Backstage Beauty Report: Naeem Khan A 1920's Inspired Look Worth Talking About

Each year throughout my coverage of NYFW I can't wait to go backstage and get a look.  A look, meaning something worth talking about.  While every backstage glam squad has reasoning for 'leaving the hair down, straight and parted in the middle' or 'keeping the face fresh' for the runway, as a beauty journalist, it's boring!  Backstage at Naeem Khan today I saw a stunning 1920's inspired beauty look that left me in awe.

Bumble and Bumble created a beautifully structured, chignon with sheen and Essie's lead manicurist, Michelle Saunders layered two oldie but goodies, Licorice and Bordeaux to create a devil red shade that had more black than red to compliment the 1920's inspiration.

"The clothes have a lot of color and texture and the hair has a beautiful sheen, so I didn't want the makeup to have anything glossy, James Boehmer the Director of Global Artistry for NARS.  "It would be too much, so we played with other textures."

The look had a decadent feeling of the 1920's, focusing the strength on the brows.  Using NARS's new mechanical pencil (coming out in fall), Boehmer defined the brow shape and then layered Coconut Grove shadow over them, which is a very deep brown, to set it.  "I'm following the shape of the brows and then extending out and down forgetting about the arch," he commented.  "I don't want to make it high, but straight and low so it has a '20's feel and not a '90's feel."

Two coats of Larger Than Life Volumizing Mascara and a bit of smudged shadow lining the bottom rims finished the eyes.  Inspired by the diffusion of the light in 1920's films, he shaded the cheeks to create a shadow and illuminated the corner of the eye with an eyeshadow shade called Alhambra Duo Eyeshadow.  Using the same color, he highlighted the bow of the lip like a thumbprint.   A dust of Zen Blush was swept on the apples of the models cheeks to give them a kick.

Playboy Glam at The Blonds

  The Blonds are amazing designers known for their eccentricity. This year, the look was all about Playboy. The clothes were magnificently intricate beaded corsets and the nails even moreso.

The nails, by Kristina Estabrooks for CND, took over 100 hours of manual labor to make and it definitely paid off. There were nails of every imaginative design. Hand painted bows, Swarovski crystal made fishnet, 24k gold leaf foil, and my personal favorite; crushed glass atop silver polish. The crushed glass matched the geometric shapes on the corsets. They were insane and glittered so much more than the standard rhinestone."It's not nail art, but nail fashion," remarked Estabrooks. Totally agreed.

To keep the nails and clothes as the focal point, the makeup and hair accentuated the Playboy vixen vibe. The makeup, by Kobuki for MAC, was described as a futuristic sex kitten. Kobuki created a "false eyebrow" by using two different eyebrow pencils, "Lingering Brow Pencil" and duck power point pencil and brushing concealer through the real eyebrow hairs. Then using a darker pencil to cheat the outer arch of the brows. The real treat was the eye makeup. I fall in love immediately with anything resembling a cat eye or winged tip and this one was no exception. Kobuki made a lightning bolt out of the eyes with Black Fluidline Liner.  He made wings as usual, but then added an eyeliner flick on the bottom and the top. Stunning and so easy to recreate.  To finish the look, Kobuki contoured the face and added Woo Me Kissable Lip Color for a juicy, glossy finish.

The hair was huge and bombshell! Dennis Lanni for Bumble and Bumble wanted a Jessica Rabbit look for the models as they walked down the runway. He teased the hair and set it in big rollers. The rollers, secured with Bumble and Bumble Thickening Hairspray, were left in for quite some time. After the rollers are taken out, the curls were brushed out. Dennis did not want ringlets in the hair. The overall effect was a cross between Priscilla Presley and Marilyn Monroe.

I've been loving the sixty looks that have been coming down the runway this season! The nails were fierce and I feel like I'm in desperate need for "nail fashion."

Walking Mannequins at Custo Barcelona

Models are sort of like live mannequins and Custo Barcelona took that literally!  As he had models in minimal makeup and über glossy side ponytails for his Spring 2012 show.  Maybelline Makeup Artist Gato wanted to create a modernistic appeal with a full eyebrows, porcelain skin and juicy coral lips.  Quick tip from the pro himself, use an eyebrow pencil to fill in the gaps between hair following the shape of the brow and comb with brush in an upward direction for perfect brows.

Neil Moodie for Bumble and Bumble wanted to create a ponytail with an edge.  By flat ironing the hair pin straight and tying it at the nape to create a tom-boyish appeal when looking at the models straight on.  Literally, painting on the high gloss to almost look like plastic off the reflection of the lights.  However, the ponytail remained dry forming two different textures.   To take this runway look to the streets just use a shine spray like Bumble and Bumble's Shine on and on Finishing Spray.  Don't forget, start at the ends and work your way up to the roots or else it will just make hair look oily instead of glossy.

Go Backstage at Elie Tahari

This was the first show of the season that I attended where there were male models that needed some primping (grooming?) too.  Some of them were extreme divas, which is why I'm calling it primping.  The fall 2010 Elie Tahari collection experimented with texture.  One half was all black and the other was predominately gold, tan and copper. Kimberly Soane lead the Bobbi Brown lead the Bobbi Brown team in creating a gold chrome finish on the eye lined in a bright, electric blue-green shade that gave it a retro twist. The brows had a very natural finish and she introduced Bobbi's new Denim and Rose Palette, which comes out this fall, but using the dusty pinks on the cheeks and lips.

The men carried the "no makeup, makeup look" very well with a minimal amount of powder, keeping their skin pale, Bobbi Brown's Lip Balm SPF 15 and the emphasis was on the brows.  They were filled in to make them strong and defined.

Frank Rizzieri styled the women using a double barreled curling iron that created loose waves and kept the hair "simple and messy" using only a L'Oreal Elnett Hairspray at the end. The men's look completely contrasted. The inspiration was pulled from Mad Men and using Bumble & Bumble Gel the Multi-Talented Sculpting Medium, he side parted their hair and slicked it back so it was all neatly groomed.

Dashing Diva's, Patti Yankee ironically chose the color Fashion Week for the manicures and pedicures.  "I wanted to keep the nail neutral using this pale pink because there were a lot of browns and blacks in the line," she stated. Her team of four worked on the hands and feet of 35 girls backstage.  They also cleaned up all of the men's nails.