You might be able to watch live fashion shows on your laptop, but what about going behind the scenes to see how the hair and makeup are done? That's a little tougher. Amy Synnott-D'Annibale, the beauty director for InStyle, went backstage at Fashion Week shows to find out all the genius tips and behind-the-scenes secrets the pros use to get models ready for the runway:
Trick: Fuller lips
The pout is all the rage right now. Pat McGrath used a clever backstage trick at Prada this year: he drew a curved white line along the cupid's bow to emphasize the shape of the lips and make them look fuller. If this is too strong for you, use a nude colored pencil for a more subtle look.
Trick: a manicure without streaks
This season, bare nails are all the rage, and they can be any shade from beige to taupe. But sometimes these soft, milky colors can dry with streaks. This season, the people who do nails at Donna Karan came up with a solution. First put on a layer of polish, then a thin layer of matte base, and then the last coat of polish. This will give you a perfect finish.
Trick: Natural flush
Backstage, make-up artists use lipstick instead of powder blush to give the cheeks a fresh look. This season, they used a berry-colored MAC lipstick at the Marni show. Just put two dots on the apples of your cheeks and blend them into the foundation you already have on. It makes you look very shiny. This is also a great way to make your makeup look better when you change from day to night.
Smooth out the hair
Pros don't have much patience for flyaways after drying and styling hair. They often keep the models' hair smooth and in place until the show by pinning it flat behind the ears with small metal clips and using playing cards as spacers. The cards keep the clips from damaging the hair. At the Burberry show, we saw this tip put to use. You can easily try this at home to keep your blowout smooth while getting ready for a night out. Here, you can use anything thicker than a tissue, but we recommend using a few aces from a deck of cards or folded dollar bills.Every season, I go around the world to check out the backstage beauty scene. Even though the looks and styles change all the time, some things always stay the same. For example, look at these cute little butterfly bow clips. I see them all the time.
Guido Palau, Redken Creative Consultant and lead hairstylist at Jil Sander, says that people always think we'll keep them in because they're so pretty. "They're great for keeping your hair out of the way when you're styling it because they don't leave marks on the hair like hard, straight, tight pins do."
Since my hair is curly, a few extra creases won't change my look at all. I'm good to go with my T-Rex hair clips. But I can see how frustrating traditional clamps must be if you have straight strands. These clips look like a great way to save time because you don't have to iron your hair over and over again to keep it straight. So they also protect your hair from damage caused by too much heat. You can just put a square of toilet paper between your hair and the clamp, like the hair team did backstage at Iceberg last week.
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