Paris Beauty: A Mother-Daughter Makeover in Paris

Since moving to Paris, I’ve gotten older, and my sweet, cuddly five-year-old is now a mature teen. It’s funny how that happens. With the passage of time, my skin has changed, and my daughter has gone from playing dress-up to wearing makeup. This fall I realized we both could use a professional makeover to learn some Paris beauty tips that would help us deal with our perfectly aged selves. It was settled, and we both agreed that a makeover in Paris was in order.

Because I am more of a traditional girl, and the teen is strictly modern, we needed two very different solutions. I started looking for an option for the teen first. My beautiful, very fashion-forward stepdaughter immediately suggested Gloss’Up Beauty Bar on the rue Charlot, in the hip, young northern Marais neighborhood. Gloss’Up started as an agency for professional makeup artists, but a chance encounter with Viseart professional makeup convinced the owner that the public deserved the same quality materials the professionals were using, so she opened the studio.

I signed my daughter up for a one-hour makeup lesson, challenging the artist to find a diplomatic compromise between the dark, heavy eyeliner she loved and the cleaner, more age-appropriate look I could live with. He did a fantastic job teaching her how to apply her makeup in a clean, flattering way, while helping me accept the use of black on her baby-doll porcelain skin. She looked so great I bought one of everything so that she could keep the look up at home.

Gloss’Up also offers an eyelash bar, a nail patch salon, beauty brunches and makeup classes for friends, so you can go with a group and make a fun afternoon of it.

I could have had a fun time at Gloss’Up myself, but wanting the teen to have something of her own, I set out for a studio to teach me how to look my best. Fortuitously, a friend invited me to a makeup class at By Terry just a week later. Terry de Gunzburg was an internationally acclaimed makeup artist who worked on photo shoots for magazines like Vogue before taking over the beauty department at Yves Saint Laurent, and eventually starting her own brand, By Terry.

She has an entire collection of makeup and skin-care products, much of it rose scented and all of it simply luxurious. So luxurious that there is even an haute couture studio where you can have foundations, blushes and eye colors blended just for you. It is a long process that takes several weeks and requires a couple of return visits.

The salon also offers private lessons for 60 or 90 minutes, as well as group classes that you can book with your friends to make a party. Getting a makeover in Paris is a souvenir you’ll be able to enjoy every morning once you’re home!

Related Links/Info
Gloss’Up Beauty Bar

By Terry
36, passage Véro-Dodat, in the 1st Arrondissement.
01 44 76 00 76. Find out about classes.

Editor’s note: As a GG2P Travel Club member, you’ll receive a special gift if you book a re-looking experience (beauty or fashion makeover) with Eva Eriksson, and discounts from Eva Lebel at EL Conciergerie if you book one of her high-end hair or makeup artists, who will come to your hotel or apartment.