Dame Edna for M.A.C

beauty
12/9/2008

Dame Edna - MAC's New Megastar!


by Kate Spicer


With the launch of her new make-up line for MAC fast approaching, it seems there is no stopping the fast talking, no-nonsense, self-proclaimed 'Megastar' from down-under. Kate Spicer gets the lowdown from the legendary Dame Edna, on everything from personal vanity to 'Kanga-Rouge' (yes, really)...
It was only a matter of time before MAC, the most theatrical of the over the counter cosmetics brands, found itself collaborating with one of the most powerful female icons living today, Dame Edna Everage. We live in depressing times for women, when statistics show that young women in the western world are keener to ape the saddest examples of the female of the species, seen in the silicon tits n ass idiots of WAGs, glamour models, poledancers and professional Kiss n Tellers, than they are teachers, MPs, actresses or lawyers. Dame Edna has been an unashamed Alpha female, never afraid to blow her own trumpet, always ready to give herself the big up, she never resorts to seedy displays of flesh and cleavage, preferring instead to let her sharp wit and perfumed purple hair do, be sufficient loudhailers for her womanly excellence. 

For those of us who love playing dress up, she precedes even the patron saint of such activity, Leigh Bowery, having her first official outing in 1955. Her alter ego, 74 year old Aussie, Barry Humphries, is an exceptionally intelligent man, who has made a living from acting, writing and generally just being very funny indeed. He can count among his friends some of the funniest men of the 20th Century, including Spike Milligan and Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. More than MACs previous collaborators, such as Pamela Anderson and Hello Kitty, Dame Edna Everage deserves the soubriquet she often gives herself, that of living legend. Here, we ask for her less than humble thoughts on her MAC line...

Kate Spicer: Please feel free to share as many beauty tips as you like with the avant garde and stylistically brave and pioneering Ponystep reader, we are your natural fan club in an ideological sense as well as a fashion one. 

Dame Edna: I don't really have any beauty tips as I believe beauty comes from within and with just a little help from my gorgeous new MAC range. I would say though that less is more as far as I'm concerned. I spend very little time doing my makeup, no more than 10 minutes using my favourite MAC products sparingly. I also never dress for the approval of others. Other people are usually wrong. I dress only to please myself and the world is sure to follow. 

KS: How does make up alter your mood, your personality, your behaviour? 

DE: My mood is always the same. Being the natural beauty that I am, I am always in a good mood and this radiates through my personality. 

KS: What are your make up bag essentials?

DE - I never like to leave home without my favourite MAC product (from my own range incidentally), Kanga-Rouge lipstick! 

KS: Which beauty product should be worn with Mies van der Rohe's design axiom 'less is more' in mind?

DE: All beauty products should be worn with less is more in mind! 

KS: Conversely, which product can you never wear too much of?

DE: There's nothing worse than someone who over indulges, possum. I believe that a little of everything can be good for you but too much of something is never a good idea. Sorry, call me old fashioned but I do. 

KS: It is generally accepted that men do not find very powerful women sexy, how do you retain sex appeal and accessibility when you reach megastar/icon status?

DE: I am not a conventional beauty. I would be a foolish woman if I said I was, but I have a magnetic affect on others and that has always been the basis of my extraordinary self confidence. People adore me for obvious reasons - I adore myself! This isn't vanity, its honesty. That and my skin is the foundation of my global appeal 

KS: How long did it take you, personally, to work on this line?
 
DE: I was in the lab from start to finish. I was in the art department designing the beautiful packaging. It's been a thrilling experience for me. Unlike those other glamour-pusses who put their names to products, I was in no hurry because I knew I would still be around in 20 years' time. 

KS: When you were brainstorming and putting together mood boards for this line, what kind of images and themes commonly came up?

DE: Images of my native homeland of Australia (I'm Australian incidentally) and the lovely creatures and marsupials that inhabit it were used. We also talked lots of COLOUR!

KS: The colours are quite garish, who is going to buy your line? 

DE: I'm sure you don't mean "garish"! I have tested all the colours personally, in some serious situations and in some romantic situations, which can sometimes involve quite a bit of wear and tear. MAC have thanked me for looking vivid. Whatever happened to vivid women? I see people who really, quite frankly, look as though they belong in a nunnery, and not on the streets of a vibrant city. 

KS: If you were a man, what kind of women would you find attractive?

DE: One such as myself! 

KS: Most megastars have tried cocaine at least once; when you tried it, what did you make of the stuff?

DE: You may be right when you say "most" however not this megastar. I don't need yucky powders to get my kicks. I get my kicks out of enjoying the misfortunes of my adoring possums who come to worship in my theatres on a daily basis and bask in the glory that is me. 



M.A.C Dame Edna is available at all locations and at www.maccosmetics.co.uk from 27 Dec.


KS.

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