Sparkly Smoky Eyes, Lace-Covered Nude Nails and Curly Mops At Tracy Reese Fall 2010 Show
Going into the backstage area for the Tracy Reese Fall 2010 show, which was held on Monday, February 15th at New York City’s Bryant Park, I knew to expect ultra feminine makeup and hair looks — but, since that’s quite a broad spectrum, I was curious to see exactly how that girlish charm would be manifested. To my surprise, this season Reese ventured into edgier territory, leaving behind some of the floral prints, the Bohemian-flavored embroideries, and the bouncy A-line skirts in garden party-ready colors, and opting for pieces that maintained the playful coquettish vibe we associate with Tracy Reese while also exuding a sense of strength and power. There was a touch of the masculine-feminine motifs we’ve been seeing on the runway, but Reese’s collection still translated as rather feminine. The makeup, hair, and nails were key in treading that line between dark and mysterious and free-spirited and fun.
Working for Maybelline, Charlotte Willer led the team of makeup artists, creating a smoldering, smoky eye with a touch of sparkle, paired with nude lips and fresh matte skin. On the skin, Willer and her team applied Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse foundation and Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Concealer. They then applied the Maybelline Mineral Power Illuminator blush along the cheeks and eyes to highlight the area. On the eyes, the makeup team utilized two shades from a new Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow Quad debuting in the fall. The new quad features a sparkly purple, grassy green, sandy beige, and a dark brown — all with a shimmery, sparkly finish. To create the smoky eye, they used the sparkly dark brown and beige shades in the quad, applying them along the lid and close to the lower lash line. They finished the look with black Maybelline Stiletto Voluptuous to give lashes length and volume. On the lips, Willer and her team applied a new nude Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick debuting in September (Willer suggests using the Maybelline Color Sensational Totally Toffee lipstick to recreate the look now using current Maybelline colors).
Make sure to check out the video of Charlotte Willer creating the look on model Ariel Meredith (who I predict will be a major star — I totally fell in love with this model!) and explaining the inspiration behind the look.
In terms of hair, TreSemme’s Jeanie Syfu created the romantic, messy, curly ponytails worn by the models. According to Syfu, the idea was to work with Reese’s country-meets-big-city paradigm by creating soft and imperfect curls all along the top of the head and then tapering the bottom of the hair into a small ponytail. To create the look, the hair team wrapped each strand of hair using their fingers, setting these curls into a “ric rac” set so that the curls would appear less perfect and more undone. A portion of the hair along the back was left straight to minimize volume in that area so that, when the curls were unpinned, they covered these straight tresses along the bottom and the look maintained its fullness at the top. To finish the look, the hair team used TreSemme’s 24 Hour Body Finishing Spray to give it hold.
One of the most enticing details was the models’ lace-covered nails, which were designed by the Sally Hansen team. The base color used, the nude “Wet Clay” polish, is part of Sally Hansen’s new Fall 2010 nail lacquer collection, which consists of five “new neutral” shades designed alongside Tracy Reese and meant to reflect the rustic-meets-urban vibe of Reese’s new collection. The new shades debuting in the fall are dubbed: “Evening Fog,” a gray-ish beige shade; “Fedora,” a creamy taupe color; “Wet Clay,” a camel nude color; “Touch of Mink,” a raw umber hue; and “Bittersweet,” a vampy, chocolate-y hue. To give the nails eye-catching sophistication for the runway, the nails were coated in “Wet Clay” and covered with black Leaver’s lace (as pictured above).
Forget country mice and city mice — it’s all about the country-meets-city mice!
