris - What do you think are currently the major trends?
Damien Dufresne - I don’t like speaking of "trends" that much, because that would mean that all women should wear make up the same way, I prefer personalized advices because each woman is different, each woman is unique. A make-up changes throughout life.
A successful make is also a make-up you only do once for one woman only.
But to answer your question, we can say that we are in an era of greater limpidity as far as complexion is concerned, thanks to new technologies, that eyeshadow are brighter and that lipstick is making a great comeback.
MakeUp in Paris - Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Damien Dufresne - Inspiration comes from the woman who is wearing your make-up, the important thing is the emotion that must arouse from make-up. The same type of emotion, all things considered, I find when visiting an art gallery. The technique is important, but what matters most is imagination! Serge Mansau told me one day: "Never let go the hand of the child you were once... or you will lose yourself". I believe he was also thinking of the proportion of poetry we all have within ourselves.
MakeUp in Paris - What will be the highlights of your presence at MakeUp in Paris?
Damien Dufresne - What changes the most today is that I take pictures myself of the make ups I did with my colleagues. It’s no longer the vision of a photographer on the work of a make-up artist, it’s the same and single vision.
But I don’t think of myself as a photographer, it’s a full-time job, just like mine, it was just the desire to get behind the camera.
