Go Backstage at Brian Reyes

New York Fashion Week is almost over and we have to bid adieu to Bryant Park and all the memories of fashion and beauty created here throughout the years. Tonight I had the pleasure to go backstage at Brian Reyes and witnessed beauty at it's finest.  Although it seemed packed it was what I would call a "controlled mess" everyone was scattered in a frenzy but knew what needed to get done to showcase Brian Reyes's vision. Pattie Yankee lead manicurist from Dashing Diva dished how Brian wanted a neutral color with a semi-gloss so that it won't take away from the variety of colors from his collection.  They just used one coat of 57th and 5th to keep it simple and to the point.

Martin Christopher created a consistent theme of low pony tails with a slight, not so defined, left side part.  He reinvented the polished look by adding the edginess of the modern woman.  The focus was to create that matte texture.  With a quick blowout but doing so in a forward and then back direction to create volume from the root and bring it all back into a low pony tail and securing it with TRESemmé 24 hour body finishing spray.

On the contrary, Wendy Rowe lead make-up artist for Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, wanted to create dramatic eyes to capture strength and confidence.  "The Brian Reyes girl for fall is modern and sophisticated from head to toe, but she has an edge, which her makeup reflects. She's a very cool girl who is comfortable in her own skin," she commented.

For the eyes she used aubergine shades on the upper lid such as Eggplant Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow and lined the lower lid with a spearmint color, Long-Wear Cream Eye Shadow in Aqua, to serve as a contrast.  To keep the lips neutral she faded the line.

Being that it was my first backstage show at Bryant Park it was such an inspiration to see how everything I love about beauty from the nails, hair and makeup can be used to tell the story of the designer and how it all ties together at the end. The same way I do everyday when I apply makeup that is either driven by how I feel that day, what I've seen or even inspiration from my outfit.

-MK

Go Backstage at Tibi

The Fall 2010 collection was a combination of greys and dirty mauves mixed into fabrics of velvets and satins. Sticking with the color scheme of the clothing, Wendy Rowe of Bobbi Brown used greys and blacks on the eyes to compliment it. On models of lighter skin tones she used Bobbi Brown Slate Eye Shadow and on darker she used a more greyish-mauve shade called Suede.  To create a 1950's cat eye, she lined the top of the lids with black eye liner and added some false lashes to the outer corners.  The skin was a satin finish and lip was a soft pink, Beige Lip Color.

"Curly girls are happy girls," Frank Rizzieri of R Session Tools stated backstage when describing the reasoning behind the look.  Using two irons throughout the whole head, one 1/4" and the other 3/4", spiral curls were created on each model.  They weren't cookie-cutter curls, but instead had the look of coming home from the party curls.

R Session Tools is known for their innovative hot tools and they introduced me to their new red mat that they were laying all of their curling irons and blow dryers on.  The red turns white when your tool is heated up and protects the counter space.  It also keeps your hair dryer from vibrating off your dresser when placing it down for a second.

Dashing Diva kept the nails short and natural and painted a mushroomy color on all of the models.  Patti Yankee explained it was a mix of Astor Place and West Village that she created for the show.  "There's such a demand for this color right now we're trying to get it into production as soon as possible," she concluded.