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The eyebrows have it for the marvellous Mister Ford

Tom Ford is 'all about eyebrows'

 Deanna Delamotta discovers why designer Tom Ford is 'all about eyebrows', while Deborah Linton is persuaded by a Giorgio Armani make-up artist to go for glamour.

These internationally renowned designer types like to be addressed formally...

Tom Ford is known as Mr Ford and Giorgio Armani is known as Mr Armani.

Tom (sorry to be so familiar) still looks like a pin-up at 50 but the Texan-born, New Mexico-raised designer is one of the most successful fashion names in the business – despite the fact that he didn't study fashion.

He trained in architecture and his understanding of lines and shapes inform his understanding of the female form.

He left architecture to work in the New York fashion world and in 1990 was hired by Gucci to design their womenswear collection.

In the 10 years that he headed the house of Gucci, he is credited with steering the brand to extraordinary success and making it a fashion must have again.

After leaving Gucci Group 2004 he launched his own eye make-up and fragrance collections while developing his menswear range as well as directing the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man.

When it comes to the female face, Mr Ford says it's all about the eye brows: “Brows must be groomed and natural looking,” he says. “The eyebrow is the one and only thing you can alter on your face without cosmetic surgery. You can't move your nose, but you can move your eyebrows.

"If you've got a round face, you should not have round eye brows. You should have an arch. The angle of the brow will lend an angular quality to your face. If you have an overly angular face, on the other hand, you might want a softer rounded brow because it will soften all the sharp lines. You can do an awful lot with the eye brow. I'm about structured, beautiful, arched, thick brows.”

So don't go near a Tom Ford counter if you like to pluck your eyebrows to within an inch of their lives. Think Denis Healey rather than Jodie Marsh!

And his fixation with architectural symmetry also informs Mr Ford's thoughts about applying highlighter: “We all, whether we are conscious of it or not, respond as human beings to symmetry. Symmetry is considered beautiful in our society.

"If applying highlighter and you have one cheek higher than the other don't apply it on the your real cheekbone but in line with the better cheek so that you're creating an artificial high in the same spot, giving the illusion of symmetry. You can make your face appear more symmetrical through the use of cosmetics – but you need to understand your facial architecture first and foremost.”

Deborah Linton goes for red-carpet glamour

Red lips are a favourite with some of the most glamorous celebs and a trademark for the likes of Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera.

With stunning Megan Fox as a postergirl, Giorgio Armani Cosmetics have grabbed the trend and run with it this winter.

As a girl who has never veered from nude lips, mascara and a sweep of bronze I wanted to learn how to ditch the barely there look and go for A-lister glamour.

“Try it at home while you're cleaning,” says Armani's international make-up artist, Cesar Santos, aware that many of us would be nervous of trying such a bold new look. But now, with winter upon us, is the time to turn up the heat with your make-up.

“When you're wearing a lot of black, white and grey, you need some warmth," he says. "Use colour in the face. Think of it as your look, maybe your signature can be red lips, it does not have to just be your clothes but your make-up too."

Cesar, a Brazilian who was inspired to come to Britain over 20 years ago after hearing the music of Manchester bands The Smiths and Joy Division, now works for Mr Armani.

Cate Blanchett, Penelope Cruz and Kim Cattrall are among the A-list beauties he has made up and he  Lady Helen Taylor's make up for nine years.

He explains how to achieve the perfect cupid-bow pout using the season's signature lipstick, Rouge D'Armani 400.

“Use concealer on the edge of the lips first, then redefine with a pencil. You can get a beautiful definition. Then apply the lipstick.”

Sensitive to the vibrancy of bright red lips, he keeps the eyes simple, using GAC's eyes to kill shadows and stretch mascara (which, like the red lips, I'm sold on and can see my bank balance taking a hit!)

Underneath, he has applied Luminous Silk foundation - widely name-checked by red carpet make-up artists and stars the likes of Kim Kardashian as the best in the business.

Its success rests in the brand's microfil technology which allows the wearer to build up long-lasting coverage.

It is the same magic formula that creates the vibrant red of the lipstick, which, remarkably, stays on until ten o'clock at night, without retouching, and survives lunch, dinner and an exceptionally glamorous gym work out.

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