Beauty at the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival is a buzzing hub of actors, filmmakers, models and socialites who all come down to Cannes to demonstrate to the public – among other things – the latest fashion and style trends.

All major brands are competing for exposure during the Cannes Film Festival as the world media is discussing with gusto the latest frocks and looks from the red carpet. So, it is rather fitting that major beauty brands are competing with each other –shoulder to shoulder – for the attention of celebrities and stars. What better way to promote to the wider audience and to be associated with the luxury and glamour?

In particular, three major beauty titans traveled to Cannes this year with the aim to win the hearts of celebrities and leave their lasting legacy in the world of beauty.

L’Oreal – Cannes Film Festival official sponsor

The French beauty brand L’Oreal was founded in 1909 and since 1997 has been an official sponsor of the Cannes Film Festival. The beauty brand is solely responsible for some exceptional beauties walking the red carpet of the Festival as it ensures L’Oreal ambassadors attend and promote the festival.

Andie McDowell, Eva Longoria, Julianne Moore are all Cannes Film Festival veterans. In case if you wondered, they are there to promote L’Oreal as long-standing ambassadors. So much so that various L’Oreal ambassadors put together the film schedule for the outdoor cinema outside the Palais Des Festivals in 2018.

As to the engagement with a wider audience, this year, L’Oreal went all-China (!). The brand brought three unknown -to the West- bloggers from China with a total of ’18M’ social media followers to Cannes. And since ‘Social Media Influencer‘ has become a dirty word, dirtier than ‘bloggers’, the Parisian beauty giant renamed them as ‘opinion leaders‘. Bless.

Chinese ‘influencers’ attended L’Oreal ‘headquarters’ in Cannes overlooked by the Martinez hotel and enjoyed the personalised makeup sessions. So you will be excused if you haven’t heard much about L’Oreal in Cannes. Nothing better than asking communists living in a fascist state to promote a western beauty brand. 

Dior Beauty Suite in Cannes celebrated the 10th anniversary

Another Cannes veteran that deserves a prominent mention is Dior. Dior beauty suite is located on the 6th floor of Majestic hotel overlooking the famous and one of the most prestigious red carpets in the world. In fact, the suite has one of the best vantage points to the main attraction of Cannes Film Festival – the arrival of the stars – as long as your eyesight allows to distinguish the honourable attendees from that height.

Dior established the luxurious and spacious suite for so long that they have their own name plaque on the sixth floor. The interior design is a la Dior and emanates luxury. Rightly so, as the suite is reserved for those lucky ones invited to walk the red carpet. Think Bella Hadid, Virginie Ledoyen, and Olivia Culpo who all attended the suite during 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

You absolutely must book an appointment as the suite gets very busy in the run-up of premieres. Even in the busiest times, the suite is surprisingly quiet and impeccably clean – you won’t see any makeup displays anywhere. Instead, the Makeup Artist carries a little makeup organiser in their hands as if afraid to spoil the expensive-looking interior.

The receptionist will offer you cold drinks and champagne. Everything in the suite is created to make VIP attendees feel looked after with hushed music and white-gloves service. The Dior Beauty suite is all about VIP customer service and self-importance of those attending.

Givenchy beauty terrace in Cannes

Last but not least, the Cannes Film Festival welcomed a newcomer this year. The Givenchy beauty terrace situated at the Albane Terrace of JW Marriott hotel invited press and celebrities for the first time this season to discover the brand and celebrate the launch of new Givenchy mascara – Givenchy Disturbia 2019.

The suite consisted of two well-lit makeup studios separated from the actual terrace with floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors. The beauty studio is truly a feast to the eye and a find for any beauty lover. The colourful sleek and stylishly packaged makeup and beauty products are neatly lined up on two makeup tables. The makeup artists – who were working for Givenchy for over 10 years – are ready to work their magic with their make up brushes.

The atmosphere is lively and warm. “It’s our first year in Cannes and the response has been great so far,” commented Clotilde Martory, the International Events Manager for Givenchy Perfumes. She continued: “We do get quite busy with bookings and we are certainly returning back to Cannes next year.”

The beauty is a saturated market and it is great to see a ‘newcomer’ creating waves this year in Cannes.

Which suite will you be heading to next year?