Let me paint you a picture: It’s a typical Wednesday morning – and just like pretty much any given day, I wake up and glance through my e-mails while I’m still in bed. (A habit I’m trying to break, but cut me some slack.)
I normally skim through them with stealth speed; as I know what to expect – a standard mixture of invites to events, work threads, press releases, and a healthy portion of junk. Nothing exciting. But this particular Wednesday I got an email (with a palm tree emoji in the byline!) with images of pink vintage cars, neon bright ‘gas’ pumps titled ‘YSL BEAUTY STATION’ surrounded by the insanely beautiful desert that made my eyes widen and literally say ‘WOW’. YSL BEAUTY IS GOING TO PALM SPRINGS! it read. And after a few e-mails – so was I!!! That Friday I boarded a 7 a.m. flight on zero sleep (which I’ve realized I’m way too old to get away with anymore) and was on my way. I flew into Santa Ana so I could visit my friend Maram, and got to have a nice chill day in Orange Circle thrifting and eating (mainly tacos + half the menu at the eponymous Urth Caffe. If you go, get the Spanish coffee granita with tapioca) before a jam-packed day on Sunday.
The next morning was an early set day at the Parker Palm Springs – we started shooting* at 8 a.m., wrapped at 10 a.m., had a lovely brunch at Norma’s, then hit the road to the desert.
*I’ll share more later!
About 5 minutes away, driving through Cathedral City on Route 111, we pulled up to the much-anticipated YSL Beauty Station. With a Rouge Volupté lipstick sign towering high over us, vintage convertible cars and a YSL marked tour bus parked beside us (and pink gas pumps!) – and all of this surrounded by a field of heart-shaped YSL balloons, it was impossible to miss.
After some (ok, a lot) of selfies utilizing the various photo-opps outside, we stepped into the pop-up store to experience the brand’s new and best-selling makeup essentials while discovering the newest campaign featuring the stunning Kaia Gerber. Then, exploring the 4 areas dedicated to: the Touche Éclat Radiant Touch pen and the Touche Éclat High Cover Radiant Concealer, the Rouge Volupté Shine moisturizing lipstick and Volupté Plump-In-Colour lipstick, Tom Pecheux (YSL’s global beauty director)’s Palm Springs makeup looks, and finally the Make It Yours station where we could customize our favorite YSL lipstick. After some fun with YSL’s signature makeup vending machine and their virtual mirror (where you can instantly try on over 50 shades) and an IRL lip touchup with my fav Rouge Volupté lipstick, we finished up our experience and headed back into the desert for some post-Coachella festivities. The pop-up and “make-up oasis” was def surreal – more pics below!
