Interview with Eliano Bou Assi – Director of Artistry & Education at Bobbi Brown

Being someone who has a job outside the beauty industry and having no education in make-up, I’m always curious about the experiences and tips of make-up artists and other people who work in the beauty industry. Recently, I was able to interview the Bobbi Brown Director of Artistry & Education, Eliano Bou Assi. He was in The Netherlands for a few days to train the make-up artists working at the Bobbi Brown booths at Hudsons Bay. I asked him tons of questions which you can read down below.

 

Eliano Bou Assi has worked for Bobbi Brown since 2004, which makes it 13 years ago when he first started working for the brand:

“I started with Bobbi as an education manager for the Middle East and after that, I moved to my role as a Regional Director for Europe, Africa and India.”

 

He didn’t start at Bobbi Brown though, so I asked him about how he started in the beauty industry. Funnily enough, he also had a completely different career:

“Before that [working for Bobbi Brown], I worked for MAC for four years and before that, I worked as a lawyer.”

 

Changing his career from lawyer to the beauty industry sounds like a complete random move, but his passion for the industry comes from a very close source:

“Make-up was always my hobby. Not just make-up, make-up and hair.  My father is a hairdresser and my mom is a make-up artist. This is how I got involved into the beauty world, make-up and artistry.”

 

Seeing as Eliano Bou Assi is involved in the beauty industry almost for almost his entire life, he has seen trends from several decades. From the thin eyebrows in the 90’s to the recent highlighting trend. I asked him what he thought about the changing trends and what he thought was the worst:

“I think it’s not about worst or good, it also depends of what was available in terms of product at that time. Now with the technology and the products that we have today can definitely make all sorts of differences. Development that of techniques also make a difference, where the skin looked a little bit too cake-y. People believed that the foundation should be too thick and to show the foundation. It doesn’t mean it was bad but you know, the trends change.”

“If you go back to those days, thin eyebrows were looking so nice. I would imagine if I would bring someone from those days to travel today they would probably think that the eyebrows are too thick and are too defined. That’s why I don’t advise lots of permanent make-up because we don’t know what the trends will be in twenty years. That’s why make-up is good, because it should be something that is suitable to where we live now.”

 

However, Eliano Bou Assi does have a favorite type of make-up suitable for everyone for any age at any time:

“My favorite make-up is the natural make-up. Be who you are, something that Bobbi Brown stands for. You will still be yourself after 20 years, so nothing will change. People that will look at your pictures that is not about the trend, it’s about you. So I advice to always to be yourself, how you want people to be seeing you. Don’t think about trends now but pick the trends that is suitable for you, not to change yourself to be trendy. Create your own image.

 

It of course doesn’t mean that you should be stuck with only one look, you can still be yourself while giving messages through make-up:

“Make-up can send out a message, a tool to reflect how you are feeling today. Look at yourself in a mirror and think about the message that you want to give that day, is it professional because you have a business meeting or just casual going out with friends?”

 

Since I’m someone who is working five days a week like many other people, I don’t have a lot of time to apply make-up in the morning. I asked Eliano Bou Assi if he had any tips what kind of products to use for a quick, natural make-up look:

“The most important thing is definitely to wear a concealer because for us as Bobbi Brown Ambassadors, concealer is the secret of the universe. Because whatever you do, you don’t want to look tired and only the product that instantly make you look refreshed and erase tiredness is concealer.”

“The second thing I can advice everyone to try our Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick. This is a fantastic product because of the coverage, it has a buildable coverage from very sheer to full. It’s easy to touch-up during the day because it’s a stick, you don’t need any brushes. It’s for all skin conditions due to the smart technology, that it absorbs excess oils from the skin but also hydrates. It comes in 33 shades and people sometimes use it for contouring because the texture is easy to blend.”

“Also a bit of blush, blush makes you look like you just arrived from the gym and makes you look healthy. Lipstick is very personalized [color wise], however always make sure if you have smaller lips to not use a dark lipstick because it makes them look smaller. Finally a bit of mascara and that’s it for easy steps if you five minutes in the morning.”

“If you have a bit more time, eyeliner is good because it helps open up your eyes and to enhance your eye color. Make sure that the eyeliner is darker than your eye color, is visible when you open your eyes and that the eyeliner is applied all the way [on the top lashline], not halfway to shape your eye.”

 

For my last question, I of course had to ask Eliano Bou Assi if he had any favorite products from Bobbi Brown:

I love concealers, especially the new one, the Bobbi Brown Instant Full Coverage Concealer [review here]. It is one of my favorites right now. Instead of using a brush, warm it up by making two lines under the eyes with the applicator and blend with your fingers. I also love the Skin Foundation Stick, this is actually a product that I use for all my photoshoots. And I  also love the Long-wear Cream Eyeshadows and the Long-wear Gel Eyeliners.

 

Thank you Eliano Bou Assi for taking time for the interview! If you want to follow Eliano, check out his Instagram page @bbpro_elianobouassi. Next to Eliano in the picture is the lovely Sevda (@sevdabrowshaper). She works at the Bobbi Brown counter at Hudson’s Bay The Hague and not only does beautiful make-up, but is also an expert in brows. Definitely go to her if you have any questions regarding brows!

I hope that you find reading the interview as interesting as I did giving it. The brand Bobbi Brown is all about educating people on how to apply make-up and what works for you. As you can see, the make-up artists working at the counter are regularly trained to help enhance your beauty. If you’re interested in learning how to find your foundation color for example or want to have your make-up done with a lot of advice, I would suggest to visit the Bobbi Brown counters at selected De Bijenkorf and selected Hudson’s Bay warehouses. I’ve briefly touched upon the possibilities in this article if you’re interested.

Do you have any tips for a quick and easy make-up look?

This interview was arranged via a PR bureau.  Please check out my Disclosure Page for more information.

1 Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

CommentLuv badge
error: This image is owned by TheBeautynerd.nl. It is not allowed to use my images due to copyright protection.