Top 5 Fall Hair Trends

The September issues are out!  While I'm soaking up as much of summer as we have left, my fall schedule is already jam packed and NY Fashion Week invites have already started flooding my inbox.  Therefore, it's only appropriate I prepare you with the hottest hair styles for fall as I saw last fashion week.  To dissect each one, I spoke with Celeb Stylist, Ted Gibson.  

Braids – Braids are so huge right now and I love this uncontrived, half up, half down look! We are doing fashion braids like this everyday with my new braid luxe service at my W Fort Lauderdale salon.  Braids are great for any occasion – they’ve been all over the red carpet lately! A woman with braids has a bit of  wild side, but knows how to keep it all together. The look pictured features two small braids taken from the front of the head and meets down the middle to form one braid. I love how the look is kind of messy – it adds a fashion element. To achieve this look, use a blow drying spray like ted gibson build it blow drying agent to add texture to the hair.

Sleek, straight, center parted – I love the pin straight, center parted look – it’s just so sexy!! I love this look for to add sleekness to your daytime look or for date night. The look pictured is super shiny, sleek and straight with a  center part. For this look, use a shine serum like tame it shine lotion to add incredible sheen and to smooth flyaways.

Side swept – I love this look because it’s super sophisticated. A woman with side swept hair is strong, determined and knows what she wants. This look showcases a deep side part with the hair pulled across her forehead. For the look, make sure you have a good hairspray like ted gibson beautiful hold to keep everything in place.

Low ponytails – Low ponytails are super hot for the Fall! They are great for night or day and scream sexy, yet sophisticated. To achieve the glossy look pictured, smooth the hair back into a low ponytail using a gel like ted gibson fix it gel.

Out of control volume – I loved the 80s and this look brings me back there! It’s so Jerry Hall! Wear this hair to stand out in the crowd at any party. To achieve this look, wash your hair with a volumizing shampoo and conditioner such as L’Oreal Professionnel’s Volumetry line. Next, curl your hair with a curling iron, then back brush to your desired volume.

Backstage Beauty Report: Naeem Khan A 1920's Inspired Look Worth Talking About

Each year throughout my coverage of NYFW I can't wait to go backstage and get a look.  A look, meaning something worth talking about.  While every backstage glam squad has reasoning for 'leaving the hair down, straight and parted in the middle' or 'keeping the face fresh' for the runway, as a beauty journalist, it's boring!  Backstage at Naeem Khan today I saw a stunning 1920's inspired beauty look that left me in awe.

Bumble and Bumble created a beautifully structured, chignon with sheen and Essie's lead manicurist, Michelle Saunders layered two oldie but goodies, Licorice and Bordeaux to create a devil red shade that had more black than red to compliment the 1920's inspiration.

"The clothes have a lot of color and texture and the hair has a beautiful sheen, so I didn't want the makeup to have anything glossy, James Boehmer the Director of Global Artistry for NARS.  "It would be too much, so we played with other textures."

The look had a decadent feeling of the 1920's, focusing the strength on the brows.  Using NARS's new mechanical pencil (coming out in fall), Boehmer defined the brow shape and then layered Coconut Grove shadow over them, which is a very deep brown, to set it.  "I'm following the shape of the brows and then extending out and down forgetting about the arch," he commented.  "I don't want to make it high, but straight and low so it has a '20's feel and not a '90's feel."

Two coats of Larger Than Life Volumizing Mascara and a bit of smudged shadow lining the bottom rims finished the eyes.  Inspired by the diffusion of the light in 1920's films, he shaded the cheeks to create a shadow and illuminated the corner of the eye with an eyeshadow shade called Alhambra Duo Eyeshadow.  Using the same color, he highlighted the bow of the lip like a thumbprint.   A dust of Zen Blush was swept on the apples of the models cheeks to give them a kick.

Zac Posen Backstage Beauty Report: Deconstructed Chignons with Aubergine Lips & Tips

There's nothing classier and more New York than attending a Zac Posen fashion show.  It was the first show I've ever attended in my six plus year career in beauty and the one show I'll never miss covering backstage beauty.  This season, the show was held at the Palace Hotel's Terrace Room.  Picture crystal chandeliers lining the runway, intricate paintings on the backstage ceiling, mirrors lining the walls and famous models like Crystal Renn.  Artists from John Frieda, MAC and Essie created a look that a complete contradiction from last year. "There's a lot of construction in the clothes so we wanted to make sure the hair was relaxed," explained Luigi Murenu, John Frieda's Global Creative Consultant. "We wanted to create an art deco, 2013 chignon with volume and personality."

Before drying or in some cases, on dry hair he combed John Frieda Luxurious Volume, Volume Building Mousse through the hair to build up the hairs texture and bring it to life.  Once dry, the team began crimping the top of the hair in a "clap, clap, clap" way so the iron didn't leave an imprint on the hair, but just made it look "as if they had more hair."  Keeping volume on the top, he flattened out and tightened the sides, sealing them with a serum, and secured a ponytail at the nape of the neck.  Separating the pony into two sections, he twisted them around each other and pinned it up into a deconstructed chignon.  The key pieces were two side fly aways that were purposely pulled out and crimped to give the look a sense of lightness.

Kabuki, the lead makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics, was inspired by the snow falling outside during the makeup trial and explained how the makeup was "minimal and snowy in the eye, but brought back into the jewel colors of the collection by doing a rich, burgundy stained lip."

The skin was highlighted and eyes were soft, but the lip was special.  "The look needed a moment of a strong moment, which brings out the dellicatecy of the eye," Kabuki stated.  To create the lip look, he first used Vino Lip Liner to define the outer shape and applied lip balm only to the center of the lips.  This prevents the color from spreading.  Then, taking a single tissue, he touched it to the lip and put loose powder through it to set the pencil without changing the color.  Finally, he applied Lip Mix in Burgundy to the center of the lip and thinned it out as it got closer to the outer corner.  "This way, you don't have to worry about color bleeding or running, but you still have the dense coverage in the middle," he concluded.

"When you put a dark lip with a dark nail it keeps it really dramatic and gives it a bit of an edge," comments an Essie manicurist.  The shade used was Carri On, which is their darkest aubergine.