Robert Williams

Robert Williams

You only need to spend a few minutes with revered make-up and beauty professional Robert Williams—who was recently appointed to the newly created position of director of beauty for the Fifth Avenue Club at Saks Fifth Avenue—to be convinced that he can, and will, make you glamorous. Possessed of infectious enthusiasm, grand passion for making everyone “feel like a million dollars,” and a vast depth of knowledge about his cosmetic and beauty product arsenal—including what works for whom, what’s in, what’s timeless, and what’s best not applied—Williams is the go-to for those seeking gala glamour or frequent fabulousness. And whether he’s making you up for the opening of the opera or consulting with you on a skin-care routine, one thing you can always count on: you’re going to have fun.

Williams’s expertise is the result of over thirty years working in fashion and beauty. He got his start working the runways in New York where he beautified such internationally recognized names as Naomi Campbell, Gisele Bündchen, and Kate Moss, before arriving at Saks, where he’s been for twenty-one years. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Williams about the changing face of luxury in his new private quarters on the second floor of Saks on Union Square. He shared his insights, and gave us the “must” list of his favorite beauty products.         

“I think people are being more cautious; they’re beginning to realize it’s time to get back to basics. ‘Let’s start again; let’s clean out the closet; let’s sweep up the sequins and see what I really have here to work with.’ I think that’s what this climate has done—separated the men from the boys, the girls from the women. Now that we’re relaxing a little, people realize they’re not going to die. And now they’re seeing, ‘Oh yeah, I do have a little bit of money, and I worked really hard for it. I want to reward myself, or for someone I care about to reward me, or to reward each other to keep the lifestyle up. To keep that going, to keep the fantasy and the feeling that you get from luxury.             

I think, in a broad sense, luxury is always a constant. Luxury for me is a state of mind, a euphoria, something that evokes ethereal beauty. Dreams that take you over the moon, floating a few inches above the ground, like when you’re in love—of ecstasy. That’s what luxury is. Yes, it’s a thing, but how does it make you feel? Is it dead? If it doesn’t make you feel something, that’s not luxury. But, ‘Oh, this makes me feel like a movie star’ or ‘I feel like king of the world when I put this on or I do this to my face. . . or when I go to this place . . . ’—it’s the feeling you get from it. Luxury can be many things, and in that way it’s constantly changing. That’s what gives it life. Otherwise, it’s dead.”

Chérie Turner is the editor of the Nob Hill Gazette.