Make-up veteran Tom Pecheux on his penchant for colours, working with YSL Beauty, and his infamous doll muse, Pascal
Tom Pecheux’s very first introduction to the world of make-up artistry, where he would later go on to become a household name, was seeing his mom use a pop of colour to uplift her face. Since then, his fascination with hues has been a constant throughout his three-decade-long career. From leaving his job as a pastry chef at a young age to pursue a career in make-up to working with possibly every who’s who of the industry, and currently as a global beauty director for YSL Beauty, make-up for Pecheux has always been more than just painting faces. As YSL Beauty’s make-up vertical launches in India, he lets us in on his artistic approach and his process of crafting looks.
GRAZIA: What factors are most important to you when creating a make-up look?
TOM PECHEUX: My favourite way of creating a look is by working as a team. Just because you are a make-up artist does not mean you know more than everybody else. While creating a look, the most important person is the one sitting in the chair. After that, you have all these other people gravitating around who help you create the look. At a fashion show, it’s the designer. When you work on creating a product, you have the labs, the technician, and of course, the photographer because the lighting is also very important.
G: What led to your love for colour in make-up looks?
TP: I was a kid from a family of five. My dad was a farmer and a winemaker. My sisters are younger than me, so they were not allowed to wear make-up when I was a teenager. So, the only woman that I knew was wearing make-up was my mom. Because she was taking care of the house along with five children and my dad, she had no time to do a full face of make-up. So, she would grab her favourite lipstick – a kind of raspberry fruity colour – apply it on her lips, and then put two dots on her cheeks and blend it with her finger. I saw this and realised that with a little bit of colour, you can upgrade your face. That’s why I’m such a huge fan of colour even now because it brings joy. Colour brings beauty.
G: Tell us a bit about Pascal. How did the doll become your muse?
TP: My husband and I had this little doll, which was given to us as a present. During fashion shows, I would often take my husband to help me organise, and he would bring the doll as an opportunity to take a picture, as you’re not supposed to click pictures at private events. The doll then became a hit backstage, and I started painting his face. I put the make-up look of the show on Pascal, and he became an extra source of fun backstage.
G: What has been the most creatively satisfying part about working with YSL?
TP: There are quite a few things. To start with, I will say the relationship I have with the people working at YSL. Everyone has incredible knowledge. They’re all hard workers. In France, we say, “A day without a laugh is not a good day.” So, every day, my goal is to make it a good day. I’m not saying that there are no crises. We do have crises, but most of the time, we’re having a good time; and when having a good time is when you create more beautiful products and more beautiful colours.
G: You prefer a barely-there foundation look. What techniques do you use to achieve this style?
TP: For me, there are two different types of make-up. There is one that you can see, like a colour lipstick or a smokey eye. But there are also products which cannot, or rather, should not be seen. When it comes to the foundation, it should not be seen. Sometimes, I have to deal with women who have skin problems. The task is to hide the problem and not show that we’re hiding a problem.
