9 posts tagged "Marian Newman"
Nails That Are “Chic, But Not Trying Too Hard,” Backstage At Louise Goldin
Marian Newman is no stranger to the high-stakes game of finger-painting. The nail artist, who has created pro tips everywhere from Donna Karan and Giles to Missoni and McQueen, has been setting backstage trends for the better part of two decades, including our favorite Spring manicure moment: In a season filled with nude lacquers, Newman’s ombré-red “blood and tears” manicure backstage at Gareth Pugh in October nearly took our breath away. “Staying chic but not trying too hard is more what I’m into these days,” Newman explained of her stance on nail culture backstage at Louise Goldin’s Fall presentation today, where she went with a “monochrome French” manicure using MAC Nail Lacquer in Coffee Break, a light mocha. The secret to “adding a little something” to a plain old two-coat polish job without venturing too far into avante-garde territory? A play on texture, not color or design, according to Newman, who created a “soft, powdery” matte finish on the taupe-y varnish before adding a “hard edge” with a thin slick of MAC Overlaquer, a glossy topcoat, along the top of the nail. Do try this one at home.
“Wearable, Felt” Makeup And Nails That Are Anything but Nude, Backstage At Gareth Pugh
There was a lot going on backstage at Gareth Pugh‘s Spring show. After walking through the incense and smoke-filled venue, we arrived to find makeup artist Alex Box cooing over her nine-week-old baby. “He likes the attention,” she said of Marlo Ray, who was getting plenty of it from models like Nadja Bender, who came over to marvel at Box’s beautiful little boy. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I feel I’ve been melted and someone’s poured me back into me,” the proud mother effused. No wonder there was a noted change in the beauty look here.
“I thought I’d do something for people to wear for a change,” the woman responsible for Pugh’s Spring 2010 gray-tinged, “goddesses from the grave” faces and Spring 2012′s plastic-film eyebrow moment deadpanned. The molten red “structural, but felt” lids courtesy of a blend of MAC Eyeshadows in Coppering, Cranberry, All That Glitters, Honey Lust, and Basic Red that was given definition with a line of its Lip Pencil in Cherry along the inner rims may not count as “wearable” for some people, nor will the drip of special-effect liquid tears Box added right before girls went out onto the runway for an “emotional” element likely find its way into many people’s daily routines. But this might be as close as we’re going to get with Pugh and Box—the latter of whom’s red lip, a combination of MAC Lip Pencil in Auburn and its Lipmix in Red, ranks right up there with some of the most impressive mouths we’ve seen this season.
But that’s not all we have to report. In a season that’s been filled with nude nails and less successful nail art moments, Marian Newman managed to turn out one of the coolest polish protocols we’ve seen. You asked for it on Instagram, so without further adieu, the method behind Newman’s “blood and tears” manicure madness: Start with a thick “blob” of MAC Nail Lacquer in Rogue Marie at the cuticle line and paint a quarter of the way up the base of the nail. Then add its crimson varnish in Shirelle toward the top, blending the two colors with upward brushstrokes for an ombré effect. Top with a glossy coat of MAC’s Overlacquer and congratulate yourself on pulling off our favorite nail moment yet.
The Nude Nail: A Tutorial
The report from the nail front in the fashion trenches this week is much like it’s been for the past few seasons: While a few designers are staying the artful, design-heavy course, creating a ton of blog fodder in the process (which, we imagine, is part of the point), most are requesting nude lacquers—or no lacquer, just a glossy topcoat, as was the case at The Row yesterday—to hopefully further fashion from its embrace of all things over-the-top for tips. But not all nudes are created equal, of course, and according to manicurist extraordinaire Marianne Newman, most of them are subpar. “Most nudes streak,” she points out, as anyone who has ever asked for a mannequin manicure is aware. But Newman, who has brought her pro polishing skills everywhere from Giles and Missoni to Loewe and McQueen, has a secret to getting an ultra-smooth, ridge-free finish. “Put on your first coat of polish,” like, say, MAC Nail Lacquer in Quiet Time, which Newman chose backstage at Donna Karan, “apply a matte topcoat—any brand will work—let it dry, and apply your second coat,” like MAC’s Cream Delicate. “It works just like priming a canvas.”
Backstage At McQueen, “A Little Fantasy” Goes A Long Way
If the lace masks at Sarah Burton’s show for Alexander McQueen looked familiar, it’s because anyone who made it to the wildly successful exhibition celebrating the house’s late namesake designer at the Met this summer has seen something like them before. “The idea came from the masks we created for the McQueen exhibit,” confirmed Guido Palau, who dreamt up another series of similar headgear with Burton for Spring. “People expect a little fantasy from this show,” Palau pointed out, which he delivered by weaving tight, half-inch-thick rings of braids all around models’ heads. “It’s like a wig wrap, but I wanted it to look more embellished,” he explained—which happened to be the complete opposite of Peter Philips’ M.O. “It’s almost like a sculpture,” the famed face painter said of the full-body muting technique he employed, applying a continuous wash of Chanel Pro Lumiere foundation on faces, limbs—anywhere skin was showing. “It’s all the same color; we wanted to make sure everything was covered,” he said, taking the season’s monochrome makeup trend to the next level. While Philips finger-pressed foundation into lips as well, there was one area of the face that he enhanced: the brows. “We tried bleaching them, but it looked too alien,” he said, opting instead to flatten arches, coating them in the same latex-based glue he used only a few hours earlier at Chanel. “It puts some life back inside those masks.”
The real embellishment was left to Minx co-founders Dawn Lynch-Goodwin and Janice Jordan. Back in London, manicurist Marian Newman told us that Burton had given the women four words to use for inspiration when conceiving a series of different nail overlays for her to choose from for the show; today came the big reveal. “Water, mother-of-pearl, shell, and sea foam,” she said, applying the six winning designs to models’ tips. Using three different bases of pink, beige, and ivory, Jordan and Lynch-Goodwin layered different combinations of Minx in holographic gold and silver on top to create “organic, random” layered patterns. “It took over 1,000 man hours,” Jordan proclaimed. If the crowd at Centquatre wanted fantasy, they no doubt left satisfied.
The Secret To Truly “Expensive”-Looking Nails Revealed Backstage At Loewe
Come Spring or Fall, you can always expect to see a true sense of über-luxury backstage at Loewe, and this season was no exception. With makeup artist Pat McGrath’s smoky brown lids and chocolaty berry mouths paired with hairstylist Guido Palau’s soft, middle-parted, slightly curled locks that had been prepped with Redken Nature’s Rescue Radiant Salt Spray for texture, the fact that these girls were meant to appear polished was clear. “It’s very expensive,” nail guru Marian Newman deduced of the look—right down to the fingertips, which were quite vampy. “It wasn’t the lacquers themselves but the color that was important to [Stuart Vevers],” Newman said of the “dark rich raspberry” shade that came courtesy of OPI We’ll Always Have Paris and Chanel Rouge Noir. But what really lent that extra bit of lavishness to the nails was Lumos Topcoat, a cult-favorite high-shine clear varnish that Newman swears by. She’s not alone, either. The top results in a quick Google search included numerous rhetorical questions of “Lumos: the best topcoat in the world?” Considering that we fancy ourselves relative exerts when it comes to nails, we were shocked that yesterday was the first we were hearing of the wonder product. But no matter; we’ll be remedying that situation by purchasing a few bottles immediately upon our arrival in Les Etats Unis.