# Vincent Longo

Vincent Longo (born May 28, 1961) is an Australian/Italian make-up artist, beauty expert, and cosmetics entrepreneur, best known for his work with numerous celebrities and fashion photographers for fashion shows, red carpets, and magazine covers and editorials. In particular, he has created cover, editorial, runway and red-carpet “beauty looks” for models, actors and public personalities including Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Heidi Klum, Claudia Schiffer, Elle MacPherson, Julia Roberts, Sigourney Weaver, Hillary Clinton, Ivana Trump, Gwyneth Paltrow, Diane Lane, Claire Danes, Geri Halliwell, Isabella Rossellini and Catherine Deneuve, among many others, earning scores of magazine covers in the process.
Born in Swan Hill, Australia, to Italian immigrant parents, his family relocated to Ventimiglia, Italy, when he was 17. In Milan, he studied make-up artistry, and worked with Italian designers Gianni Versace, Giorgio Armani, Mariuccia Mandelli, Gianfranco Ferré, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana and Franco Moschino.
In 1988, at the encouragement of Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Vogue editor Michela Bardini, Longo moved to New York City, where he worked with fashion photographers Patrick Demarchelier, Gilles Bensimon, Richard Avedon, and Bruce Weber. He took on award show red carpet assignments with various celebrities, and then served as a contributing beauty editor at Elle USA, and as a product consultant for Revlon, Estée Lauder, and Elizabeth Arden. He also routinely provided commentary to CNN for their Academy Awards red carpet coverage, on Good Morning America, E! Entertainment, Extreme Makeover, The Early Show, The Today Show, The Jane Pauley Show, Live with Regis and Kelly. In 2003, he was invited to judge the Miss USA Pageant.
In 1994, Longo launched his own cosmetics label Vincent Longo Cosmetics. The brand was distributed by Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Space.NK, and Sephora across the United States and in London, Tokyo, Dubai, Vancouver, Toronto, Paris, Sydney, Singapore, Stockholm & Mexico City. The brand's products were well received, and received accolades from Allure and Self. In 2007, Vincent Longo Cosmetics and Sephora, its chief distributor, ended their relationship, resulting in a loan default. An investor purchased the debt and became Longo's partner in the business which operated under the name Zaimu Business Holdings. Zaimu ceased operations in 2016 after a dispute between Longo and his partner over marketing and product quality. Longo exited, retaining his trademark. The company's products have since been distributed in the gray market.
Vincent Longo is known for his philanthropy, often conjoined to his celebrity relationships, charitable preferences and the promotion of Vincent Longo Cosmetics. For example, his donation to the NYC based Bailey House AIDS hospice earned a weekend takeover of a Times Square jumbotron. In 2002, a two-day fundraiser for AMFAR that he co-hosted with Trudy Styler at the Villa Bagatelle in Cannes, owned by Tunisian billionaire Rafik Khalifa, earned worldwide coverage for himself, the attendees and entertainment. Prior to that event, Longo traveled with Sharon Bush and daughter Lauren Bush to the Venice Film Festival where Lauren appeared as the model for an AMFAR fundraiser partially underwritten by Vincent Longo Cosmetics. In 2006, Vincent Longo Cosmetics sponsored the Bridgehampton Polo Classic in Bridgehampton, NY.