This morning I was on the Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda again and brought along eight models to showcase "Age Appropriate Holiday Glamour." It was a great morning and another fantastic day with the Today Show crew. Check out my segment after the jump!
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You've heard it once, you've heard it twice. This is the new black, that's the new black, but really ladies – navy is the new black. At least when it comes to nail polish. High shine navy manicures are it for fall.
If you're anything like me you've been wearing a slew of dark polishes on your tips from Chanel Black Satin to OPI Lincoln Park After Dark, but this Fall in case you haven't noticed, already in your local nail salon are Essie in Bobbing for Baubles and OPI in Road House Blues – two perfect navys.
My favorite right now is by Creative Nail Design called Midnight Sapphire. It's a very inky navy that resembles a an ink mark a dark felt tip blue marker would leave behind.
Backstage at the Monique Lhuillier fall 2011 show Val Garland for MAC and Jan Arnold for Creative Nail Design were joined by Odile Gilbert for Kerastase to create a glamourous yet edgy look.
"The gowns are cleam, long and slender," commented Arnold. "Think Angelina Jolie in The Tourist."
The nail color was made of a combination of two shades layered on top of each other: Silver Chrome, Desert Suede and lined them with Dark Ameythest (which will debut in Fall 2011).
Gilbert created a twist of ponytils that were strategically placed and pinned around the head to resemble ribbons and added a black velvet bow into each of the models hair for a girly, Breakfast at Tiffanys effect.
Garland made the eyes the focal point of the face using a combination of blacks with deep plum for a smokey effect.
Backstage at Carolina Herrera I filmed another video for the Style Coalition interviewing Wanda Ruiz of Creative Nail Design.
Of course, I also got the scoop for BeautySweetSpot on the look, which was created by a trio of fabulously talented artists, Diane Kendal for MAC, Orlando Pita for Moroccan Oil and of course, Wanda Ruiz for Creative Nail Design who together created a very sophisticated look.
The lips were the focal point of the face. Kendal used a new shade of lipstick that will be available in the fall called Prince Noir. She applied with a lip brush for precision and then to create a stain finish, she blotted with a tissue.
Pita pulled the hair back at the nape of the neck and tucked it in securing with bobby pins. "This masculine style really compliments the collars on the fall collection," he commented. His go-to product was Moroccan Oil Luminous Hairspray.
Creative Nail Design in Dark Ruby was the color choice for the show.
Creative Nail Design was the first nail polish company to introduce the art nail design to New York Fashion Week twelve years ago. At one point throughout the 24 seasons of hustle and bustle, the company created looks and worked backstage for 85 shows in one season. This year, they chose 25. I had a chance to speak with Jan Arnold and lead nail technician, Roxanne Valinoti, about their experiences. "This year we're focusing on the quality of shows and design instead of quantity," Valinoti stated. She credits the professionally trained team and close relationships with designers to being invited back and asked to work the shows year after year. Each show there are about four nail technicians on hand to cover about 30 models hands and feet. They may arrive to prepare for the show only three hours before, but the preparation time in creating the look begins at least two months prior to fashion week.
They start with three inspiration boards that show different themes and then meet with each designer about five to six weeks before the show. Just a few days before the show, the nail team meets with the hair and makeup teams to create a collaborative effect. "Sometimes we decide on the final nail look at the actual show," Valinoti remarked, "it's not always as planned out as we'd like it to be."
She shared her top items in order to create an instant backstage manicure:
Check out this video with Creative Nail Design's Jan Arnold as she fills me in on her experience with New York Fashion Week backstage at Catherine Malandrino.
Yesterday's Catherine Malandrino Fall 2010 Presentation held at the Chelsea Art Museum was strong and the look was stunning. The inspiration was "the earth as seen from above," which explains why the models hair was gathered up into a tree. A slew of celebrities attended including Whitney Port and Mena Suvari.
(Photo below of Whitney and Catherine).
Lead MAC makeup artist, Tom Pecheux, created an Asian inspired look on each of the girls by lengthening rounded eyes with Tarnish Bronze and Club eye shadows, and extending the eye even further by bringing it all the way into the inner nose area. He also rid any arch in the brow with powder. The lip was a new MAC color launching this fall that Angelina Jolie is already wearing, I'd share the name with you, but it's unnamed!
"The key to getting all of the hair to stand up on top of the head is texture," commented Odile Gilbert, the lead hairstylist. She used Phyto Matte Fiber Paste along with Phyto Workable Holding Hair Spray and combed the hair up onto the top of the crown before securing it with two elastics.
My favorite part of the look was the nails. Jan Arnold lead the Creative Nail Design team in creating a nail that was "reminiscent of leather." By combining Dark Ruby and Popper Shimmer, she created a taupe milk chocolate shade then added Creative Nail Designs Super Matte on top. To take the nail art further, she continued to texturize it by dabbing each nail lightly with a fiber free makeup sponge.
Remember when you were young and read some dark stories such as Hansel and Gretel? That was the inspiration behind the look at Twinkle for the Fall 2010 season. The dark childhood theme carried through from the backdrop of the runway to the textured shirts that appeared to be lace, but up close you noticed they were forest patterns, all the way through the look to the fingertips.
Roxanne Valinoti of Creative Nail Design lead a team of four nail artists backstage to pressing on pre-painted nails of CND's Dark Ruby, which is a maroon based dark red with their Super Matte over it to create texture. "I don't believe matte is a trend, instead I look at it as a way to play with texture," Valinoti stated. She chose to use press ons because it allowed for all of the models to have uniform nails tailored to the same length and shape, short and natural.
The hair was lead by John Ruidant for Redken who created a style that looked like it had product in it, but wasn't wet. Using Redken's Fabricate 03 Heat Active Texturizer, he blow dried with his fingers and created a half-up half-down look to start. Then, he secured all of the hair in a big pin curl to the bottom right side of the head.
Gianpaolo Cecilato, a lead makeup artist for MAC created a very wearable look with emphasis on the eyes. He contoured the cheeks using MAC's Mineralize Blush in Laguna, filled in the brows with with MAC Eye Kohl in Smolder using a brush and blended grey shadow on the upper lid before applying black mascara. The lips were kept neutral.
