"The Mascara Crowd Muscles In"

Unless you have the New York Times dropped in your driveway every day, as I do, or you religiously check it online each day, you may not have seen today's Thursday Styles article about beauty bloggers backstage at New York Fashion Week. It's an interesting piece. You can see it at this link.

It is true - without a doubt - that some beauty bloggers wouldn't miss NYFW. I envy their stamina, but I'm not forlorn that I'm in Virginia, while they are zooming around on their feet all day, lugging their cameras and trying to get an edge on reporting the latest beauty trends.

Actually, I find most runway makeup so disconnected from my life that I'm not sorry to miss the "orange-lined eye at Derek Lam or jeweled brows at Chanel." I do enjoy reading about the looks selected by makeup artists, though, so keep working, gals. We will be all be home reading and enjoying the latest on your blogs. It's hard work, and someone has to do it!

Photo courtesy of the New York Times

Get the Tarte Look: Odd Molly Show for New York Fashion Week

On Wednesday, September 15, the Tarte artistry team partnered with celebrity makeup artist Sil Bruinsma to create the "Bridgette Bardot goes boho" look for Odd Molly's Spring 2011 show. I was given the opportunity to show you how the Odd Molly look was created. Since I'm a huge Tarte fan, so I was curious to see how he recreated the Bardot look from the early '60's! It was a combination of healthy beauty with a bit of grit, a natural look with a tough, glamourous vibe.

To create luminous skin with a touch of bronze, Bruinsma created a flushed, rosy glow with ReCreate silicone-free primer with Wrinkle Rewind technology. Then he used the eraser 4-in-1 natural concealer smooth operator micronized clay finishing powder with PM20 (to perfect and mattify skin) and park ave princess mineral powder bronzer, one of my favorites. Given its glowing look and favorable coverage, I'd say park avenue is a blogger darling.

Bruinsma wanted eyes that were strong and smouldering, with a defined brow. He used emphasEYES brows in taupe and medium brown, emphasEYES aqua-gel eyeliner in black, emphasEYES black eyeliner on the inner rim, and eye couture day-to-night palette lights, camera, lashes! 4-in-1 mascara.

To finish with a dewy, stained lip, he applied fRxtion natural sugar exfoliator and lip balm duo and LipSurgence natural lip stain in Envy.

When he was done? A modern-day Bridgett Bardot! You can see how he created the entire look at this link.

Love it! Click on the photos for a closer look! You can find all of these products at Tarte's Web site.

Photos courtesy of Tarte

Wella at New York Fashion Week

After seeing the fabulous blow-outs by the Red Door Spa team in New York, I have a rekindled interest in hair styles! So, straight from New York Fashion Week, here's a peek at two adventurous looks - similar in that ponytails were the feature, but different in hair color, which ranged from daring to daily. If you have long hair, you won't need the extensions used to create these looks. Just follow the step-by-step directions.

Wella professionals and lead colorist Eva Scrivo crafted runway looks to complement the Cynthia Rowley and DKNY Fall 2010 collections. I'll tell you about the products and techniques that were used to create these hair fantasies, where extensions were all the rage!

At Cynthia Rowley, the look was a sleek, natural ponytail accented with the striking contrast of an artificial colored hair extension placed off center for an added tuft of textured fringe.

Hair Color Used

Wella professionals used Koleston Perfect Special Mix hair color shades to completely saturate natural hair extensions with the rich, vibrant, jewel-toned shades of the clothing collection. The sophisticated nuances of the Special Mix shades turned Rowley's color fantasy into a reality on the runway. The multi-dimensional tones and layers revealed sensuous colors in a range of shades, each time embedded with an element of surprise. The models actually blended with the clothing.

Products Used

System Professional Ultimation: Strong-hold hairspray with long-lasting hold and maximum shine.

Step-by-Step Styling

1. Section hair off and working from back of the head to the front, preparing hair with System Professional Ultimation hair spray for added texture and shine.
2. Create texture within each section by using a combination of a curling iron and crimping iron for non-uniform waviness.
3. Place Wella colored hair pieces that have been crimped within sections of the natural hair so that the extensions blend in seamlessly.
4. Pull the hair back into a soft ponytail at the nape of the neck with the ends flowing naturally, while allowing the streaks of color to show through for added dimension.

While this was done in dramatic fashion for the runway, any woman could translate this look into everyday life with extensions or highlights that coordinate with her "natural" hair color, as the Wella professionals did at DKNY.

The DKNY look was a refined side-swept ponytail, projecting a sexy equestrian vibe with a subtly strong, yet not too masculine look.

Hair Color Used

Using Wella Professionals’ new Blondor collection to achieve the palest of blondes, and both the Koleston Perfect permanent and Color Touch demi-permanent collections to create a gorgeous palette of naturals, hand-painted extensions were created within the natural color palette of the models’ hair - not quite as daring as the Rowley look. The range reflected beautiful dimension in a variety of hues - from medium brown to a beautiful spectrum of blonde shades.

Products Used

• System Professional Volumagic: Natural hold styling foam for long-lasting volume
• System Professional Hypercurl: Provides texture and definition to curl patterns

Step-by-Step Styling

1. Prepare damp hair with System Professional Volumagic and blow dry with a large round brush, creating a soft wave and giving direction for the side part.
2. Rake hands through hair to loosen the waves, pulling to the side of the part and fasten the low-side ponytail.
3. Leave hair on the opposite side of the ponytail loose around the face to balance the asymmetry of the look.
4. Lightly smooth System Professional Hypercurl on the length of the ponytail for separation and added texture.

The DKNY look is one you might want to create at home; ponytails will rock for the rest of this year. Of course, if you have a flair for hair, you could give the Cynthia Rowley look a whirl!

Photos courtesy of American Pop