Makeup artist Joanne Miyata, who worked on cover model Marisa Kellett for the upcoming summer issue of U magazine (watch for it in The Honolulu Advertiser on June 27, or find it in Starbucks), says she loves Giorgio Armani Cosmetics, especially the foundations. But until this past Friday, they were only available on the Mainland.

Now, we can find Giorgio Armani Cosmetics here at Neiman Marcus Ala Moana, in a special boutique on level one. It's going to be managed by Stephen Kalama, a local makeup maven who has spent nine years making Laura Mercier one of Neiman Marcus' most popular makeup lines.

Giorgio Armani, whose elegantly draped suits have made Hollywood celebrities into style stars, is the fashion king of understated cool. His makeup and skin-care lines carry the same cachet. Professional makeup artists swear by his foundations; ordinary women can't get enough of the subtle shadows and blushes. Fashion and beauty magazines sing the praises of the products.

MEET TIM QUINN

We talked on the phone with Tim Quinn, national and celebrity makeup artist for Giorgio Armani Cosmetics, to get some background on him and the line he represents.

Quinn's experience includes work in TV, print and film, as well as backstage in Milan and New York at the Armani fashion shows. He has designed faces for celebrities including Glenn Close, Ziyi Zhang, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Garner, Kate Bosworth, Minnie Driver and the casts of "Sex and the City" and "Desperate Housewives." He is featured as one of the "25 Beauty Stars of Tomorrow" in W magazine and has been the celebrity makeup artist backstage at the Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe and Academy Awards shows.

While makeup artists often come from a background of fine art or retail, Quinn majored in economics and got a job with Merrill Lynch. After a brief stint in the financial arena, "I ran away from home — Connecticut — and opened an ice cream store on a beach in Florida. I had lots of free time so I decided to try modeling." Modeling took the tall, lanky blond to Milan, where for six months he immersed himself in the worlds of fashion and beauty. It was makeup that called to him. After working for the Borghese skin-care and cosmetics firm in Italy, China, Europe and the U.S., he took a job with Laura Mercier.

Then the Armani company decided to begin its own line of makeup. "They hunted me down," Quinn said. He has been with them ever since.

Armani Cosmetics had its start in Europe, where Giorgio Armani maintains a close watch and fatherly hand on every aspect of the business. The company is unusual in this respect. Armani is not simply a figurehead and the name behind the line. Quinn explained that Armani, a perfectionist, signs off on everything from store locations to packaging to ad visuals, and has been known to personally test fragrance on models backstage.

"I'm not kidding," Quinn said. "He first tested his fragrance on his friends; then he spritzed it on the models backstage at the shows."

Rebecca Mason, regional director of sales for Armani Cosmetics in the western U.S., said there is a direct link from Armani fashion to Armani cosmetics. This fall, for example, the packaging will reflect the upcoming passion for all things python. Armani's palettes will be textured and colored just like the skins.

Quinn elaborated on this thought: "There's continuity between all of his categories, from casa to beauty to fashion. He has honed in his design sense and is so specific about how he implements it in each collection — everything is in line with his vision."

BEAUTY TRANSCENDS

For many years Armani created fragrances just for his close-knit group of friends. He recently introduced Prive fragrances, which are sold exclusively in his Armani boutiques. The packaging is equally personal. Inspiration for the bottle tops is the stones on the beach in front of his beach home.

When working behind the scenes at Armani's fashion shows, it is Quinn's job to train a cadre of makeup artists. When in Milan, he said, it's a breeze: "It's such a beautiful atelier. Each makeup artist has his own mirrors, perfect lighting, the ideal set up." When he recently worked shows in Beijing and Shanghai, however, "They put up a tent." The language barrier in China was also a concern. "Everything I told them, they nodded and said 'yes.' Come to find out they were being polite — they hadn't understood a word I said. But beauty transcends language and it all worked out in the end."

When training artists for backstage work, he creates a look that is approved by Armani. He draws out the face on paper, indicating colors, intensity and placement for eyes, lips and cheeks. He then makes up a model in front of the class. He said there's always a little let-down after the show, because it takes weeks to prepare for the event and it is over in 15 to 20 minutes.

The Armani skin-care line was just launched in September 2007. Foundations run about $55 and lipsticks $25.

The Honolulu launch will be a quiet one, but there may be some tremors among the women who have been waiting for Armani Cosmetics to arrive on our shores.