Why Armani Beauty's Luminous Silk Is Still Everyone's Favorite Foundation, 24 Years Later

Hiromi Ueda is entering 2024 having accomplished something many makeup artists dream of: Armani Beauty recently tapped her as its new Global Makeup Artist Ambassador. In this role, she will create the makeup looks for the brand's campaigns and all Giorgio Armani fashion week shows.

It's a moment Ueda has seemingly been preparing for over a lifetime. Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, she traces her fondness for beauty back to age seven or eight, when she'd play with her mother's makeup. "She would go out shopping for 10 minutes, and I was just using her makeup," Ueda recalls. "I remember she would get upset [at me] since I was ruining her lipstick."

Ueda's professional pursuit of makeup artistry came a bit later; she studied literature when she attended university.

"I didn't know what I wanted to do until I was in my early-to-mid 20s," she shares. "But I always loved makeup. I [also] used to love watching fashion TV. And in Japan, so many magazines talk about how to do makeup and how to create these looks. So I was just religiously reading those magazines, creating new looks and I was doing all of my friends' makeup."

Today, Ueda's portfolio spans editorials in British Vogue, Dazed and i-D, campaigns for Loewe, Off-White and Prada and runway shows for Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta and Jacquemus. She's worked alongside renowned photographers such as David Sims, Paolo Roversi, Craig McDean and Carlijn Jacobs.

She cites '90s supermodels Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Cindy Crawford as her biggest sources of creative inspiration and describes her artistic approach as one that hinges on "[enhancing] people's natural beauty" and "[bringing] out the best in each person."

As for Ueda's go-to Armani Beauty products, she, like roughly everyone else on planet earth, is a huge fan of the Luminous Silk Foundation: "It's an amazing, iconic foundation. You can have a flawless finish, but without making it look heavy. You can have a skin-like finish. It's beautiful. And if you want to, you can mix it with a concealer to give a nice, great look, with a small glow," she says.

It's no secret why the game-changing formula, which launched 24 years ago, is still an viral hit, according to the artist: "When Luminous Silk Foundation launched in 2000, radiant foundations that provided a natural glow weren't really a thing," she says. "It was pioneering in terms of its formulation. I was assisting at Fashion Week and the makeup artists were using Luminous Silk Foundation on the models. I remember being absolutely captivated by the radiant finish and immediately went out to buy one for myself. In recent years, using lightweight and skin-like foundation that provides a 'glow-from-within' look is preferred, and Luminous Silk Foundation is in every makeup artist's kit."

The groundbreaking foundation has been especially helpful as runway and editorial beauty trends have evolved over the years, says Ueda. "Beauty has moved away from very heavy and full-coverage complexion looks," she notes. "Recently, both on the runway and in campaigns, fresh glazed skin with luxurious, understated and an effortlessly chic, soft-glam look has become more popular."

It's an aesthetic Ueda thinks will continue to go strong in 2024. When asked about which makeup trends we're likely to see this spring, she's all about glow-y, radiant skin.

"I think it's going to be about this glazed look that [will continue] evolving," she says. "What's nice is that with this glazed look you can add some color on the brush so you can create a little bit more of a flushed look with a glazed, shiny look. But still you can add some color and you can pop some nice light blue or a muted color on the eyes as well. You can pair up nicely on the face and also you can add some more light color on the lips or eyes."

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