FASHION Magazine

As runway light bounced off intricate embroidery at the Mikael D Fall 2014 show, the skin gleamed just the same. M.A.C senior artist Jane McKay drew inspiration from the opulence of Baroque textures and designed a fresh-yet-glamorous look. Radiance was an important element in the makeup: “It’s all about the play of light bouncing off the skin,” said Ricky Boudreau, M.A.C cosmetics trainer, who led the team backstage.

Models’ skin was moisturized with Strobe Cream and kept lustrous with a light application of Mineralize Moisture Foundation and Concealer. Boudreau softly sculpted the cheeks with Sculpt Powder and added an additional hit of illumination with an iridescent loose powder—“Silver Dusk”—applied around the eye, from brow to cheekbone. Brows were simply groomed with Brow Set in “Clear.” Finally, eyelids were drenched in bronzed gold tones and intensified with a set of MAC #33 lashes and multiple coats of mascara. Boudreau pressed a layer of “Half & Half” lipstick into the lips with his fingers for a neutral pout.

See the Joe Fresh Fall 2014 backstage beauty gallery »

We may be itching for spring weather to arrive, but there’s nothing like a superb Fall 2014 show to make us—dare we say it?—want to embrace the cold just a little bit longer. At Joe Fresh, the beauty was just as pitch-perfect as the winter-ready collection. Maybelline New York lead makeup artist Grace Lee said that Joe Mimran wanted “the girls to look like they’ve been out wandering in the nasty polar vortex,” and, well, we’ll happily spend some more time outside if we can look as perfectly flushed as these models.

See the Pink Tartan Fall 2014 backstage beauty gallery »

Weathering an ice storm doesn’t always look as pretty as it did on the Pink Tartan runway last night. Makeup artist Grace Lee gave the models a slight windburn flush on the cheeks using Maybelline Master Glaze in “Pink Fever,” icy highlights with snow-white Color Tattoo in “Too Cool” mixed with Baby Lips, and a glow of bronzer all over the face for a touch of winter sun. Skin was evened out with Baby Skin primer and given a matte finish with Fit Me foundation. Designer Kim Newport-Mimran referenced Veruschka bundled up against the snow in furs, from a classic Richard Avedon Vogue shoot, so the eyes were given a slight ’60s look with fake upper lashes and a sweep of warm brown gel liner blended out in the crease of the eye. Brows were filled in with pencil and brushed upwards, so they looked full and perfectly groomed. Lee further “contoured” the eyes using kohl pencils—in cream along the waterline to make eyes appear wider, and in warm brown underneath the lashline. Lashings of Pumped Up mascara completed the look.

See the Beaufille Fall 2014 backstage beauty photos »

If you describe the beauty look of a ’90s chola girl—that is, dark-lined lips and pencil-thin brows—it doesn’t exactly match up with what’s on-trend for 2014. Right now, the bushier the brow the better, and lip statements are more ombré than tattooed on. But with girl gangs as the official inspiration for Beaufille’s Fall 2014 look, Maybelline New York lead makeup artist, Grace Lee, couldn’t help but reference chola style in the makeup. “Really, when I think of girl gangs I think of cholas. I’m gonna say it: We are going chola chic.”

Lee started the look by blocking out models’ brows with Maybelline New York Instant Age Rewind Dark Spot Concealer + Treatment—“ we don’t want them to look alien-like!”—and then focused on contouring around the eyes. Chola chic is, as it turns out, a very monochromatic look. Maybelline New York SuperStay 14HR Lipstick in “Beige for Good” was applied with a soft bristle brush to the crease and under the eye, the formula providing a dewy finish worthy of any cream eyeshadow. Cheeks were also dabbed with the lipstick, and then contoured with a second colour, Maybelline New York FaceStudio Master Glaze Blush Stick in “Warm Nude.”

See Rita’s top nail trends for Fall 2014 »

Now that fashion month has come to a close, one thing is clear: the nail polish. (See what we did there?) While bright colours and crazy patterns have dominated runways season after season, this year it seems that nail trends are starting to lean in a much more minimalist direction. Helping lead this neutral nail charge is Essie Canada’s lead nail artist, Rita Remark. She’s not only responsible for all the upcoming nail looks at World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto, but just returned from doing nails at NYFW for designers such as DKNY and Jill Stuart. So who better to advise on the colours, textures and top coats you’ll want to wear come fall, as well as what’s on trend right now? Read on for Rita’s backstage intel—and if you’re like us, you’ll most likely be reaching for a nail polish bottle before you get to the end!




It’s all about the statement eye in Paris. Leading the charge—as usual—is Pat McGrath, whose latex-painted eye launched a thousand Instagrams from backstage at Dior this morning. If you’re as obsessed with glitter as we are, you know that the beauty at Dior is the place to be (hello, lover) and the two eye looks she created for Fall 2014 certainly surpassed our expectations.

The first was a shimmering assortment of “urban khaki” shades, applied heavily to the upper lid with just a trace trailing down from the inner eye. But the second look—the blue!—was the standout. According to Allure, McGrath traced the shape first with eyeliner, then applied latex makeup paint topped with a shimmer. Eyelashes were also painted with a matching blue mascara. This thick, vibrant-blue look makes us want to start mixing our own makeup mediums, pronto.

However, if bright blue glitter isn’t your thing, you can still get in on the statement eye trend with the looks from Dries Van Noten and Lanvin.

Spring’s molten-gold eye makeup trend is moving in a different direction for Fall 2014—like, literally moving across your face. It started in London at Simone Rocha, with M.A.C makeup artist Sam Bryant applying gold leaf to models’ foreheads. The look was intended to be haphazard, with some models getting “gold sweat beads” and others having more of a “full-on effect.” Should you want to try this look at home, proceed carefully: “Bryant said the leaf is so delicate that no one can breathe on it, and if the girl’s skin is too hot it won’t stay,” reported WWD.

A more DIY-friendly approach to the forehead-anointing trend was spotted this weekend in Milan. Ten models at the Emilio Pucci Fall 2014 show were given a splash of gold above their brows and down the bridge of their noses.

Some of New York Fashion Week’s best beauty moments have come from the models themselves—here are the faces that stood out backstage this season.

Seeing Redheads
Redheads always stand out but they’ve been extra visible this week. We saw tomato ketchup-redhead Natalie Westling at Vera Wang, Prabal Gurung, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Marc Jacobs—the 17-year-old skater told us she’d dyed it for the spring Marc Jacobs campaign, which she appears in alongside Miley Cyrus. (The red was covered up at the actual Marc Jacobs show, though, under one of the pale, “off-colour” wigs dyed to resemble an “old-lady rinse” by colourist Victoria Hunter of Whittemore Salon in New York, and cut by Guido Palau).

One of the best things about going backstage at New York fashion week is seeing what the top makeup artists and hairstylists are using in their kits. It’s often a sneak peek at products not yet on shelves, or uncommon tools they’ve found on their travels. Here, five of the best products we’ve spied backstage this week at the Fall 2013 shows:

The eyes, hair and nails have been making most of the beauty statements so far on the Fall 2014 runways at New York Fashion Week. Here are our favourite looks and the top beauty trends so far:

Russet lipstick as eyeshadow at Helmut Lang
Helmut Lang’s textured, masculine collection was complemented with a simple, pared down face punctuated by a soft wash of lustrous burgundy on the eye. “It’s very minimal and clean but with a hint of punk,” said lead artist Hannah Murray, who painted Nars lipstick in “Deborah Audacious” (coming this fall) onto the eye and pressed “Heat” bronzing powder over it to set. She skipped eyeliner, mascara and brow colour, and kept the under-eye area clean to avoid a “pink-eye” effect.