New York Fashion Week S/S 2012 Day 5 Recap

Day Five of Fashion Week showed a whole lot of summer color, crazy backstage antics (at Betsey Johnson), and very very famous front row. Beautylish's Tara shares the view from backstage.

Preen

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK S/S 2012

MAKEUP

A very very pretty, summery, innocent look was at Preen this morning, with colors from the collection reflected in the makeup. Beautiful soft sorbet shades of pink, green, blue, and some neon yellow were sprinkled throughout the collection (I loved the yellow heels spotted on a pair of cutout booties). Makeup artist Val Garland used the same palette on models faces, and made the focus peachy, almost mango cheeks. She kept color on the apples of the cheeks and didn't blend outwards, using shades from a MAC eye shadow palette. "I like to apply everything with a brush," said Val, "but you can always use your fingers. A great way to make this look last all day is to use some powder on the cheeks". Eyes were left bare, and lips received a slick of mango gloss that matched the cheeks.

HAIR

An almost Victorian type of roll adorned the heads at Preen. Hairstylist Paul Hanlon wanted to keep the hair close to the girls heads in order to show off the neckline, so two rolls on either side of the head were created and then joined in the back and then rolled into each other. Paul sprayed Aveda Volumizing Tonic on the hairline to pull hair taught before beginning the rolls, and finished with an Aveda Brilliant Spray on Shine to keep everything glossy.

NAILS

In keeping with the collection's sorbet shades, fingers were coated in a peachy coral pink called Chastity, and toes were covered in one coat of Pink Lemonade by Essie.

Rachel Roy

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK S/S 2012

MAKEUP

Rachel Roy is always elegant, always beautiful, and always right on trend. Bobbi Brown looked after makeup, with a rose gold palette inspired by her new rose collection and her rose gold wedding band (I love a romance story). The look was simple and elegant, with a matte base and lips. The eyes were the only feature of the face that sparkled, as Bobbi applied a semi-sparkly rose gold eyeshadow, called Rose Gold Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow and topped it off with a slick of mascara. "This is a look that works on almost every skin tone," said Bobbi. "The color is so flattering that all you need to do is make the shade darker or lighter depending on your skin color."

HAIR

Hair was elegant, refined, and ladylike, a look that would easily be acceptable at a black tie event. Ted Gibson used Ted Gibson Build It blow drying agent to smooth hair and make it sleek and shiny, before parting it to one side, twisting back each side and pulling it into a low knot bun.

NAILS

Priti NYC released a new color backstage, that was inspired by Rachel's show. Toes and feet were covered in a translucent nude pink called Mythic (out Spring 2012) which elongated the hands and feet. Manicurists ensured that models could slip quickly into shoes by spraying hands and feet with a Dry Enamel Nail Spray (you can get it from QVC!).

Carlos Miele

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK S/S 2012

MAKEUP

An elegant, pared back evening look was the inspiration at Carlos Miele, with makeup that could easily be taken from day to night. A subtle, natural approach to makeup seems to be the biggest trend this season, with less focus on bold lips or bright makeup. Makeup artist Gato Zamora used Maybelline's Fit Me Foundation to create a matte base and highlighted across the cheekbones, bridge of the nose and cupids bow with a light shade of concealer. "Concealer is my favorite tool," said Gato. "What most people don't realize is that it makes a wonderful highlighter!" Maybelline's Color Explosion eye palette accentuated the eyes, and a bronzey brown was applied in small circles across the whole of the eyelids for a solid color. Gato finished off with mascara.

HAIR

Emma Watson's hairstylist Rodney Cutler for ULTA was on hand to create the look for Carlos Miele, and wanted to present an elegant woman with all the focus on her clothes. Hair was brushed to a high shine, and slicked back at the top and sides and left to hang down the back. "The trick to creating the look," said Rodney, "is to blow dry your hair back so that the hair follicle already lies in that direction. Then apply Redken gel and blow dry it again to keep it straight."

Rebecca Minkoff

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK S/S 2012

MAKEUP

A '70s poolside glamour was the look at Rebecca Minkoff, with floaty maxi skirts, matching shirts and blazers, and crop tops in pretty pastel shades. Mai Quynh, celebrity makeup artist for mark, wanted skin to appear sexy and bronzed with a summery, "I just got back from the pool" look, so she applied a base of foundation and bronzer, but no blush. The eyes were bare and didn't have any mascara, a trend that's been seen across many shows this week. Lips were the focus, and a coat of creamy, bright coral lipstick brought the whole look together. "It's all about the lip," said Mai. "we really wanted the look to be super simple and super girly."

HAIR

Hair literally bounced down the runway in big bouncy, fluffy curls. Hairstylist Jeanie Syfu was inspired by Diane Keaton in Manhattan and created the waves in only an hour! Hair was prepped with Tresemmé Finishing Spray and pulled into tiny ponytails all over the head. " We're wrapping each ponytail around a piece of elastic in a tight coil and then pushing it down," said Jeannie. "Then just about the show (which is almost nn hour later) we're cutting the elastic and brushing out the hair completely to create the bouncy curls."

NAILS

Nails were incredible at Rebecca Minkoff, and looked like the inside of the candy store. They were first coated with a layer of Essie's Pink Polka, a neon bright pink, and then three white vertical stripes were painted on top. We loved the super colorful look. This is definitely something to try at home!

Betsey Johnson

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK S/S 2012

MAKEUP

It was a party backstage at Betsey Johnson, and I'm not joking. Balloons, inspiration boards, champagne, and a tier of cupcakes set the tone for Betsey's show, hair, and makeup. Makeup artist Sarah Lucero described the look as a sexy pin up girl (like Marilyn Monroe), and it was all about perfect, glossy lips and a slight cat eye. A super clean, flawless base was created with Stila's Perfect and Correct foundation, and eyes were lined with Stila's Black Smudge Pots. "There's just enough eye liner kicked up at the end of the lashes to create a demi push up bra," said Sarah. "We want the girls to look drop dead gorgeous, and make them feel like real women." The standout item however, was the lips. To get the incredibly glossy wet look Sarah first applied a coat of Stila's Long Wear Liquid Lip Color in Petal, and then a coat of Dazzling sparkle luxe lip gloss.

HAIR

According to hairstylist Peter Gray, Betsey Johnson walked into her run-through and described her collection to be all about "tits and arse." Yet her collection was a little more grown up then it's ever been before. To mimic that, Peter created a very old Hollywood style with pin up curls and a deep side part. He used a curling iron and pins to set the rolls on one side of the head with a base of Redken's 07 mousse, but said that heated rollers were just as effective. "When setting curls in rollers," said Peter, "always make sure to use mousse first, then hairspray after you've combed them out." His first model to get her hair done was Betsey's daughter, who was opening the show.

NAILS

Just like everything else at Betsey's show, including the painted line down the back of models legs that looked like fishnet stockings (which Betsey hand painted herself!), the nails were outrageous. Consisting of five Butter London colors ranging from silver to intense glitter, each nail had a stick on bling at the base of the nail, and the pinky was pierced with a tiny black safety pin hanging off it. Now that's a show!

Zero + Maria Cornejo

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK S/S 2012

MAKEUP

The look at Zero + Maria Cornejo was grown up, glamorous and mysterious. Inspired by a tougher, edgier type of summer dressing, makeup artist Dick Page wanted to create a look that was a little surprising for the warmer months. The focus was on the eye, and to make sure all the attention stayed there, he stuck with matte skin instead of the dewy looks that have been so popular at other shows. To get the strong, smoky eye look, Dick used a combination of Shiseido's Simmering Cream Eye Color, sable, mist, and leather. He applied a cream eye liner with an angled brush (don't be afraid of them!) and highlighted cheeks in a Shiseido Luminising Satin in Tea Rose. 

HAIR

The hair at Zero Maria looked a little like origami. Pulled straight back off the face and parted to the side, hairstylist Martin Cullen used Phytovolume Actif to prep locks, and created two tight mini twists to pull the hair back. Once into a ponytail, hair was knotted twice and squashed with a flat iron to create a super flat look. It was almost space-agey.

NAILS

It was neon all the way on toes and feet, which seems to be an incredibly popular color palette this season. If you're aren't too sure about brights, then this is the time to try them. Cheeky Chops by Butter London was the color used at the show.

Marc by Marc Jacobs

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK S/S 2012

MAKEUP

After I made it through the crazy lines at Marc by Marc Jacobs, a sea of beautifully natural, clean, fresh, and simple faces met my eyes. Makeup artist Dick Page described the look as "Pretty 101," and wanted to keep it simple, girly, and feminine. Skin was matte and lip gloss was used as eye shadow to keep the makeup clean, not smudgy. The look was a perfect base for the Marc by Marc girl, and allowed all the focus to be on the clothes. 

HAIR

A simple look made complicated was how hair stylist Guido Palau described his creation. "I looked back to my work at Jil Sander in the '90s for inspiration," said Guido. "It's all about taking something simple and really changing it to be something new and different." Hair was pulled tightly away from the face into a ponytail using Redken Satin Wear. A silver hair clip was placed underneath the elastic, and then on top of the middle in the ponytail to pin it on the scalp.

NAILS

"When Marc comes to a run through," said lead manicurist for Zoya, Elisa Ferri, "he has a vision and knows exactly what he wants. This season he decided that the Marc by Marc girl didn't need lots of color, and could simply exist with a nude shade." Zoya created a color called Olivia for the show, which Elisa described as the inside of a pink shell. When a matte top coat was applied, it looked like pink velvet.