Kiss of the Bride — Rocker-Style Mohawks Softened By Pink Eyes And Lips At Bensoni Fall 2011

Wedding bells were ringing at the Bensoni Fall 2011 show — but, in this fashion love story, the characters were happy to buck convention, as guests donned snake print dresses, cousins wore tartan print tunics with thigh-high boots, bridesmaids entertained their darker sides with melting rose print frocks, and the bride strolled down the aisle (or, in reality, the runway) in a floor-length, embroidered black lace dress. It was a wedding worthy of Guns ‘N’ Roses “November Rain” — minus the tragedy and angst, that is.

The hair, makeup and nails donned by models worked with the gothic wedding motif as sweet, perky pink eyeshadows and lips were juxtaposed against braided, intentionally disheveled mohawks and glossy black nails.

Makeup artist Nadine Luke commandeered the MAC Cosmetics team backstage at the Bensoni Fall 2011 show (and was kind enough to describe the inspiration for the look in the video above). The sweetheart look started with the MAC Pro Pink Vivid Paint Stick, which was applied to lids and blended through the crease for an intense pink. Next, Luke applied MAC Hepcat eyeshadow, a mid-toned, blue-based pink, pressing it onto lids and inner corners. To diffuse the shadows, Luke applied the MAC Gesso eyeshadow, a matte white color, along the brow bone and inner corners of eyes. Next, she lined eyes with the Blacktrack Fluidline, staying close to the lashline and using a light hand when lining the bottom lashline. To keep brows in place, she brushed on the MAC Brow Set gel and to define and lengthen lashes, she used a combination of MAC Zoom Lash Mascara and Studio Fix Lash Mascara.

On lips, she used the MAC Lip Conditioner to moisturize and smooth lips, then filled models’ pouts in with a new lip pencil dubbed Embrace Me (a fitting name for the show’s bridal theme), finishing off by dabbing on the Pink Vivid Paintstick.

To give models’ faces coverage, Luke applied the MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation and followed with Prep + Prime Transparent Powder. Luke and her team brushed the MAC Pro Chromacake in Cool Pink all over the face to give it a dewy luminosity, layering on more color at the apples of cheeks for a youthful, rosy effect. MAC’s Gesso eyeshadow was brushed onto cheekbones to contour and highlight area. Last, MAC’s Fix + All Over was spritzed onto faces to set the look

The flirty, innocent makeup stood in stark contrast to the hair look, designed by Leonardo Manetti for Ion Studio, which channeled an edgy, downtown rocker chick.

To create the look, Manetti parted the hair at the middle and divided it two sections, then took the middle area of the hair (from the front to the nape) and pinned it into a loose bun. The loose hair along the sides was blow dried straight and sprayed with For Wizards No. 14 Sea Salt Primer. Next, Manetti created inverted French braids on each side and coated them with white powder, spraying Davines Defining Invisible Hair Spray to keep the hair in place. Once the braids were complete, the hair that had been tucked into a bun was released, teased, and manipulated into a voluminous, bedhead-ish ponytail, creating a mohawk effect. To give the front of the volume more height and texture, he applied mousse and scrunched up the hair, roughening it up with hands. Last, For Wizards No. 13 Mat Forming Ground was applied to tame fly-aways. Watch Manetti at work by clicking on the video above!

The ultimate gothic twist was achieved via the nails, which were covered with two coats of Zoya Raven nail lacquer, a glossy, metallic black color.

These three components, then, conveyed the notion of a contradictory, oh-so-cool bride, a girl with a sweet disposition and a romantic core underneath a hardened shell developed through years of living in an unrelenting urban environment.