Former drugstore cosmetics buyer and makeup artist Nevena Tomic left her mark on New York Fashion Week with her La Beaute Fatale brand. Makeup artists used the ex-Oak Parker’s line, which was chosen as a sponsor for such high-profile spring 2023 fashion shows as Badgley Mischka, Bach Mai and Cynthia Rowley.
“We were in hot demand this season,” Tomic told Wednesday Journal.
La Beaute Fatale has a special relationship with the world of high fashion. In years past, Tomic would look to the runways for trending colors to incorporate into her line of eyeshadows, lipsticks, blushes and foundations.
This past September, it made its Fashion Week debut, as makeup artists used Tomic’s brand at the three shows to create looks that complemented the clothing being showcased. For the Cynthia Rowley show, which featured natural-looking skin for 30 models, makeup artist Marcello Costa and his team used La Beaute Fatale’s Velvette Mousse foundation — a personal favorite of Tomic’s.
“It feels just like this creamy, airy mousse and it’s really great for a woman who wants to put something on her skin that has a good amount of coverage but that’s not too thick,” Tomic explained.
Three different looks were created for Badgley Mischka and executed across 40 models, while nine looks were created for the 20 models walking in the Bach Mai spring 2023 ready-to-wear show. An exclusive lipstick was developed for Bach Mai, which will be available for purchase on the La Beaute Fatale website in November.
“It’s a matte white lipstick that I love; I want to wear it all the time,” said Tomic, who is both the founder and CEO of La Beaute Fatale.
Model from New York Fashion Week (Photo by Amika Verma) 
Model from New York Fashion Week (Photo by Amika Verma) 
Model from New York Fashion Week (Photo by Amika Verma) 
Model from New York Fashion Week (Photo by Amika Verma) 
Models from New York Fashion Week (Photo by Amika Verma) 
Model from New York Fashion Week (Photo by Amika Verma)
She was backstage at the three shows, making sure everything went according to plan. Tomic also brought along a photographer and videographer to capture the excitement. Being surrounded by models was a blast from the past for Tomic, who used to work as a modeling scout and runway coach in Chicago.
La Beaute Fatale is proving popular among the high-fashion crowd. Other designers requested the brand’s sponsorship, according to Tomic, who opted to work with three this year and grow those partnerships.
“We had five more designers who reached out to us and wanted us to sponsor their shows,” she said.
Tomic said she is in talks already with fashion houses interested in working with La Beaute Fatale. She hopes to double, if not triple, the brand’s sponsorships for future New York Fashion Week shows and potentially move into sponsoring some designers showing at Paris Fashion Week.
Only available for purchase online through the brand’s website, La Beaute Fatale products retail at prices consistent with the cosmetics sold at department stores. La Beaute Fatale also partners with the monthly subscription service Ipsy, which features La Beaute Fatale cosmetics in its beauty boxes.
All products are cruelty-free, hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic, and free of parabens and fragrances. That is important to Tomic. She learned firsthand the number of different chemicals used in drugstore makeup during her time with Walgreens as a cosmetics buyer.
“A lot of these chemicals were preservatives — alcohol, glue, plastic, formaldehyde, which is used during the embalming process when someone passes away to preserve the body,” she said. “They were putting that in cosmetics so the lipstick can sit on a shelf for five years.”
Tomic stepped away from buying cosmetics to start her own company, one that uses beeswax, antioxidants, vanilla, coconut oil and other natural ingredients in place of chemicals. She tries to educate people on the importance of paying attention to what they put on their faces and bodies.
The name La Beaute Fatale was born out of the concept of “loving someone to death.” When you love someone, that person’s beauty has the ability to take your breath away, according to Tomic.
“If cosmetics can enhance your natural beauty and help you keep that everlasting youthfulness, then we want to make sure your ‘fatal beauty’ to whoever loves you stays intact.”
