While ready-to-wear often steals the spotlight, we’d be making a big mistake not to give some special attention to the fresh beauty trends that graced the runway last week. With as much presence as the covetable clothing, New York Fashion Week’s Fall 2012 season brought us an assortment of hair and makeup looks that inspire our beauty routines as much as the collections inspired our wardrobes. From voluminous, airy updos to nail art we’ll be taking to the salon, here are the best and brightest beauty highlights from backstage to the catwalk. (Hint: keep those tweezers at bay—bushy eyebrows aren’t going anywhere!)
Textured, teased, and featherweight locks, seen at Nanette Lepore, L.A.M.B., and Derek Lam, made a big (no pun intended) impression on this season’s beauty trends. A perfect balance between the no fuss, sleek buns and seemingly impossible artistic creations—these high volume looks are totally wearable and an instant update to your ‘do. For a quick, no-stress version, start with a sleek, side-parted ponytail, add some texturizing mousse, and backcomb the loose locks to a billowy finish.
All eyes were on...well, eyes when this fun and edgy beauty trend appeared on the catwalk. Taking on multiple variations, electric eye colors are a lively addition to our beauty trends list and sure to have Sephora selling out of brightly colored “eyeliner stylos.” We saw jungle red at 3.1 Phillip Lim, indigo blue (with matching dots just under the lower lashes) at Anna Sui, and sunny yellow at VPL. Backstage at Anna Sui, CoverGirl creative design director Pat McGrath instructs a mini how-to; "You draw your shape, fill it in, and add your shadow," she says of the thick-lined, winged look.
We were wowed by bright, vibrant lip colors on the runway this season, a stark contrast to the traditional dark and brooding shades for fall. Shades ranging from classic red to shocking orange were seen at Thakoon, Marc by Marc Jacobs, and Narciso Rodriguez. These looks combated the popular, heavily defined eye and focused on a striking pout, keeping the rest of the face practically nude. "It's borderline cartoon-y," Shiseido artistic director Dick Page said of Marc by Marc’s perfect scarlet pouts that were meant to look "stamped on."
Like we said, bold brows are here to stay and remained a gorgeous focal point on the runway this season. Thickened, enhanced, or simply natural brows appeared at Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, and Alexander Wang. Strong brows have become a staple for many designers’ aesthetic and are equally influential in conveying a natural look, as they are a masculine one. "Keeping it quite boyish is the major thing [at Alexander Wang]," Kendal emphasized to Style.com. "It's all about finding that balance between sexy and androgynous."
Playful, edgy, intricate—the Fall 2012 nail art was undeniably creative and quite possible our favorite part of this season’s trends. Backstage was as much about manicures as it was hair and makeup and with designs like these, we can only imagine how time consuming! Almost everyone seems to be on board with some sort of nail detail, but a few outstanding designs blew us away. The “neo-noir” inspiration for 3.1 Phillip Lim produced a graphic, moody look when Essie founder Essie Weingarten adapted his sketch ("I don't speak the language [of beauty], so sometimes the only way to get there is to paint a picture," says Lim.) for a unique nail design. Nails at Nicole Miller resembled either candy store lollipops or a colorful, retro “time machine”. CND nail colors in Plumville, Electric Orange, Bicycle Yellow, and Anchor Blue were each precisely applied with a fine detail brush to create each swirl. Even though the matte, hombre design seen at Christian Cota looks difficult, it’s actually completely DIY worthy. Use a makeup sponge to apply a first nail color from the cuticle halfway up the nail, and then add a lighter color in a similar shade, blending with the sponge from mid nail to the tip. (CND polish in Chocolate Milk and Putty were used at Cota.) Apply Super Matte top coat for the unique, flat finish.
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