FASHION Magazine

Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us at beautyfix@fashionmagazine.com.

I really want standout nails this holiday season. What’s something different I can try?
If you feel like you’ve tried every colour out there and are still committed to making a lasting impression with your manicure, explore adornment options! Let me direct your attention to Dior Diorific Jewel Manicure Duo ($39, thebay.com). The duo kit comes with a shimmery light-gold polish that is festive and gorgeous all on its own, but the second bottle in the kit contains translucent crystal micro-pearls to add to your nails—or single accent nail—just before the polish is fully set. The finished look is a refined rendition of a caviar bead manicure, thanks to the tiny size and translucent, light-catching nature of the crystal pearls. The kit also comes with a tray and funnel, so you’ll be able to avoid wasting any precious pearls, making this a duo you’ll reach for plenty for special occasions to come.

For Target’s holiday runway show at World MasterCard Fashion Week, the mega retailer pulled out all the stops—including a supermodel surprise. Perennial style icon Erin Wasson opened and closed the show, making it one of the week’s top tweetable moments. Between modeling gigs, relaunching her jewellery line, Low Luv, and mentoring wannabe fashion designers on the new reality TV show Styled To Rock (fellow judges include Rihanna, Pharrell and stylist Mel Ottenberg), Wasson has long reigned as a Maybelline New York It girl, serving for more than a decade as one of the beauty brand’s top faces. To find out how this multitasking muse does it all, we sat down with Wasson before she hit the Target runway.

How do you feel about being called Alexander Wang’s muse?
“It’s an honour. But I think the word “muse” is very relative. I don’t really know if people actually know what a muse is anymore. Who I am as a person and what I represent is very close to that girl that Alex is designing for—you know, the girl that isn’t afraid to be the least dressed up at a fancy cocktail party. So if I represent that for him, then dope!”

See our haunted beauty picks »

Wraiths and spectres of all kinds haunted the fall runways. At Altuzarra, eyes were rimmed with “spooky” grey shadow and an ominous reddish blur; models wore a “ghostly” pallor and eerily shining eyes at Mary Katrantzou; Gareth Pugh’s soot-washed damsels looked as if they’d just entered the netherworld through a burning house; and nails were scrawled with “redrum” at The Blonds, a nod to The Shining.

See the complete Target Holiday 2013 collection »

We’ve been dreaming of spring fashion all week but at last night’s highly-anticipated Target show, the mega retailer rolled out the white carpet, turned up the Christmas tunes and let it snow (literally) in the tents. The cheery Holiday 2013 runway presentation had even the most melancholy fashion minimalists grinning. And how could it not, with beaming models who ran the gamut from city girls and dimpled jocks to stylish parents and impossibly cute kids? Target certainly brought the charm and cheer of its holiday catalogue to life for Toronto’s style set.

The show started with a fashionably festive surprise as model, Maybelline New York spokesperson and overall cool girl Erin Wasson, who opened the runway in a pair of slouchy tuxedo track pants, a plaid blazer and black fedora.

See all the backstage beauty photos from Sid Neigum Spring 2014 »

The beauty look for Sid Neigum Spring 2014 was all about simplicity. “We’re playing on creating a makeup [look] with just foundation,” explained Grace Lee, lead makeup artist for Maybelline New York. Lee matched each model’s skin tone using Maybelline Fit Me Shine-Free Foundation ($11, well.ca), which she accented by contouring beneath the cheekbones using the same product, but in the darkest shade, “Coconut.” Eyebrows were brushed upwards with Maybelline Great Lash Clear Mascara ($8, well.ca) and eyelids were left bare. The only part of the face that Lee wanted to look visibly made up were the lips, which Lee coated with Maybelline Color Elixer in “Nude Illusion” ($9, available November 2013 at drugstores). To prevent lips from appearing too glossy, Lee dabbed excess product from lips using her fingers, leaving only a subtle trace behind.

As for the hair at Sid Neigum, gone was the futuristic, structural look of last season. For Spring 2014, international Redken artist Jorge Joao created “day two, lived-in hair,” with a natural, slightly disheveled curl.

See all the backstage beauty photos from Beaufille Spring 2014 »

For the Beaufille Spring 2014 show, Toronto designers Chloé and Parris Gordon wanted the models to look like “rich grunge girls” with a slight throwback to the ’90s. “I love these girls because they really stick to their branding and their image,” said Grace Lee, lead makeup artist for Maybelline New York. The chocolate shaded smoky eyes were the focus of the look: Lee lined models’ eyes on the top and bottom using Maybelline Eye Studio Master Smoky Longwearing Shadow-Pencil in “Scorching Brown” ($9, well.ca) and then smudged the colour to create a rough, undone look. For a glossy sheen on eyelids and the top of cheekbones, Lee lightly applied Maybelline Baby Lips ($4, well.ca). Meanwhile, models’ actual lips were covered with the shiny but non-sticky Maybelline Color Elixer gloss in “Caramel Infused” ($9, at drugstores November 2013)—which Lee proclaimed “the product of the season.”

See the backstage beauty photos from Pink Tartan Spring 2014 »

The Pink Tartan Spring 2014 show was underscored by a single Andy Warhol quote: “I had a lot of dates but decided to stay home and dye my eyebrows.” It provided obvious beauty inspiration, which Maybelline New York lead makeup artist Grace Lee translated as vertically upswept, full brows filled in with Master Brow pencil ($10, well.ca), brushed upwards and set with clear Great Lash mascara ($8, well.ca)—a fresh interpretation of show muse Edie Sedgwick’s strongly defined arches. ”We want them to look very groomed and bushy,” said Lee. She defined the lashline with Master Precise Ink Pen Eyeliner ($10, well.ca) but skipped the obvious ‘60s wing, instead using the new Volum’Express Smoky Eyes mascara ($9, well.ca) to achieve fat ‘60s lashes with a matte finish. “Picture Edie Sedgwick before she goes out.”

Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us at beautyfix@fashionmagazine.com.

Every time I try to apply mascara on my lower lashes, I make a mess of my undereye area with accidental smudges from the wand. Should I be using a different technique?
More like a different wand, actually! While your favourite mascara may be an absolute miracle worker for top lashes, its large wand can make it an absolute nightmares for bottom lashes. Maybelline Volum’Express Falsies Big Eyes Mascara ($11, well.ca) is likely to be your go-to mascara if coating your lower lashes is an absolute must, as it’s a double-ended mascara with two wands: one wand is slightly larger for optimal volume for the top lashes and the other is a mega-skinny wand for precise mascara application for the lower lashes. This allows you to get right to the lash roots without hitting the skin, meaning you can maximize each and every little lash for ultimate impact.

Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us at beautyfix@fashionmagazine.com.

I have really thick calluses, but pumice stones and foot files don’t seem to be helping. Is there a safe alternative?
Thick, hardened and dry skin is often the result of repeated friction, pressure or irritation from movement. While they may be unsightly, calluses can serve a purpose in protecting and cushioning our feet during daily activity, so complete removal of calluses isn’t that advisable or beneficial. If pumice stones and foot files aren’t minimizing the appearance of your calluses, please steer clear of foot razors! They make your feet vulnerable to a whole realm of potential bacteria. Opt for a safer alternative, such as Emjoi’s Micro-Pedi Callus Remover ($40, micropedi.ca), which is a battery-operated gadget that uses spinning micro-mineral rollers to gently but effectively buff away dead skin. It’s actually remarkable how much smoother this buffer makes your feet feel!

See the Spring 2014 nail art looks up close »

The nails at New York Fashion Week were right in tune with the ’90s minimalism style we saw on the Spring 2014 runways. Sheer is in, colour is out and the nail art trend seems to be winding down. The bare and buffed nails of last spring are still going strong for 2014, with designers like Altuzarra, Alexander Wang and Jeremy Laing opting for pale shades of pink, lavender or beige instead of punchy pastels and neon brights.

See what’s inside Katie Boland’s bag »

Katie Boland ranks high on our list of young Canadians worth keeping an eye on. In the past few years the Toronto-based actress had made waves with notable roles including one alongside Kat Dennings in the 2010 flick Daydream Nation and in her own web series Long Story, Short (which she wrote and co-produced, by the way). The striking brunette, who has much to be excited about with a role on the new CW series Reign, stopped by our offices to give us an uncensored look at what she carries in her everyday bag. A self-professed iPhone addict, who admits she can’t live without eyeliner and is constantly on the hunt for the perfect red lipstick, is refreshingly down to earth and surprisingly low-maintenance (lipstick, Visa and phone is all that she brings with her to red carpet events). We got up close and personal with Boland’s must-have items as she let us peruse through her purse.

Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us at beautyfix@fashionmagazine.com.

I have some dark spots and minor imperfections that I want to treat and cover up. How can I go about doing this?
Dark spots, hyperpigmentation, acne scars, dark circles, fine lines… everyone has something they’d like to diminish while hiding it! Thankfully, recent innovations have resulted in plenty of multitasking products that help treat and hide pigmentation problems. Take a look at Lancôme Teint Visionnaire Skin Correcting Makeup ($60, sephora.ca), which is a two-step makeup that involves a liquid skin-correcting foundation and a spot-correcting concealer in the lid. The foundation formula contains molecules that penetrate through multiple skin layers to correct wrinkles, pores, UV damage and acne marks. The concealer, which is colour-matched to the foundation, contains vitamin C to lighten dark spots while providing full coverage wherever you desire it. Bonus: you can toss the concealer portion of the bottle in your bag for touch-ups on the go!