FASHION : Hot Dots: Real or Not, Moles Make a Mark
Forget fuller lips, higher cheekbones, perfectly arched eyebrows. The beauty mark is the facial feature to flaunt this summer.
It’s on the cover of magazines--a prominent feature on famous faces ranging from super model Cindy Crawford to rock star Janet Jackson. It’s a regular on MTV, seen on the cheeks of dance diva Paula Abdul and soulful singer Lisa Stansfield. It’s even been on world tour, hovering above the pouty lips of the ubiquitous Madonna. Demi Moore, Dolly Parton and, not to be forgotten, La Liz (Taylor) are on the mark as well.
Unlike most “beauty” trends, men are getting equal time with this one. Dark dots are points of interest on the mugs of Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, and, most noticeably right now, Al Pacino, who plays Dick Tracy’s big-screen nemesis, Big Boy Caprice.
Wanna-bes are facing up to the challenge by playing up their own moles, or by adding a fake by way of eyebrow pencils, paste-on spots, or even tattoos.
Real or imitation, beauty experts say, beauty marks evoke old-fashioned Hollywood glamour.
“Remember Mae West? Marilyn? Amanda Blake, who played Miss Kitty on “Gunsmoke”? They really were special-looking ladies,” says Hollywood makeup artist and beauty book author Michael Maron, who caters to the celebrity crowd.
“Why? Because they all had beauty marks,” says Maron, whose famous clients with a cheeky spot include Arlene Dahl, Rhonda Fleming, Gloria De Haven and Cassandra Peterson, a.k.a. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
Maron and other makeup artists credit the high-profile moles of Hollywood’s newer generation of beauties--Madonna, Abdul, Jackson and Moore--with encouraging the new generation of beauty marks.
“Fans like to copy the looks--even the bodies--of stars,” says Paule McKenna, owner of Aureus, a Beverly Hills makeup and skin care salon. And that means duplicating everything from frizzed hair to teeth to breast size. “So why not the beauty mark?” asks McKenna, who tends to the looks of several celebrities, including Tina Turner and Anne Archer.
“Because the glamour look is going strong right now, women are associating glamour with the beauty mark,” McKenna says. “It’s a return to an era of flirtatiousness and sex appeal, an image that celebrities, and women in general, are trying to recapture.”
Beauty expert Eugenia Weston agrees.
“I’ve been doing glamour makeup for years and the beauty mark seems to be coming back, thanks to the younger stars, like Madonna. It’s very glamorous and fashion-forward,” says Weston, who operates several Senna makeup boutiques in the Los Angeles area.
Weston, who has created makeup looks for actresses Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, says that when she has to fake a beauty mark, she usually puts it above the upper lip, instead of on the cheek. “It gives focus to the lip and makes it more voluptuous,” she says.
She says women can re-create that image themselves by using a brown or black eyebrow pencil to emphasize a natural beauty mark. The look can be faked by painting the dot with a brown or black felt-tip eye-liner pen, which can be found for less than $10, and patting on powder to set the mark.
As another option, McKenna suggests gluing tiny, round velvet dots onto the face. The dots are reusable, priced around $2 per package, and can be purchased at beauty supply shops.
For more daring women, the mark can be “tattooed” in a procedure that is as painless “as tweezing your eyebrows,” says Lisa Sinoway, a state-licensed aesthetician (advanced skin specialist) and owner of Face to Face, an Encino skin care and makeup shop.
“It’s become popular,” Sinoway says about the beauty mark she creates by implanting droplets of pigment beneath the skin in a process that takes just minutes. The price ranges from $100 to $300, depending on size, and the mark lasts from three to five years.
Sinoway, who has been in the beauty business for more than 10 years, says, “This is the year of the beauty mark. I’ve been getting request after request, especially from women in their early 20s and from people in the beauty industry.”
No matter how it is created--by tattoo, implant or a pencil--where a beauty mark is placed is important.
It sends a definite message, says Aida Grey, a Beverly Hills beauty expert and author of “Aida Grey’s Beauty Book.”
“Remember, a beauty mark spells romance,” she says. “If you place it on the upper lip close to the corner of the mouth, that means ‘kiss me.’ If the beauty mark is on the cheek or near an eye, it means flirtation. And if you paint it half an inch beneath the lower lip, close to the chin, it means disappointment. You flirted and wanted to be kissed, but he did not make the advances.” In case of disappointment, Grey suggests moving the beauty mark, “so he will get the message.”
MAKING YOUR MARK
WITH A HAIR PIN: Dip the pin into mascara, dab it onto your face in a circular motion, let dry and set with powder. For best results, place the mark half an inch above the upper lip, preferably of a pouty mouth.
WITH GLUE: Tiny round velvet dots, which can be purchased at beauty supply shops, can be glued onto the face with eyelash glue. You can also dab on latex eyelash glue, which will dry black and wash off easily.
WITH A PENCIL: Paint a dot--in a circular motion--with a brown or black felt-tip eye-liner pen or pencil, then pat with powder to prevent smudging. To make a mark more noticeable, use less blush on your cheeks and a matte terra-cotta color on your lips.
