Born with a Brush in Her Hand

If anyone has a finger on the pulse of fashionable makeup colors and techniques, it is Southern Cal’s Eugenia Weston, founder of Senna Cosmetics.

“I love faces and transforming them,” Eugenia said. “I study them so deeply it has become an obsession.”

“She was born with a brush in her hand,” longtime client Bette Midler said. As Midler’s personal makeup artist for more than 20 years, Eugenia has been around a long time yet her style remains current and enduring.

Always a visionary, Eugenia launched her own remarkably hip line of cosmetics in 1976, before the concept existed.

“In 1976 there were no makeup artist lines,” Eugenia told me. “I always blended my own colors and textures because you couldn’t find real-looking colors and my philosophy has always been natural and real-looking even when makeup is dramatic,” she said.

“Before 1977 you didn’t need a license to do makeup, so that year I became the first California resident to receive my esthetician license.” Beauty bred through and through, Eugenia first designed the Trucco line while working with Geri Cusenza, founder of Sebastian. Soon her unique sense for color and texture led her to create her own line and Senna was born.

The products, used by top TV and film artists as well as celebrities Angelina Jolie, Jessica Simpson, and Jennifer Aniston are infinitely accessible to all women, famous or not.

Eugenia is one of those makeup artists who always knows the trends before they hit mainstream. Her work, and her products, are at once modern and timeless.

An eyebrow artist, she invented the Form-A-Brow stencil kit, $43, more than 15 years ago, which was later copied by brow guru Anastasia Soare of Anastasia Beverly Hills.

Its concept is so simple: using brow powder, you stencil your desired shape over your brows with the plastic stencil and then tweeze around the area that doesn’t fit in your new drawing.

“Because most women find it difficult to create the right shape and fill in their brows themselves, our stencils offer a foolproof guide based on the classic brow shape that looks beautiful on every woman.”

Over tweezing or waxing are the most common mistakes women make when trying to shape their brows, Eugenia told me, but with the Form-A-Brow stencil kit, those mistakes can be a thing of the past.

“Beauty is about balance. Makeup can create that balance. Brows are the first step in creating the proper frame to balance the eyes and face. To me, brows are always a classic, full shape. We are born with good brows and then we start overdoing. The classic shape is timeless and never goes out of style,” she said.

A visionary in her field, Eugenia’s signature tweezers, at only $16, have tiny slanted tips so you can be very precise when removing hairs. “Makeup is all about detail, so the common tweezer is too large for that small area,” Eugenia stated. BTW, they make a great gift!

Unfortunately brows are not the only mistake that can ruin a face. Eugenia cites dark lip liner, poor blending and blush applied to the back of the face as common mistakes. “Smile and apply blush only to the apples of the cheeks,” she said.

Ultimately however, every woman should book a lesson with a professional makeup artist to help them update their look, correct mistakes which may add years to their appearance and pick up tricks seen through the objective eye of an artist.

I credit Eugenia Weston as a great influence on my makeup and brow sensibilities. I get so many ideas from her beautiful catalogs and website, which devote themselves not only to her novel and ‘now’ products but also to countless smart tricks of the trade.

The catalog is full of great gift ideas for yourself and others, such as her Natural Woods Brush Set, $28.50, including eight brush essentials made of beautifully lacquered wood and quality hair in a clear zip-up tool bag. Or the Double Dose Lip Lacquer, $22, a long-lasting conditioning gloss with two delectable colors in one easy tube.

Some standouts in her line include the brand new Eye Blings, $26, which come in silver, gold or bronze. “Not a powder, not a cream, they can be worn alone or over shadow and have the most elegant sparkle,” she said, “giving pop and dimension to the eyes and decollete.”

Other favorites are the Silky Primer, HD Hydra-Cover, Brow Fix X and Secret Set and the Baby Face #21 brush.

“I love Secret Set because it’s totally invisible, Brow Fix X holds brow hairs in place all day. Silky Primer keeps my skin wrinkle-free and the Baby Face #21 brush is an absolute perfect shape and size,” Eugenia said.

Coming out soon is the new HD Extreme Makeup, a foundation using high-definition pigments and hyaluronic filling spheres to give a flawless, younger complexion without looking made-up.

Anyone interested in keeping their look current should contact Senna Cosmetics 1-800-537-3662 and request Eugenia’s newest catalog featuring inspiring holiday looks and great gifts at any price point.