Direct from the Runway: Cynthia Steffe Fall 2009

It's always a thrill for me to talk to the designer of a label. So when I showed up at Cynthia Steffe, bright eyed and somewhat bushy-tailed at 7:30 in the morning, and was immediately whisked over to designer Shaun Kearney, I went with it. And the excitement only continued when I found out I'd have the chance to interview makeup artist Christian McCulloch and hairstylist Rolando Beauchamp! Find out all the details after the jump.



"The whole collection is really based around urban glamour," Kearney told me backstage. "Mixing uptown chic with downtown cool. This season she’s a little tougher, she’s a little sexier, but she’s still sweet at the same time." Kearney used "tough downtown fabric" like leather but made it glamorous with ruching, ruffles and interesting finishes.

Kearney also spoke to the hair and makeup and how it tied into the collection. "Hair is definitely swept up, it’s a little done, but it’s put into a bun and it’s a little disheveled, so it’s a little more relaxed," he said. "The palette is really about jewel tones and smoky kind of greys and charcoals with a little bit of bronze. [We] tried to tie the makeup back to that. The lip is a very strong kind of aubergine which is quite deep and rich. But the face is left very subtle, kind of a bronzy finish to it."



I also asked Kearney about his favorite look from the collection (of which there were 46 altogether). "This oversized bomber jacket with a dress underneath –- because I think that says it all!" he told me. "It’s something that’s so pretty and glamorous, but then she puts this big boyfriend bomber jacket on, which makes it look a little more downtown."



Makeup artist Christian McCulloch for M.A.C worked with the uptown/downtown reference, but was also inspired by the 1980s. "She’s got dark lipstick and smoky eye makeup on. So it’s kind of both rather than traditional," he told me. "You know people just say choose one." After prepping the skin with Studio Sculpt and Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, McCulloch used two eyeshadows to create the look -- Patina on the lid and Smut on the crease and lower lashline, blending the darker color up and out and keeping the lighter shade on the inner corners to make the eyes look wider. "It's a little more youthful," he said. He lined the lower lashlines with Smolder Eye Pencil and finished with Plush Lash Mascara in Black on the lashes.



The lips were coated with Currant Pencil and Underworld Lipstick. "Just a really moisturizing lipstick, I think that’s the texture du jour," he said. "It’s a really hydrating lipstick that leaves the lips looking moist without the stickiness of gloss."



Then it was on to hair with Rolando Beauchamp for Bumble and bumble. "The inspiration was rock and roll, cool little buns on top of the head," he said, "because they’re all gonna get veils." He created the bun by first doing a high ponytail, working with his hands instead of a brush to keep all the texture in the hair. He used Bumble and bumble Styling Cream to give it a little hold before pulling it up with his hands into the ponytail, teasing a bit at the base for added texture. He decided where to put the ponytail by looking at the models' profiles.

As for the buns, he told me, "They’re not round, they’re more elongated." He used Bumble and bumble Spray de Mode when twisting the hair, saying, "That’s the key when you do any ponytail or a high bun. You want to get the nape of the neck, hold the head up and then do the ponytail. That gets it really nice and tight."

Beauty Question: Would You Buy a $380 Moisturizer?

The latest rage in moisturizer? Givenchy Le Soin Noir. Formulated with vital black alge sap concentrate to maintain and prolong cell longevity, this moisturizer is definitely one of the most unique I've seen in quite some time. It's quite thick and lush, not to mention shimmery and black -- yes, black! -- though it sinks into the skin without leaving behind any residue. It's designed to make your complexion firm, glowing and even-toned.

Well, I've tried it, and I do think it's a decent moisturizer. But it rings up at a whopping $380 at sephora.com. Yes, you read that right! So my Beauty Question is this. Would you buy a $360 moisturizer? Or do you think it's absolutely insane to spend that much on a beauty product? My feeling is this: There's just no reason to spend that much on a moisturizer. I mean, come on -- I got my Manolos for cheaper than that at a sample sale!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

First Look Fridays: Makeup Artist Fiona Stiles

Bridget Moynahan. Eva Mendes. Milla Jovovich. Zooey Deschanel. What do all of these celebrities have in common? The fabulous makeup artist Fiona Stiles. In addition to makeup up tons of stars throughout her career, Fiona's work has appeared in everything from Marie Claire and Elle to campaigns for Revlon. Her career has been truly fascinating -- read on to discover more.

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Direct from the Runway: Carolina Herrera Fall 2009

One fashion show you just don't skip? Carolina Herrera. So when I had the opportunity to go backstage for the show, you'd better believe I took it ... even though I had to be there and look awake at 7:30 in the morning! And I was thrilled to be there, especially since Carolina Herrera herself walked around backstage and talked to every single person. She is just the epitome of grace, style and elegance. (Side note: she was once on a flight of mine. I freaked out and called every person I knew to gloat.) Find out everything hair and makeup related after the jump.



Orlando Pita for T3 was on hand to create the chic modified chignon seen on the models. After coating the hair with T3 Plump and blowdrying it, he sprayed the hair with T3 Control, brushed it back and gathered it into two ponytails. He then flipped these up and pinned them into the chignon shape with 100 bobby pins. The pins were meant to be seen, so they were arranged in clusters around the chignon.



Diane Kendal for M.A.C was the key makeup artist on this show. "The inspiration was making the girls look really fresh and beautiful," she told me. "[We] wanted to do a makeup that really enhanced the girls' natural beauty." She accomplished this by blending a nude contour into the eye and lining it in the corner before putting a highlighting shimmer on top. This was accompanied by a rosy cheek and the natural lip color Twig, which she said helps you "just get all the natural highlights on the face." Eyebrows were brushed slightly and skin was kept dewy.



I also spoke with Fatima T., who has been with M.A.C since 1995 and gave me some more detail on the look. "Twig is just enhancing the natural lip color because it’s the type of color that looks like your lip color but a little bit richer," she said. "Just topped with a little bit of gloss in the center –- a new Dazzleglass called Local Color. Just in the center so you get that highlight and it gives the lip dimension."

Fatima told me that two pigments were used on the eyes -- White Pigment on the lid and in the socket to sculpt and wrap it out, and then a new PRO product called Dark Pigment under the eye. Cheeks were swept with Mineralize Blush in Handfinish, a soft apricot with gold pearl laced through it. "It's gorgeous," Fatima gushed. "It just gives you a glow on your cheeks that's not overly frosty or sparkly but just glowy."

Lashes were dusted with Dazzle Lash Mascara. "It has a fantastic brush that looks like a Christmas tree," Fatima said. "It separates but still builds fullness. The brush is smaller, it gives you more control. Diane focused the mascara at the base of the lash -– she kind of wiggled at the base and pushed the lash up, and of course curled the lashes first."



Fatima's final thoughts on the look? "It’s beautiful, it’s the kind of makeup that yeah, it’s gonna look great on these girls, but it will look great on you and I too. Anyone can wear it!"

Finally, I spoke with Wanda Ruiz of Creative Nail Design about the nails for the show. "We are doing a beautiful nude," she told me. "She has lots of texture in her collection, lots of draping and color. She has electric blue, green, hot pink. So I think nude was the way to go because one color would just not cut it for all of the models." She accomplished this with one coat of Ridge Out Base Coat, one coat of Serenity Nail Polish and one coat of Air Dry Topcoat. The end result? "Luxe, beautiful, shiny nails."

Beauty Giveaway: Stila Backstage with Lela Rose and Beauty.com

Remember when I talked about how much I loved the Stila Backstage with Lela Rose and Beauty.com paint can earlier this week? (Click here for a quick refresher.) Well, good news, fellow beauty chicks! One lucky winner will receive this can absolutely free! This limited-edition set, which has a retail value of $34, contains the following products:

Stila Sun Shade 02
Lip Glaze in Cranberry
Eye Shadow in Starlight
Major Lash Mascara in Brown

Entering is easy. Simply enter your name and email address in the box below. The winner will be selected on Friday, March 6 and notified by email. It's that simple!



This giveaway is open to US residents only. Giveaway runs until Thursday, March 5 at midnight. One entry per person, email address and IP address. Multiple entries will be disqualified.

Direct from the Runway: Miss Sixty Fall 2009

"Very rock and roll ... but I wanted to make sure we kept it also girly a little," Ward Stegerhoek for Living Proof told me backstage at Miss Sixty. "Because rock and roll clothes with completely rocked out hair is full on rock and roll. I think it’s nicer to keep a girly element going and not turn it into punk." Check out exactly how he accomplished this -- and so much more! -- after the jump.



Hair was left long and loose with just a few pinned up sections in the front. Ward used NO FRIZZ Wave-Shaping, Curl-Defining Styling Spray to style the hair and then used NO FRIZZ Wave-Shaping, Curl-Defining Styling Cream to twist the hair and make it appear rough and stringy. "The textures are all really rough in a way," he told me. "Even though [the Styling Spray] is a product for blowouts, you can also texturize your hair with it. It still has the same elements as protects against humidity and stuff so the style holds."



Makeup artist Lisa Butler for M.A.C wanted to create a young rock chick who still felt casual. "It's all very loose, not too structured," she said. She used three key products to create the look: Young Pink (available in Fall 2009), Violet Trance Eyeshadow and M.A.C Pro Grease Paint Stick in Black. The violet color was chosen because it matched clothing from the collection.

Butler kept the cheeks and lips free of color and product so the focus really would be on the eyes. If a model needed the color of her lips knocked down, she did that with a bit of concealer patted on with a makeup brush. "It's young, it's pretty, it's a bit hard but it's still pretty," she said.



Nails were kept clean and simple, with Angi Wingle of Creative Nail Design doing basic manicures. "It's not very exciting, but it's good for the girls," she said. She used the Glossy Buffer Block to really make nails shine. Two of the girls had open-toed shoes, and they had Voodoo painted on their toenails at the request of the designer.

Direct from the Runway: Erin Fetherston Fall 2009

Heading backstage at Erin Fetherston was both a total thrill and a total surprise! I was quite excited when Alisha Rimando of Dashing Diva was able to snag a pass for me at the last minute. I've been dying to get backstage at Erin Fetherston for years, as she's one of my favorite designers, so this was a definite highlight of the week. Find out everything I learned -- and it was a lot! -- after the jump.



Right out of the gate, I chatted with one of the most expressive and exciting hairstylists I've come across, the fabulous Lyndell Mansfield. She's been working with Erin for four years, and she graced me with the fabulous story of how they met before getting down to business of telling us about the look for the show. "We actually met at a party during Fashion Week in Paris before Erin was actually showing," Lyndell said. "We saw each other across a room and it was love at first sight! We were bleach blond girls ... we’re both like, ah! She’s got good bleach! I was like, look how amazingly straight her hair is! [And she was like], look how curly her hair is! She had her own dresses, she was doing couture pieces, oneoffs. And she had this dress, she literally could have been Cinderella. She was backlit ... she was this blond in this fairytale dress, and I was like, oh my god, she’s a fairy! I was like this naughty punk fairy on the other side of the room and she was the good fairy!"

How could you not love her, right? So after finding out about their fabulous friendship, Lyndell told me about the look for the show. "This girl is a little bit dark," she said. "Erin is normally light and fluffy, it’s a little bit darker than normal. It’s still a fairy tale girl but it’s more of a wicked fairytale, and she’s like the naughty character."

To create a hairstyle that went with this darker feel, Lyndell thought of cartoons with curly or frizzy hair that's drawn in zig-zags. "It was about creating a texture that was almost an illustrative, animated kind of texture," she said. "It would be so cute if they look like that but they’ve got little bobs that are zig-zaggy!"

Lyndell accomplished this by creating bobs with crimped sections. "We didn’t want to crimp all the hair because I think when you crimp all the hair it’s not really friendly to the people at home that want to do it," she said. She backcombed the entire head before using a bit of Bumble and bumble Does it All to seal it. She then took specific sections and crimped them using a flat iron before brushing it out, which created a lot of fluffiness without the frizz. "All you need to do is the hairline and the part line with the crimper," she said. "So although you get the illusion once it’s put it up in the little bob shape that it’s all crimped, it’s very quick and easy. Girls can do it at home!"

Creating the bob was very easy as well. Lyndell grabbed the hair as though it was going into a low ponytail, rolled it under and slid in a couple of long curvy grip pins to hold it in place. She then brushed the hairline so that it would be light and fluffy and move around when the girls walked down the runway, and finished with Bumble and bumble Shine Spray to add glossiness. "It still becomes soft, but she’s still got a little wicked side to her," Lyndell told me. "The shine on stage will make it look really reflective and that will be pretty!"

Then it was on to makeup with Sebastian Tardiff of Bobbi Brown. It was the "tin soldier meeting the jewel box ballerina," he told me. "It's all contrast. We have the soft and the delicate with the solid and bolder."

To make this look happen, Sebastian created a very glossy toffee apple lip using Crimson Metallic Lipstick, and a defined eye with Smoky Eyes and Charcoal Haze eyeshadows blended all the way to the brows. "We wanted a very beautiful, dreamy, open-looking eye," he said. He also used a new mascara coming out from Bobbi Brown this fall. Skin had a satin finish -- "The girls are going to look on stage like they have flawless, beautiful, smooth skin," he said.

Alisha Rimando and her team from Dashing Diva were on hand to apply the nail color. They used Jet-Set, a dark burgundy frost that's one of the new polishes from Dashing Diva's Manhattan Collection.

Too Faced So Smurfy Illumination Face Powder: The Cutest Product I HAVE to Have!

When my brother and I were growing up, we went to Kings Island -- a little amusement park in Cincinnati -- every summer. And the ride we went on again and again, sometimes up to 20 times in one visit, was Smurf Village. No matter how many times we got into the little boats and went through the village, seeing Gargamel and Papa Smurf and all the rest, we just couldn't get enough.

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Wallet-Friendly Wednesdays: Softlips Pure Honeydew 100% Natural Organic Lip Conditioner

You might have guessed by now that I have something of a lip balm addiction. From Fresh to Bonne Bell, I've tried pretty much every balm on the market trying to make my lips as soft and smooth as possible. So when I had the opportunity to check out Softlips Pure Honeydew 100% Natural Organic Lip Conditioner, I simply had to do it.

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Two-For Tuesdays: Pantene Pro-V Extra Straight Shampoo and Conditioner

I have an obsession with Pantene hair. I try everything to achieve it. I blow dry, I flat iron, I use shine serums, I use deep conditioning treatments ... but nothing ever makes my hair look like it does in the Pantene commercials. So -- here's a novel idea -- I decided to actually try the Pantene products that are supposed to give you super straight and shiny locks, the Pantene Pro-V Extra Straight Shampoo and Conditioner.

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Wraparound Braids: The Trend Continues at the Film Independent Spirit Awards

What do Eliza Dushku and Zooey Deschanel have in common? They both tried the wraparound braid at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 21. Originally sported by Sanaa Lathan and Keshia Knight Pulliam at the 40th Annual NAACP Image Awards (click here for the recap), these lovely ladies decided to get on board with the trend this past week. Eliza's was a bit more casual, wrapping from the side around to the back, while Zooey's went all the way across her head.



So what do you think? Are you all "wrapped up" in this trend? Let me know in the comments!

Must-Have Mondays: Stila Backstage with Lela Rose and Beauty.com

So last week I went on ad nauseum about how much I loved the hair and makeup at the Lela Rose show during Fall 2009 Fashion Week. (Click here to check it out.) Well, guess what? You can totally get in on the action with Lela Rose and Stila with the brand-new Stila Backstage with Lela Rose and Beauty.com paint can. Similar to the Barbie paint cans that been so popular recently, this can combines some of Stila's bestsellers so you can create the look from the Spring 2009 fashion show. Pretty cool, huh?

The can includes the following Stila products:

Lip Glaze in Cranberry (one of my all-time fave shades; it creates an absolutely gorgeous red pucker. It gave a pop of color to the models' pouts)
Sun SPF 15 Bronzing Powder in Shade 01 (a beautiful matte chestnut which was used to bronze the models' cheekbones)
Refillable Compact
Eye Shadow in Starlight (light shimmery taupe that let the lids shimmer with a champagne glow)
Major Lash Mascara in Brown (this gave the models long, luxurious lashes and helped to create a balanced, feminine face

What I love about this paint can is that the top of it includes the face chart from the runway show, so you can see exactly how to recreate the look. When you've used all the products, you'll be left looking like the picture above!

The Stila Backstage with Lela Rose and Beauty.com paint can is available for a limited time only and retails for $34 at stilacosmetics.com.

Direct from the Runway: Akiko Ogawa Fall 2009

When you find out that revolutionary makeup artist Kabuki is working on Akiko Ogawa, you know it's going to be something good. And the pointillism effect he created with hunter green eyeliner certainly did not disappoint during Fall 2009 Fashion Week. "I thought if I dotted it in tiny dots, it would give it more of a delicate, wistful feeling," Kabuki told me backstage before the show. "And also kind of a slight feeling of nature." Find out more -- including how hairstylist Peter Gray created "brains" spilling out of the top of the models' heads -- after the jump.



"[Ogawa's] inspiration was a photograph she saw of cherry blossoms at night, because cherry blossoms symbolize joy in Japanaese culture," Kabuki said as he worked on a model's makeup backstage. "And to see it at night in kind of a ghostly setting gave almost a poignant feeling." Dotting the eyeliner gave the look a more "wistful feeling, and also a slight feeling of nature." Kabuki told me that creating the dots was actually quite easy, like "doing a tattoo" -- you simply dot lightly and then to make them darker, keep going over them lightly until you have the hue you want.

Kabuki added to the dots by using a white shimmer on the cheekbones and a shimmery pink on the cheeks and on the eyes "to stop it from becoming very goth, to give a kind of innocent sort of almost early adolescence kind of feeling," he said. He balanced it with glittery silver eyeliner to add to the nighttime feeling and take away from the darkness under the eyes. A swipe of M.A.C Cream Cup Lipstick gave a natural effect. "It really complements the strangeness of the dots under the eyes," Kabuki said.



Then it was on to hair, where Peter Gray told me that Ogawa was "bringing Japan to the west. We went and looked at a bit of Suma, a bit of kabuki, a bit of geisha, and a bit of anime. [Then we] came up with this combination." He wanted hair up off the face to create an elongated silhouette before doing something interesting on the top, which he called "the brain. You’ll see the brain sort of spilling out on a couple of the girls. It’s these knots of brains sort of oozing out!"




To create the look, Gray used Redken Workforce 09 Hairspray and softened with Outshine. "The cream actually softens it off quite a lot," Gray said as he worked on a model. "So it sort of takes the edge off the hairspray and makes it easy to brush out afterwards." (At this point, the model interjected and said skeptically, "Really?") He also added fringe pieces to the models' hair to create a thick bang, and a tail comb to create the part, saying "There's pretty much a surgical line. I wanted something really clean and quite odd." The part was quite different, as it was a vertical part above the ear as opposed to a center or side part.



The brain effect came from pulling hair into a ponytail and then literally twisting sections of it around and around to create a rope effect. He twisted pieces over and around each other before pinning with bobby pins. "Twists will look different on everyone. I want the girls looking individual with the brain bits," Gray said.

Gray's take on fashion and beauty was really refreshing as he decided to push the envelope quite a bit. "In recession, you either fight or flight. And I’m like, let’s fight!" he told me. "Let’s have some fun, let’s get really creative again, let’s not reign it in, let’s really go for it, bring it back to fantasy land. It’s not about trends, it’s about let’s have some fun with it, make it a bit of a spectacle. As long as it adds and doesn’t detract from the collection, let’s go for it."



An interesting take on nails was done by Alisha Rimando for Dashing Diva. "It’s really cute if you spend a little time with it!" she told me backstage. Here's how to get the look, using Dashing Diva products of course:

1) Apply Cosmopolitan to the nail.
2) While it’s wet, apply Dashing Diva to the tip of the nail. (About 1/3 of the nail edge.) Make sure that the color blends or fades well into the nail.
3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 on each nail.
4) With very little polish on the brush, apply Headliner to the very tip of the nail, blending or fading it onto the Dashing Diva pink color. (About 1/8 of the nail edge.)
5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 on each nail.
6) Apply Debutante over all nails.
7) Finish with Glow Topcoat.

First Look Fridays: Makeup Artist Chris Colbeck

I am unbelievably excited to bring you this week's edition of First Look Fridays, featuring the fabulous makeup artist Christopher Colbeck. Christopher has made up some of the most famous names in the business, including Naomi Campbell, Madonna and Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester. Read on to find out what first inspired him to become a makeup artist, the makeup artist who inspired him the most, and so much more.

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Direct from the Runway: Herve Leger Fall 2009

"It's slightly 80s ... but we don't want the girls to look 80s," said makeup artist Diane Kendal for NARS Cosmetics backstage at Herve Leger during Fall 2009 Fashion Week. Drawing inspiration from Helmut Newton photographs, she and hairstylist Dennis Lanni for Bumble and bumble created a tribal warrior effect with earth tones and full, destroyed ponytails. Get the details after the jump.



"The clothes are very structured, but we don't want to go retro," Kendal told me. She did this by creating a very strong brow accented by dewy, glowy skin and a soft, smudgy eye. "It really is all about the eyebrow," she said.

To create this strong brow, Kendal brushed them to define their natural shape before filling them in with NARS Single Eyeshadow in Bali and brushing them again. She then dusted NARS Single Eyeshadow in Sophia to the entire lid, blending up toward the brows for natural shading, and curled lashes with the NARS Eyelash Curler. She did not apply any eyeliner or mascara so that the look would be kept fresh and natural.



A new product, NARS Sheer Glow, was applied to the skin to give it "a very fresh-faced glow," Kendal told me. (Sheer Glow comes out in September 2009.) This allowed the skin's natural highlights to shine through. Kendal finished by applying NARS Lip Therapy Treatment in Rain and a bit of NARS Concealer to the lips to keep them matte and neutral.

Over in the hair department, Dennis Lanni was hard at work using his "butterfly technique" -- a special technique he created to twist the hair into small butterfly sections before combing them out to make a huge "destroyed explosion coming out of the back," he said. The butterfly technique acts as its own type of crimping iron.



The look Lanni created had a dry texture on top and wet look on the sides. He created two ponytails, fastening the top into the back so the two different textures would show through. "It's a very visual look in the back and it's got a good strength to it," he told me. Lanni used Bumble and bumble Holding Spray, which is formulated with salt, to give the hair texture. "We're like cooks, we have a bunch of ingredients," he said. "I think the prevailant thing is the salt, which is the holding spray ... that's the proverbial salt."

As for why he went for a ponytail, Lanni told me, "We wanted to keep the hair off the clothing. Ponytails are always a great way of doing it but they could become a little boring, too, at times, so we’re always thinking of different ways of doing the ponytail." His ponytail was secured with a matte rubber band.





I also spoke with Wanda Ruiz from Creative Nail Design about the nails for the show. Short almond-shaped tips, which she said "look more sexy and slender," were painted with a custom blend of Jiggy, Voodoo Decadence and NFS. This created a mix between black, purple and blue with metallic undertones. Rather than attaching tips that had already been painted, she attached bare tips and then painted them with the enamel, finishing with Air Dry Topcoat.

Direct from the Runway: DKNY Fall 2009

"More modern ... a take on a young, punky girl." Such was the inspiration from Charlotte Tilbury for M.A.C at DKNY during Fall 2009 Fashion Week. Fresh faces and undone knots, done by Eugene Souleiman, accompanied a stronger structural collection than we've seen in seasons past for DKNY. Read on to get all the details -- and to see quite an exciting change in nails, too.



A heavily lined eye and stained rosy lip were a "little bit 50s," according to Tilbury. But rather than creating the traditional smoky eye, she used no eyeshadow, squared off the liner slightly at the outer corners and accented the lids with lots of black mascara. To accomplish the look, Tilbury used Black Black Chromaline, lining the top lashes in a thick rectangular shape that she extended past the outer corners. She then took Ebony Eye Pencil and lined the waterline before applying Black Prolash Mascara to the top eyelashes.



After applying Face and Body to the skin to give an evened out, sheer look, Tilbury used Blushcreme in Laid Back, a rose-colored blush that coincidentally was the same shade used on the lips. She applied it high on the cheekbones "so it's very fresh and very young." She finished by blotting the T-zone and filling in the eyebrow very naturally to give it a natural arch. "Instead of looking 50s, it's quite punky," she said. "It's a bit as though she's done it herself."



Eugene Souleiman gathered hair into a messy knot and left the ends flowing because "I felt it needed a bit of loosening up and the girls needed to look very pretty," he told me backstage. "I looked at the collection and I knew I didn’t want to do something that matched what the collection would be. I felt it warranted something that was kind of lighter, gentler. There’s quite a bit of makeup, really sharp eyes. I don’t want to do a hairdo that's structured and strong for this."

Souleiman began by spritzing Ocean Spritz onto the roots to create dryness and make the hair lighter before blasting hair with a hairdryer to add volume. He then gathered hair from the ears and tied it into a simple knot at the back -- "kind of like a cherry at the back of the head," he said. He then massaged the hair so it looked a bit messy and ethereal. "I want the hair to be imperfect," he said. "I don't want it to look structured or old-fashioned."

To finish the style, Souleiman used just his hands. "I want it to look like the hair has been touched," he told me. "I don't want it to look like it's forced. It should have a beautiful, kind of raw quality."

As for the nails ... how different from seasons past! DKNY is notorious for doing clean nails -- but this time Creative Nail Design actually made a custom color that was a gorgeous deep berryish purple. "It's a great move for DKNY," Amanda Fontanarrosa told me backstage. "Really exciting." A blend of Rock Royalty (purple with a shot of silver shimmer), Decadence (transparent blood red) and Fedora (ultra dark brown) was used to create this shade.



"Although the collection doesn't have a lot of purple in it, it's an accent color that's bringing out the other colors in the collection," Fontanarrosa told me. "It's quite unique on the runway. We're really chuffed!"

The color was creamy in texture, even though Rock Royalty has some shimmer to it. Fontanarrosa told me it's because the other two colors in the mix take away that shimmer. Decadence added to the shine because of its transparent red hue, even without a top coat -- "which is fantastic for drying," Fontanarrosa said. She applied two coats of polish for a dense look and finished with Speedey Top Coat.