Maybe it's the sexiness of the Brazilian cut bathing suits that catches my attention, but I'm always blown away by the scene at Rosa Cha each season. The first time I covered backstage for this show I was writing for Cosmopolitan and remember being in awe over the "fresh out of the water look" the hairstylists and makeup artists created for the swimsuit models.
This year Edward from Warren Tricomi took the lead on hair, which was a 40's inspired chignon. After slicking the hair straight back and puling it into a high pony tail using a bungee cord, he simply twisted the whole pony tail and placed it naturally into an elongated knot, securing it with a few bobby pins. He recommends using a bungee cord over a hair tie because it allows you to control the tension you want in your hair.
He topped it off with a brightly colored cloth head wrap, which is very simple to do. You can do this with any scarf or piece of fabric yourself to spice up an updo. Start by placing a piece of cloth evenly in the front of your head, bring it around the back, cross it and bring it right back up to the front. Double knot it, then twist one side of the left over material around and tuck it into the top of the wrap and do the same with the other side tucking it into the bottom.
Philipe Chansel of MAC created the makeup look and his number one tip was not to be afraid of color this upcoming spring/summer season. He used a wash of sheer colors on the eyes and lips and stated, "When you're not doing anything too opaque color can be fun."
A great tip he told me was when using color on the eyes line them with a white pencil. It will take away any pinkish color around the eye area, make the eyes themselves appear whiter and color on the lids appear cleaner.
Even though the models were about strut the catwalk in Brazilian bikinis, they were far from bronzed goddesses. Since the inspiration behind the look was the pin up girl, it was time to say sienora to spray tans. Instead, their bodies were prepped with rich moisturizer and a cream concealer was used to mask any bruises or scars. The makeup artists also brushes on some Mineralized Finish Matte Powder to give a smooth finish to the skin.
Manicurists from Dashing Diva coated each of the girls hands and feet with a gorge sunset coral shade, Miranda's Law. First, they applied Kiss Express On press on nails to each of the models nails and filed them down to a natural length (square with round edges). Since the press ons were stuck on with self adhesive glue and not nail glue, I was assured by Pattie Yankee, the lead manicurist, that they wouldn't damage the nails, can last about a week and the secret to taking them off is to use cuticle oil. Who knew?
