Direct from the Runway: Twinkle Fall 2009

My new Twitter bestie? It's totally Gregory Arlt from M.A.C. This makeup artist not only is super talented, but he's so sweet and posts some of the funniest Tweets I've ever seen. (His Tweet on the way to the Twinkle show yesterday? Off to Twinkle....twinkle twinkle little MAC, I think my kit will break my back! So funny.) Anyway, meeting him at the Twinkle show was a total highlight of the week. "When I was talking with Wenlan, coming up with this look, we were really inspired by the 1950s, of the youthfulness of the 50s, young girls of the 50s," he told me as he worked on the nicest model in the history of the universe, Edsa Ramirez. (More on that later.) "So let’s do a makeup like this is her first date at the drive-in, it’s first date makeup." See how he created this gorgeous look, and what John Ruidant from Redken did to the hair, after the jump.



Check out a couple of pictures I snapped of the model boards backstage:



"I wanted the skin to look really natural and soft," Arlt told me. So he used Moisture Cover Concealer all over the face as a foundation before starting in on the eyes and lips. "My inspiration was sort of, you know, she’s going on a first date, she’s a little nervous, so how do I do my makeup? Like she’s watched her mom do her makeup all her life." Using Phloof and Naked Lunch eyeshadows for a pinky shimmer, and then loads of Black Track Fluidline on the lids and Plush Black Mascara on the lashes, Arlt created what he called the kitten eye. "It’s a little bit smaller, it’s a little bit cuter [than the cat eye]," he said. The fact that the eyes were shimmery instead of matte, paired with a strong eyebrow, made this a modern take on the classic 50s look.



And then it came time for the lips! There's only one product you need to know, ladies. Lady Danger Lipstick. "It's not quite the fire engine red of the 50s, it's more of an orange red," Arlt told me. He created a very tight line on the lip without any liner.



And when I asked what you could change to take this look into the daytime? "Nothing!" Arlt adamantly said. "I’m the wrong person to ask [about] day makeup versus night makeup. I guess if you were forced to sort of go that direction, the eyes you can keep exactly the way they are. But you can sheer the lip down a little bit, mix it with some balm or maybe wear just a sheer lipgloss that’s red, a tint or stain. Just calm the lip down a little bit. But I say have a red lipstick every day!" He even recommended Viva Glam 1 to me, saying it's that really good brick red that goes with any skin tone.

And just how cute is he with Edsa? We all decided there should be a Model Awards at the end of the week, which Arlt promptly named The Moddies -- and that Edsa would win most popular and best laugh. As the sun came peeking in through the large windows, Edsa even held up shields for herself and the other models!



John Ruidant from Redken was responsible for the gorgeous loose waves and deep side part seen at Twinkle. Natural soft waves with swept-over fringe were created with only a few products. Ruidant began with Redken Fabricate, blowdrying it into the hair to get rid of the natural wave of the hair. He then looked at the natural wave pattern to see which side would work best for the part, drawing it very far over to the side.

The side part traveled into a central vertical part at the nape before Ruidant took horizontal sections from the occipital bone to the mid-earlobe, spraying those sections with Hot Set 22 before using a 1 1/4" curling iron held vertically. After curling and pinning those sections, he worked his way up the head shape in horizontal sections to the midrecession area, pinning and spraying Hot Set 22 as he curled. He finished this by spraying the top section and then dragging the curling iron so there would be less volume on top.



After letting the curls cool, he brushed them out and used a bit of Outshine to get rid of flyaways and fringe before spritzing with Workforce Hairspray for hold.

And on a side note -- aren't his curls to die for? I love that he flashed a big smile for the camera while he worked.