MERMAID MAKEUP and BEAUTY

Iara Mandyn wears mermaid makeup in this Chris Crumley image.

Chris Crumley

NOT UNLIKE HUMAN MAKEUP, MERMAID MAKEUP runs the gamut of personal taste, from a California-girl vibe, as in the bronzed natural look of Daryl Hannah’s Madison in Splash, to a more fairy-tale-like, even gothic, approach through the use of layered blues and greens, whether soft pastels or metallics or a mix of the two, by way of mascara, liner, shadow, and jewel-like accoutrements. A bright red lip, or another intense color, also adds a level of drama, if you’re inclined. Naturally, shimmering pearlescent hues, crystals, glitter, and gems—possibly influenced by all those treasure chests littering the sea floor, not to mention all that fashionable bioluminescence surrounding them—are all irresistible to mermaids.

Classic mermaid art can offer a wealth of inspiration, too. When makeup artist Carmindy donned a mermaid look for Halloween some years ago, she told the I Am a Mermaid blog in a 2011 interview that she took her cue from “old illustrations” and used “a deep blue eyeliner, then layers of different hues of turquoise—darkest at lash line and getting lighter towards the brow bone and iridescent under the brows. When I was all done, I added a wash of iridescent glitter across the entire lid.”

A wealth of beauty products rely on sea magic as well—particularly the incorporation of algae. Possibly the most iconic is the très chère Crème de la Mer (literally, “Cream of the Sea”), which, according to brand legend, physicist Dr. Max Huber invented after experiencing burns in a laboratory accident in the 1950s while working on a rocket stabilizer. Over the course of twelve years after his accident, he experimented with sea kelp found near his California home, ultimately creating a magical elixir that erased all evidence of the accident and seemed to change the texture of his skin for the better. (It’s also been said that he ate the “miracle broth” with a spoon.) Huber started selling the cream in 1965; in 1991, after his daughter sold the brand to Estée Lauder, La Mer became—and continues to be—one of the most coveted products in the world.