Kjaer Weis

ECO-COSMETICS
a RefillaBle make-uP sYstem

GREEN LUxURY
"Ultimately what I wanted to achieve as an alternative that fused beautiful color, texture and design with organic, non harmful formulas. I think it's the way forward."
~Kjaer Weis

By Teresa Louise Johnson

Kirsten Kjaer Weis grew up in the countryside of Denmark, an upbringing that brought her closer to and taught her to value nature. Her love of design, art and color took her to a make-up school in Paris and since then, she has spent over 15 years as a make-up artist in Europe and the US. As a make-up artist, she came to realize that many of her clients were struggling with sensitivity to the majority of cosmetics lines, sitting down in her chair and listing o products they couldnt use. Kirsten created her own collection of make-up, choosing neutral colors shed worked with time and time again that she knew would suit every woman and opting to use clean formulations found in minerals, plants and wild owers. She liked that these ingredients not only brought out the beauty of the wearer, working well with a womans skin, but that they were so pure as well. She was happy to provide women with a product that didnt ght a womans body but worked with it instead. To Kirsten, eco-cosmetics are the equiva-

lent of eating an apple straight o the tree rather than munching on a processed cookie. She says her cosmetics are equal in both texture and color in comparison to high end mainstream lines but theyre also all-natural. Kirsten didnt stop at creating a product whose ingredients resonated with the skin. She took her collection a step further, creating packaging that is pretty and reusable. She likes to think of it as a design outside with a green inside. The compacts are made to t rell pans that can be recycled and replaced with a new paper carton when a new color is required. Kirsten worked with designer and well known art director Marc Atlan to come up with the package design, which she hoped would be glamorous and not too recycled looking. The packaging for the Lip, Cheek and Eye compacts is a work of art, while the show stopping red lacquer make-up boxes open up to metal compacts with a simple but elegant white enamel KW logo. The compacts are known for the sound

they make when clicking shut, as it is similar to a Mercedes door closing; it gives a whole new meaning to green luxury. Thats not to say theyll deplete the bank account. KW compacts are a one-time purchase of between $44 and $54 and the rells are priced from $20 to $24. Though the colors Kirsten has chosen for her collection are neutral so far, shes adding a blue eye shadow and a dark berry lip stain for fall. The range might be small at present but it is designed to atter a variety of skin tones. Lip tints are available in raspberry red, pink, nude and plum colors while the cream blush is oered in coral, rose and tan. For the future, Kirsten hopes that Kjaer Weis will continue to grow. Shed like to add foundation, powder and mascara to the collection, making it a full line of natural cosmetics. See her current collection and the innovative KW packaging at www.kjaerweis.com.

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