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September 24, 2010 2:38 pm
Miuccia Prada may have bucked Spring’s seventies trend yesterday with a nod to the high glamour of the thirties, but it was back to business as usual today at Etro, a house that’s all about the opulence and excess that defined the disco era. (Let it be known that an understudy crew of B-list models was hired just to do the rehearsal run-through last night before the show this morning. How’s that for excessive?)
“We’re doing seventies but with a chic, contemporary twist,” makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury told us backstage, where she was channeling “dramatic luxury” with a palette of rich peach and lavender. To ensure skin had a honeyed hue, Tilbury dusted MAC’s Mineralize Powder over cheekbones and up into temples to bronze and contour, while placing touches of champagne pigment onto the high planes of the face for added polish. Eschewing brushes, Tilbury used her fingers to blend MAC’s Paint Stick in French Violet around eyes in a retro oval shape, which she contrasted with peachy cheeks and a creamy wash of terra-cotta slicked across lips, courtesy of MAC’s Cremesheen Lipstick in Shy Girl. Hair stylist Eugene Souleiman—officially today’s busiest coif master, with turns at Moschino, Antonio Marras, and Etro—was going for an “expensive seventies vibe” with middle parts that he sculpted using a round brush, his blow-dryer, and a dollop of Wella’s Crystal Styler, which he spread over strands for blow-outs that bounced down the runway.
tags: Charlotte Tilbury, Etro, Eugene Souleiman, Hair, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup
Backstage At Prada, All That Jazz And More
September 24, 2010 11:05 am
The small head, deep side parts, and finger waves that took to the runway at Prada yesterday were, as you likely presumed, inspired by the one and only Josephine Baker. “The thirties jazz scene” compelled hairstylist Guido Palau to break out his trusty bottle of Redken Super Strong 16 Hardware Gel, curl sections of models’ tresses around the hair line with the tail of his comb, and create two small-and-tight buns in the back to add some “innocence” to the otherwise sophisticated look. A healthy spritzing of Redken’s Vinyl Glam 02 Mega Shine Spray provided that high-impact finish that glistened on the catwalk, which was also helped along by face painter Pat McGrath’s theatrical chrome-silver eye. McGrath swept the opaque powder shadow across lids from the lash line to a makeshift, androgynous brow, which she etched onto foreheads using a series of MAC Cosmetics’ brow pencils for an angular, masculine element—which was perfectly fitting, seeing as how Miuccia Prada slipped a few menswear elements into her bright colored, boldly striped collection.
tags: Guido Palau, Hair, Makeup, Pat McGrath, Prada
Peter Philips Mouths Off Backstage At Fendi
September 23, 2010 4:09 pm
Peter Philips proved that he knows his way around a tube of lipstick when he launched Chanel’s Rouge Coco back in February. But if there were any lingering doubts that the makeup maestro is the man to beat when it comes to mixing up vibrant, eye-popping pout perfectors, they were laid to rest today backstage at Fendi. Referencing the strong, graphic color-blocking in Karl Lagerfeld’s seventies-inspired collection for the Italian house, Philips painted models’ mouths with three different Day-Glo pigments—including a hot fuchsia, a retina-burning cerise, and a neon melon shade—to add an “optimistic and fun” element to the presentation. To keep the lips the focal point, the face painter lined lids with a neutral shade of Chanel’s Le Crayon Yeux in Brun, a few slashings of its Inimitable Intense Mascara, and a dusting of its Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Rose Pétale on cheeks for a healthy flush. Hairstylist Sam McKnight kept with the graphic theme by adding long extensions to most models’ manes and blunt-cutting them on site for linear fluidity. A few spritzes of L’Oréal’s Elnett hair spray added a touch of texture to tresses, so with every step of those please-oh-please-let-those-be-produced wedges, hair swung in uniform motion.
tags: Fendi, Hair, Karl Lagerfeld, Makeup, Peter Philips, Sam McKnight
Sage Advice Backstage At Alberta Ferretti
September 23, 2010 12:53 pm
We liked it backstage at Oscar de la Renta, and in its second outing at Alberta Ferretti’s Spring show yesterday, green eye shadow endeared itself to us even further. “Woodland nymph” is what makeup artist Lucia Pieroni was going for when she swiped MAC’s Eye Shadow in Juxt, a shimmering gilded moss color, onto models’ eyes, sheering it out as she moved toward the temple. A dusting of MAC’s Pigment in Vanilla on the center of lids provided that ethereal fairylike glow, which hairstylist Guido Palau complemented with what he called “natural bohemian hair.” Prepping strands with Redken’s Velvet Gelatine 07 Cushioning Blow Dry Gel, Palau scrunched and finger-combed tresses as he dried, individualizing each model’s texture before she hit the runway.
tags: Alberta Ferretti, Guido Palau, Hair, Lucia Pieroni, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup, Redken
Backstage At Gucci, The Best Disco Divas We’ve Seen Yet
September 23, 2010 12:10 pm
Full disclosure: All the seventies/Studio 54 references for Spring have become a bit repetitive for us of late. But when that era-specific beauty is re-created with the kind of precision that we saw backstage at Gucci yesterday, it becomes new and exciting again; Jerry Hall and her cohorts could not ask for a more beautiful retrospective than the sleek, polished look makeup artist Pat McGrath and coif master Luigi Murenu churned out for the occasion. Coating models’ hair with John Frieda Frizz Ease Serum, Murenu created deep side parts and secured models’ tresses in ponytails with a leather band (that happened to match the handbags in the show), before braiding and twisting his plaits onto themselves for a coiled chignon. But the real punch came from a smokin’ hot, glossy red mouth that McGrath painted onto pouts with a brush dipped into a mixture of not one, not two, but three different scarlet pigments for the “orangey-red” color she felt was deserving of the navel-baring jumpsuits Frida Giannini sent down the runway. As to avoid making the girls look too “retro,” McGrath focused her attention on dewy skin, using CoverGirl’s as-yet-unreleased NatureLuxe Silk foundation (which she debuted backstage at Anna Sui) and a glossy eye, courtesy of a slick of Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream on top of metallic brown eye shadow. Finishing touches came in the form of CoverGirl’s LashBlast Fusion mascara and MAC Lacquer in Shirelle, a cherry red varnish applied to fingers and pedicured toes, which peeped out of crushed velvet and gold python strappy stilettos. In a word, swoon.
tags: Cover Girl, Frida Giannini, Gucci, Hair, John Freida, Luigi Murenu, Makeup, Pat McGrath
A Homecoming Queen Is Crowned Backstage At Jonathan Saunders
September 22, 2010 4:17 pm
The first thing we noticed when Jonathan Sunders 1940’s prom queens sashayed onto the runway yesterday was a striking red lip. The second thing we noticed? The same vibrant crimson color on the soles of an impressive parade of Louboutins—three of which we have already started planning outfits around. The matte scarlet pout will likely be significantly easier to obtain come spring, so we got the low-down from makeup artist Lucia Pieroni, who lined models’ mouths with MAC’s Lip Pencil in Cherry before dabbing on a very precise application of its Lipstick in Ruby Woo. That serenely smooth skin that can only belong to a 16-year-old prom queen (or model, as the case may be) came courtesy of MAC’s Mineralize Skinfinish in Medium Deep with a slight contouring of its Pigment in Vanilla for a waxy, flawless finish. Paul Hanlon added to this picture of chaste perfection with a bouncy ponytail that retained a bit of a masculine, greaser edge from a subtle pompadour-esque ridge that he slicked back from girls’ foreheads with pomade. A number of words come to mind to describe the look—lovely, charming, delightful—one of which is not seventies, a refreshing change of pace from a week of London shows.
tags: Hair, Jonathan Saunders, Lucia Pieroni, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup, Paul Hanlon
Heaven-Sent Hell’s Angels Backstage At Burberry
September 22, 2010 1:36 pm
“Biker chicks” was the order of the day from Christopher Bailey at Burberry Prorsum last night, a directive that reached his backstage team of hairstylist Neil Moodie and makeup artist Wendy Rowe loud and clear. But seeing as how this is a Burberry biker chick we’re talking about, a few slight adjustments to the hard-edged archetype were made. First off, there was no helmet head to speak of backstage, where Moodie was coating middle-parted strands with Bumble and Bumble’s Prep and its Thickening Hairspray before flat-ironing for a straight, “shaken-out” look. None of the thick black eye makeup typically associated with the ladies-who-ride-choppers set, either. Instead, Rowe went for an understated look, crafting “a sultry eye and fresh skin” with Burberry’s new cosmetics collection. Cheeks were slightly sculpted with the brand’s Contour Powder, which was brushed on top of a light coating of its Sheer Foundation. Eyes weren’t so much “sultry” as slightly smoldering, in our estimation, the result of Rowe’s layering skills with three different Burberry Eye Shadows in Rosewood, Khaki, and Almond. As for the lips, they were taken down a bit using its Concealer and finished off with a delicate dusting of gloss-topped blush for a hint of color. It was the prettiest, most fresh-faced biker gang we’ve ever seen.
tags: Bumble & Bumble, Burberry, Christopher Bailey, Hair, Makeup, Neil Moddie, Wendy Rowe
Meet Sophy Robson, The Manicurist With The Most-est
September 22, 2010 12:07 pm
There is a lone nail guru in London whose blog we have long followed and whose backstage handiwork in Europe must be credited for the nail art movement that’s picked up steam over the past few seasons. Her name is Sophy Robson, and this ode to her nail art prowess has been a long time coming. New York may have had a few high-profile designer polish collaborations, but thanks to Robson, London has had pink and orange gemstone-encrusted tips at Topshop Unique; densely layered glitter oval-shaped nails at House of Holland; and—let us not forget—the multicolored sherbet lacquers she used as a base for Giles Deacon’s trademark cartoon eyes, which she meticulously hand-painted onto over 50 models’ fingers at the designer’s show on Monday. (Devout readers of her blog will recognize said manicure from a little experiment she posted back in June). It’s for all of these reasons—and her impressive editorial portfolio—that Robson has been given her own pop-up nail bar at Selfridges for one week only, beginning September 24 through September 30, giving her just enough time to hightail it to Paris, where we’ll be holding our breath for more great works of art on the tiniest of canvases.
tags: Giles, House of Holland, LFW Spring 2011, Nails, Sophy Robson, Topshop Unique
The Runaways Rock Out Backstage At Marios Schwab
September 21, 2010 6:36 pm
While we’ve seen our fair share of seventies heroines thus far in London—the disco queen (Unique, Giles); the South Beach jet-setter (House of Holland); and the low, loose ponytail-wearing girl-next-door at Jaeger—one archetype from that decade has thus far been left untouched. That would be the burgeoning female rocker. Thankfully, Marios Schwab righted that wrong, adding Joan Jett—and her image-defining spiky shag—to the inspiration mix at his show this morning, enlisting the services of hairstylist Luke Hersheson and his trusty wig-trimming shears. Hersheson and his team set to work cutting wigs into Jett’s signature short-in-back, wispy-at-the-neck crop before saturating strands in L’Oréal Professionnel’s Texture tonic to give them a slightly grimy, I-just-rolled-off-of-the-tour-bus look. Jett’s black-rimmed eyes were also in full effect, thanks to makeup artist Petros Petrohilos, whose lid lining was not contained to raven-haired models alone. A few blond hairpieces also showed up on the runway, giving Cherie Currie a well-deserved shout-out for Spring as well.
tags: Cherie Currie, Hair, Joan Jett, L'Or�al Professionnel, Luke Hersheson, Makeup, Marios Schwab, Petros Petrohilos
Dancing Queens And the New “Aggy” Backstage At Giles
September 21, 2010 3:43 pm
While Giles Deacon may have insisted that his Spring collection was a distinct departure from the seventies movement currently afoot in London (think: Topshop Unique, Felder Felder, House of Holland, PPQ, etc.), the makeup look face painter Miranda Joyce broke out for the occasion was as era-specific as it gets. “Seventies decadence” is how Joyce described the glitter-rimmed eyes she crafted backstage yesterday, layering two-toned flecks onto models’ lids from the lash line to the brow bone, and across bleached brows toward the temple. Add a lacquered orange-y scarlet pout to the mix, courtesy of MAC Lipstick in Lady Danger topped off with a clear gloss, and the Giles’ girl was straight out of the disco. We’ll give Deacon “nineties rave”—and maybe even a Gaga mention circa ‘09, when the superstar owned glittering eye patches (it’s all about the meat purse now). But all we could think about when we spied this beauty look was the sweaty, costume-wearing, quaalude-popping, Studio 54-style dance party that, along with the makeup stylings of Way Bandy, defined the latter half of the seventies—a high point in the illustrious history of cosmetics, as far as we’re concerned. There was one thing decidedly un-seventies about the whole thing, though—that being Agyness Deyn, who used her role as the show’s opener to debut yet another new haircut. Behold: the new “Aggy,” a spiky, military-style fade that was actually razored backstage pre-presentation. First impressions of Deyn’s latest coif?
tags: Agyness Deyn, Giles Deacon, Hair, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup, Miranda Joyce
