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subscribe to beauty counter blog via RSSPastels, Still In Power
December 19, 2011 3:00 pm
If you take a peruse through our new Year In Beauty feature, you’ll be reminded of the 2011 hair trend that just wouldn’t die: ombre hair streaks. The dip-dying technique has persisted long after we ever thought it would—on the runway, on the red carpet, and even in high-end glossies, which continue to propagate the coloring method on newsstands world wide. The latest streaking session comes courtesy of hairstylist Jean Luc Amarin in this month’s issue of Vogue Taiwan. Rather than go for full-on blocks of pastel lavenders, deep reds, and aquas, Amarin opted for sporadic bursts of color that vary in width and length so the rainbow accents are more of a surprise, rather than an in-your-face statement. Will the style will persist into 2012? All signs point to yes—make that yellow.
tags: Hair, Vogue Taiwan
Seeing Stars
December 14, 2011 4:37 pm
This past weekend, we ran into a fellow beauty enthusiast from Into the Gloss at a holiday party in Brooklyn, where she was taking the idea of holiday makeup to another level. “I only did them on the bottom,” she said, referring to the halved sequins she had centered and affixed below her lower lashline, à la Pat McGrath’s handiwork at Givenchy this season. A clever way to update more predictably impactful red lipsticks and glittering eye shadows, stick-on 3-D makeup can make for an exciting twist this time of year—and happens to be one of Spring’s biggest trends (if we could laser-cut hot pink paper cateye liner like McGrath did at Viktor & Rolf, we’d wear it all. the. time). The good folks at Russh Magazine seem to be on the same page. The latest issue of the Australian glossy features fresh-faced girls in a series of pared-down albeit powerful face-painting looks. Our favorite of the bunch includes metallic stars, rather than sequins, which have been adhered around the temple and across the forehead. Everyday wear? Obviously not. But taking a jaunt over to your local craft store to see what else you can potentially glue onto your face to properly make merry over the next few weeks is not a bad idea.
tags: Makeup, Pat McGrath, Russh Magazine
Lips And Tips, A Love Affair
December 12, 2011 1:45 pm
Nude nails made a comeback at the Fall shows and continued to dominate more outlandish, allout nail art experiments for Spring—with a few notable exceptions, that is. Missoni and McQueen got minxed and Sophy Robson etched individual hieroglyphics onto tips backstage at Topshop Unique, while Jin Soon christened the “slim silhouette” backstage at Prabal Gurung. But as the battle between neutral and next-level manicures raged on, we noticed another trend rearing its pretty polished head: matching lips and tips. Before Mary Quant started picking nail lacquers according to clothes rather than lipsticks in the 1960s (the British designer revolutionized more than just hem lines), it was all about corresponding pout and polish colors. Both Jason Wu and Donna Karan reprised the tradition with classic crimsons and deep burgundies at their shows in September—and makeup artist Maud Laceppe and manicurist Michina Koide have modernized it in the new issue of Numéro with an electric blue mouth and fingers lacquered in the same powdery shade. We’ve personally moved on from the-crazier-the-better varnishing acts, but we’re always plenty happy to give credit to creativity where credit is due. Would you do blue?
tags: Alexander McQueen, Donna Karan, Jason Wu, Jin Soon, Mary Quant, Michina Koide, Missoni, Numero, Prabal Gurung, Sophy Robson, Topshop Unique
Paradise, Found—In Polish
November 30, 2011 5:52 pm
If, like us, you are still trying to accept the fact that you will not be attending Art Basel Miami Beach in person this year (another time, saltwater pool at The Standard), these adorable palm tree nail decals in the latest issue of French Elle might help you get into the fun-in-the-sun spirit—no matter where you are. This is not the first time we’ve spotted the tropical prints reimagined in polish, of course; true nail art buffs will recall that Alexa Chung did in fact sport something similar at the Fall shows back in February. This latest design is just another way to fill your head with images of sand and surf as the sun sets across New York City at an astonishing 4:30 p.m. Mind over matter, dear readers.
tags: Alexa Chung, Elle France, Nails
Two Cat-Eyes Are Better Than One
November 23, 2011 12:58 pm
After poring over the Spring shows for the past few months, we’ve begun honing in on the beauty looks that we plan on breaking out next season. High on that list are cat-eyes, which, as we’ve learned after countless trial-and-error episodes in the privacy of our own home (and one unfortunate incident in our office bathroom), are easier said than done. Following more than a few epic fails with liquid liners in all manner of thickness and points, we’ve realized that unless you’re a professional, cream or gel liners applied with an angled brush may be the way to go for a perfect flicked-out stroke. But just as we were getting good at scrawling on a single line of black pigment directly on top of our upper lashes, we saw this. Two lines—in two different colors! For the latest issue of Canada’s Pulp magazine, makeup artist Hung Vanngo dips into Shiseido creative director of makeup Dick Page’s stash of Shimmering Cream Eye Colors, drawing a winged line in Angel, a silvery gray, on top of a lacquered line of Shiseido’s Accentuating Cream Eyeliner in Black. Paired with a red lip, the doubling-up effort is exquisite. And back to the drawing board we go.
tags: Hung Vanngo, Makeup, Pulp Magazine, Shiseido
A Case For Dip-Dyeing, Wrapped With A Bow
November 15, 2011 2:10 pm
Despite what the magazines may be telling you, pastel ombré hair highlights are played out. Streaks of pale pink, lavender, and mint green were cute for a while, we’ll admit, but now that the look has become trendy, we’re of the mind that dip-dyeing’s days are over. That is, we were of that mind until we saw this. Adding strands of color through the mid-lengths of your hair is the only way to achieve the rose-tinged “hair bow” Danilo crafted for the December issue of Flare. One of six holiday hairstyles whipped up by the celebrity stylist for the Canadian glossy, this one got to us. We’re suckers for haute hair art. What do you think of the rainbow-flecked updo?
Lindsey’s Lipstick, Uncapped
October 31, 2011 11:37 am
Today, after weeks of nonstop shows and a long October that included many late nights at the office, Style.com/Print is finally on newsstands. Our debut glossy has already generated a fair bit of chatter around the blogosphere. Since images of our cover star, Lindsey Wixson, hit the Web last Thursday, the intrigue has mounted. Which collections made the top ten? Who won our street-style reader poll? And, perhaps most importantly, who makes the raspberry red lipstick that’s featured prominently on the Kansas-born catwalker’s mouth? “It’s Jungle Red from NARS,” makeup artist Mickael Noisette reveals of the pigment he used to paint Wixson’s pout on set. “There wasn’t any inspiration for the beauty look,” Noisette explains, “just to keep her lovely face as it is. She’s so strong—even without makeup—but I decided to go to the red lipstick for even more strength.” Key to Noisette’s application was a soft-focus effect that spoke to Wixson’s “ingenue” side. “I didn’t want her to look too womanly—too Saint Laurent,” the face painter says. So rather than picking up a freshly sharpened lip liner, Noisette reached for a Q-tip. “The tip is to hydrate the lips and clean them with a Q-tip” before applying the lipstick, he says. Using a brush to perfect the edges, Noisette picked up his trusty cotton swab again to “blur” any hard lines. A final finger-patting ensured a “tinted,” lived-in finish. Velvety, matte skin courtesy of Diorskin foundation and its semi-loose powder, a mix of light brown MAC and Shiseido eye shadows to add subtle definition that didn’t compete with Wixson’s bold lip, and a slick of Shiseido mascara on the top lashes finished the look. “The most important thing is to curl the lashes,” Noisette advises. What do you think of our first on-page beauty moment?
tags: Dior Beauty, Lindsey Wixson, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup, Mickael Noisette, NARS Cosmetics, Shiseido
Pushing The Boundaries Of Blush
October 27, 2011 5:34 pm
Makeup artist Peter Philips is no stranger to 3-D makeup. Before hot pink paper triangles, snipped paillettes, and pieces of rubberized plastic doubled as eyeliner on the Spring runways, Philips was fashioning lash embellishments for the pages of i-D magazine and backstage at Chanel circa Fall 2009. But you could argue that he hit his stride in the new issue of WSJ Magazine, decking out model Bette Franke with fabric appliqués-turned-blush. Satin and sequined flowers play cheek color in two different spreads while Philips ingeniously utilizes beaded geometric shapes in a third. It’s the rare face painter that counts fabric as part of his makeup arsenal—which is just one of the many things that makes Philips’ work so impressive. What do you think of his latest experiment?
tags: Makeup, Peter Philips
Suddenly Saturated
October 24, 2011 4:55 pm
If we had to pinpoint one overarching beauty trend from the Spring shows, it would be wet hair. From Victoria Beckham, Prabal Gurung, and Alexander Wang to Bottega Veneta, Giambattista Valli, Lanvin, and Chanel, saturated strands were the coiffing establishment’s backstage technique of choice. Whether or not the soaking-wet look will be a hit off the runway was a topic of conversation among beauty junkies on both sides of the Atlantic. “Why would I want my hair to look like that?” a friend asked at the start of the Paris shows, when it became clear that hairstylists like Guido Palau and Sam McKnight wouldn’t be putting down their bottles of mousse, gel, and hair spray anytime soon. It’s a valid question, considering most women go to great lengths to keep their hair from looking greasy and damp. Then again, we’re almost positive she’d want her hair to look like Natasha Poly’s does in the new issue of Spanish Vogue. The man behind the blond beauty’s soaked-through strands, Living Proof co-founder Ward Stegerhoek, says the trick is to use a product that gives the effect of an oily residue but that isn’t an oil at all. “I used American Crew Grooming Cream, because it looks like grease and is wet and shiny like grease, but it’s completely water soluble, so it will rinse out of the hair without the same problems of a real grease.” Still unconvinced of the style’s wearability? Let us know below.
tags: Hair, Natasha Poly, Ward Stegerhoek
Natasha Poly Advocates For Pantone Pouts
October 14, 2011 3:33 pm
Vogue China just debuted its Fall collections book which, interestingly enough, stars Natasha Poly having a particularly Spring beauty moment. Matte lips in a range of off-kilter colors popped up on both sides of the pond this season, making their first appearance in New York at Richard Chai’s “Japanese surfer girls” show where models like Lindsey Wixson and Emily Baker trotted out onto the runway with flat-finish blue, and purple mouths. The evolution of the statement lip continued in London at Mary Katrantzou thanks to makeup artist Val Garland, who used a treasure trove of metallic MAC Pigments to create lime, aqua, and tangerine mouths (Garland repeated the trick in Paris at Thierry Mugler making gold-green her single color of choice). It’s not the most translatable look off the catwalk but there is a method to the madness, should you want to give it a go. The trick is blocking out lips with a color-neutralizing cream base like MAC Lip Erase or its Paintstick in White before applying whatever wacky lipstick shade your heart desires. To be fair, Natasha’s yellow pout does look kind of killer with her all-black ensemble. Would you go there?
tags: Emily Baker, Lindsey Wixson, Makeup, Mary Katrantzou, Natasha Poly, Richard Chai, Thierry Mugler
