Cult Classics

Prada Beauty looks to the future while mining the house codes.

Miuccia Prada likes to play the contrarian: a onetime communist presiding over a fashion conglomerate, a designer whose notion of sexy tips toward ugly chic. So it goes that a woman known for wearing little discernible makeup is launching exactly that, with Prada Beauty now making its Stateside debut. (The product line hit the Milan runway last September.) Is it by turns practical, eccentric, militaristic, and oriented for utmost care? Yes to all.

The refillable eye palettes are for archive buffs: Each takes after a Prada textile, translating retro prints into rich shadows. Metal-clad lipsticks come in two matte variations; the lip balm is tinted the house's mint green. Foundation attuned to undertones lends an unfussy polish, while the adaptogen-boosted skin care lineup—cleanser, essence, serum, cream—is as future-forward as Ms. Prada herself. After all, getting older allows for ongoing evolution, "You she gain once some put it: wrinkles, butch—finally, you learn to have fun!"

LAURA REGENSDORF

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