J MENDEL Backstage Spring '13

For J Mendel Gucci's makeup was a lightly smokey eye with a hint of lip color.  She applied a medium shade of brown on the crease of the lid and blended outward using Revlon Colorstay Eye Shadow Quad 500 Addictive Intoxiquant.

One of the most important features in Gucci's makeup is to make the skin look flawless.  To achieve this she starts with  Dr Hauschka's Rose Day Cream.

Addictive Intoxiquant Eye Shadow

Gucci doing demo for her team

J Mendel looks on

finished makeup

Lindsey Wixen

Lindsey goofing off

The hair was designed by Orlando Pita.  I watched his team make waves using a flat iron.

Models lining up

Finished hair

Oscar de la Renta Spring '13 Backstage

The hair and makeup for Oscar was gorgeous!

Orlando Pita added bright colored extensions to a combo french twist/beehive for an edgy modern look.

Gucci Westman's makeup was minimal with a magenta lip stain and finished brows as the prominent features.  The result was ladies who lunch with an edge.

It was pretty crowded backstage and the hair took quite a long time to complete.

Rag & Bone Backstage Spring 2013

At Rag & Bone Gucci Westman designed a clean fresh look perfect for Spring.

The face had a fresh look with the brows being the prominent feature.  On the eyes she put a brown matte shadow in the crease and blended outward.  The cheeks had a well blended creme blush in 2 shades of brown with a small dab of pink on the apples (not too high).  On the lips she used a warm brown color with a little gloss for a sexy finish.

My makeup station.

Guido designed the hair.  He slicked the hair off the face and kept it long and flowing in the back, using extensions on girls who needed more length.

The show was packed as usual.

Perfect Lip Palette

This week I will be heading to NYC to assist Gucci Westman at the shows:

Rag + Bone
Oscar de la Renta
J Mendel

Guiletto

So stay tuned for lots of backstage photos and makeup looks for Spring '13

Meanwhile.... here is a product I can't live without.  It's Kevin Aucoin's lip palette.  I've used it on so many shoots since I bought in last year at Bergdorfs.  It has the brights you need in pink and red and a neutralizing nude to mix the perfect shade.

I used it on this model for an Ebay shoot.

Photo by Michael Waring

Going for Gold

I worked with three Olympic athletes for the August issue of Glamour Magazine:  Natalie Coughlin, Khatuna Lorig, and McKayla Maroney.

The theme was gold and I used different shades to complement the clothes and complexion of each athlete.

Photographer:  Ture Lillegraven
Editor:  Rachel Wang
Hair:  Anthony Cristiano
Makeup:  Racine Christensen

Makeup I used:  Makeup Forever Aqua Creme & waterproof Aqua Liner, Revlon Highlighting stick in Golden/Dore, Shu Uemura lipstick in Gold #035, MAC lipstick in Bronze Shimmer, pots are all MAC pigments.

Colorful Hair

Everyone's doing it.  I did it.  Are you thinking about doing it?

Putting color in your hair is all the rage right now as you've probably noticed.  I've seen pretty much every shade from shocking pink, lavender purple, and a whole head of blue.  Check out Kelly Osbourne's latest color...

You can do it yourself, but from my experience it's best to leave color to the professionals.  I went to Courtney Kimball at Lustre Salon in Hayes Valley.

These pictures might inspire you to take the plunge.

Dree Hemingway

Kate Bosworth

Girl at fashion show

chic girls on Bond Street

Photo of me by Danica Suskin

John Cale rocks the pink

Kelly Osbourne's lavender hair

Taking it too far?