Lucia Pica (opens in new tab), the eternally cool makeup artist from Naples, Italy, and global creative makeup and color designer for Chanel (opens in new tab), knows (and She wants you to forget everything you think you know (and think you know) about pink makeup. For the French maison's fall makeup collection (available August 17), she's ditched the sugary stereotypes associated with pink and created a powerful, slightly punky, natural, and very cool vibe.

In the zoom, we talked about the benefits of flawless skin with imperfect makeup and wearing blush during a pandemic. She also gave us some new rules for applying makeup with and without a mask.

"I hope people will experiment more with color and be more playful. With my first Chanel collection, which focused on red, people did. Because red really brings out the best in people. But at the beginning I had to explain a lot because it was a color people weren't familiar with. I had to really convince people to try it. And when I did, people were pleasantly surprised. This fall I concentrated on general femininity. It is something we all have, it is a strong force, a strong power to accept ourselves and use our weaknesses to express ourselves. For me, these colors represent strength, sensuality, and authenticity: blushing is making your face pink or red. Cry and your eyes turn a little red. Smile and make your face red.

"I go really natural. My go-to foundation is Les Beiges Water Fresh Tint (opens in new tab) applied with a brush. It has a very beautiful texture, it's translucent, but it's like you're looking at your skin and not your foundation. You are looking at skin, not foundation. Can also be used when wearing a mask. If I have a blemish or redness, I just apply a little concealer on top."

"Once you keep the skin fresh, then you can really be bold. I like to blend one of the colors in my eye quads around my eyes. Or I use a darker color near the lash line and gradually thin it out in a round shape. Over that I put on Beaumes Essentielle in Rosé. Don't start with a lot of eyeshadow, just a little. Otherwise, it becomes quite messy. For a photo shoot, I put on a lot. When I put it on myself, just a little bit with my fingertips is enough. I tend to mix textures. It can also be used on the lips: I apply a dark lipstick and then a lighter liquid lipstick on top of it to give it depth.

"Pink is not just for bold use. It can be used as eyeliner or just two colors of eyeshadow. I design my eyeshadows in similar colors because I want to be able to mix and match them. To me, that is a more modern way than using full colors."

"Baume Essentiel (opens in new tab) can be used anywhere: I always use the transparent ones on my lips, cheeks and eyes. I used to use it on my eyelids, my whole cheeks, my cheekbones, and then my lips. That's all I used. For deeper skin tones, I like Transparent or Golden Baume."

"Love Les Beiges Healthy Glow Bronzing Cream (opens in new tab). It's super clear and not heavy. And you can really build it up. I use it on the girls at work and on myself to make them look like they've been in the sun for a couple of days. I use an angled contour brush (opens in new tab) and add a little from the bridge of the nose to the cheekbones and then high up on the side of the forehead, just like a little sun. It's very easy and this brush gives an even, polished finish. Over that, a clear or gold baume can be applied from the high cheekbones to the temples. It looks even more radiant, and since it is applied with a brush, the finish is never greasy."

"The mouth is usually an expressive area. People will focus more on the eyes and nails. But I don't know if I'll ever give up lipstick completely. I personally wear lipstick, but it transfers a bit to my mask. As for blush, I always use the cream type from the palette. With the mask on, I can only see my eyes, but they look fresh. The blush is placed quite high, on the apples of the cheeks. To make the eyes bigger and more expressive, eyeliner is applied with a darker color near the lash line, then a medium color in the socket, and a lighter color just above the crease. Then, a slightly medium-colored shadow is placed under it. It's kind of like a classical painting technique."