Beauty Biographies is a column where we ask some of our favourite people to reflect on the beauty items that have influenced their lives and have a sentimental place in their heart. From their grandmother’s perfume to the eyeshadow they wore to their first dance these are the products that have had a significant impact on them and that instantly transport them back to a particular time, place, or person.
Belgian make-up artist Inge Grognard is probably known best for her work on Balenciaga campaigns these days, as well as Vetements' runways. However long before she was a Demna Gvasalia key collaborator she was working closely with Martin Margiela – the two collaborated on around 40 collections over 20 years.
In the 80s, when she started her career, she was emerging alongside the Antwerp Six: a group of designers including the likes of Dries Van Noten and Walter Van Beriendonck, of which she is kind of considered a de facto member. Her aesthetic is typically dark and discomforting – looks that wouldn't feel out of place in an arthouse horror film – and captured best by her husband, the photographer Ronald Stoops, with whom she is a long term collaborator.
Below, she picks the beauty products that shaped her life, as well as some of the products that she can't go without on set today.
Tokalon Day Cream
As a small child, I remember the day cream Tokalon that my grandmother used. That smell. I grew up in a small place called Genk in Belgium, my grandmother was from the seaside in Bruges. She cooked very well, so I suppose the smell of her day cream and cooking smells bring back a good memory. The cream smelled old fashioned, think something between roses and herbs. Bourjois blush and powder also reminds me of her. Her ritual was to put it on, on top of the day cream, and the smells mixed together.
Bergasol
As a teenager, I always used sun product Bergasol. For me, the Bergasol smell is about having holidays and swimming pools and being young, it reminds me of my first steps with boys and having a lot of fun with my friends.
Shiseido Lipstick
During the beginning of my career at the end of the eighties, the best lipstick invention came from Shiseido. The long tubes were best in red and beige. One end was matte and the other gloss. When I knew they were going to discontinue I bought everything I could find and put them in the fridge!
Caudalie Beauty Elixir
For a product I use day to day, Caudalie Beauty Elixir – because I use it a few times a day to refresh my face. Other skincare products I use are Sisley Emulsion Ecologique and Erborian CC High Definition Radiance Face Cream.
MAC Cosmetics Retro Matte Lipcolour
And finally, in my make-up bag: Marc Jacobs Gel Eyeliner Black and MAC Cosmetics Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in the shade Feels So Grand.
