Lacquered Lover Backstage at Carmen Marc Valvo with NARS and Ted Gibson!

I'm so sorry for the delay but I'm finally catching up on my NYFW posts!  I was lucky enough to be invited backstage to see the hair and makeup look with Teb Gibson and NARS for the Carmen Marc Valvo show this past Fashion Week.  The look they were going for was "baroque punk" to match with the black and textures of the collection.

 

Above:  The makeup look created by NARS

According to the interview I had with James Boehmer, NARS Director of Global Artistry:

"The whole look is about a baroque influence.  So Carmen started thinking about Oscar Wilde and it went into this sort of punk idea.  So for the girls we wanted them to have a lot of strength so we are doing a messy but pretty punk eye.  So it's sort of a little bit of contour and highlight on the eye and then we are taking a new product for NARS that's coming out for Fall  which is our eye paint and we're literally sketching a messy black eyeliner in the outer corner, lots of mascara and then to make it feel more ethereal we're using the multiple stick in Luxor to really highlight the cheekbones.  So this gives a very fresh ethereal feeling to contrast with the dirty punk eye.  And then the lip is really about balancing the color on the eye, it's not too dark and not too bright so we're using Salsa lip liner to shape the mouth  and then powdering it and then we're using Luxemborg satin lip pencil which is a new color we are launching for Spring.  It's a Cassis, vinyl color and then the very last thing we are doing in the lineup is taking Triple X which is a clear lipgloss on the eyelid which gives it this really otherworldly finish.  Especially with the lights on the runway, it will illuminate the eye and the lip has a little bit of sheen so the lip will be illuminate as well.  It makes it not quite so hard, a little bit of prettier punk.  It's a very black collection with a lot of texture so we wanted to play with the texture in the makeup."

For the hair, lead designer Devin Toth for Ted Gibson told me that "Essentially the look for today is baroque punk and it was inspired by the collection.  Carmen and I decided that the collection is very black and embellished and it's very dark but not gaudy.  So what we decided to do was first flat iron the hair, we didn't use product or blow dry the hair and then to tame it we used shine lotion and fix it gel used our fingers to bring all the hair up in a high pony tail.  Once we bring it up, lots of fix it, lots of tame it, we secure the pony tail with a tight bungee.  Once it's up there we dry it off because it's kind of wet when we get it up there and top it off with a lot of hair spray.  And then to add to the punk look we use hair chalk to add some gradient color to the bottom of the tail.  Then we seal that with a little bit of hairspray so the chalk doesn't fade.  What we're going to do is let this cool off and then we'll take the elastic out and shake out the hair to give a messy look and rough up the top.  Then we will have this great indentation in the hair right below the ear.  Carmen felt that was really beautiful.  It's for the girl that just wakes up, maybe has some color gradient at the bottom, puts in a pony tail and some gel and before she gets to work, takes out the pony tail to have a tousled look around the face."

The overall look was stunning.  Here are a few pictures from NARS PR of the full look:

For a list of products used by NARS to create this look and links to purchase them, see below:

FACE

· Multi-Action Hydrating Toner

· Luminous Moisture Cream

· Total Replenishing Eye Cream

· Aqua Gel Luminous Oil-Free Moisturizer

· Concealer

· Copacabana / Luxor Multiple (Maldives Multiple / Nepal Single Eyeshadow for darker skin)

· Sheer Glow Foundation

EYES

· Mambo Eyeliner Pencil

· Black Moon Eyeliner Pencil

· Black Valley Eye Paint (New for Fall 2013)

Available: US - September 1 2013 / Global - October 1 2013

For a similar effect, try Carpates Eyeliner Stylo

· Copacabana / Luxor Multiple (Maldives Multiple / Nepal Single Eyeshadow for darker skin)

· Himalayas Single Eyeshadow

· Alhambra Duo Eyeshadow

· Larger Than Life Volumizng Mascara

· Triple X Lip Gloss (applied to eyelids)

LIPS

· Sheer Glow Foundation

· Salsa Lip Liner Pencil

· Snow Loose Powder

· Belle de Jour Velvet Matte Lip Pencil

· Madère Pure Matte Lipstick

· Luxembourg Satin Lip Pencil (New for Spring 2013)

Available: US - March 15, 2013 / Global - April 1 2013

For a similar effect, try Mexican Rose Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil

All products, except where noted, are available at narscosmetics.com.

 

What do you think of this makeup and hair look?  Wearable?

Deborah Lippmann Girls Collection Swatches and Review AND an interview with Ms. Lippmann Herself!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Tuesday to you all!  I am so excited to be sharing this post with you today!  As some of you may know from my Instagram, I had the amazing chance to meet the lovely Ms. Deborah Lippmann at the HBO store for the launch of the Girls nail polish collection earlier this month.  At the end of this post I will put my interview with her!

The Deborah Lippmann Girls Collection consists of 4 shades, one for each of the 4 main characters on the show.  They come in a really cute box with quotes from the show and have different printing on each side of the bottle!

Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

 Above:  2 coats of Shoshanna

Shoshanna is described as being "virtuous vivid violet."  To me this is halfway between a very light purple and a periwinkle.  While this looks like a creme at first, there is a very subtle silver shimmer to it that is apparent when the light hits it that really gives it something special.  The formula was great on this, opaque in two coats and easy to work with.

 Above:  2 coats of Hannah

Hannah is described as being "Hapless Hunter Green."  I like to call it eucalyptus because something about the slightly blue tint to it makes it look that way to my eye.  In short, I love it and it's the favorite of the collection for me.  The application was flawless, opaque in two coats and really a unique shade.

 

Above:  3 coats of Jessa

Jessa is described as being a "Bohemian Burgundy."  I love that this shade is almost jelly like!  It took three coats to be opaque but it retains that squishy look that a jelly polish has.  I'm going to have to try a jelly sandwich with this one!  The application was pretty easy to use for a creme/jelly, I found that three thin coats worked perfectly.

Above:  4 coats of Marnie

Marnie is described as being a "prim and proper pink" and I'd say that's pretty much dead on!  This very light pink is a sheer polish that took me 4 thin coats to get rid of visible nail line.  It's a good color for those who want a sheer wash of color but I prefer opacity so I found it a bit frustrating.


I was lucky enough to get to interview Ms. Lippmann at the HBO store and ask her all about the inspiration behind the collection and the line.  She was so wonderful to speak with (and I may have gushed a bit about what a fan of hers I was and she was so sweet.)  Here's what she had to say about the collection:

“They were really created completely under Lena’s supervision, it was her idea initially to have a color for Hannah and she emailed me and said wouldn’t it be groovy if Hannah had a certain cool green?  I asked what kind and Lena said ‘maybe her own green?’ and I said ‘I think that’s possible.’  So it started with that and we started having conversations and we were talking about how each of the girls are their own different character and so unique so we thought it would be a really good idea for each girl to have their own color.  We had been watching the show already and were totally obsessed, it had maybe only one of two episodes aired when this happened and so we sort of got to know through Lena’s eyes who each of the girls were and we had our own perception of who the girls were and started to go through the range of colors.  We knew immediately that Marnie had to be some sort of an uptight pink.  I think we thought in the beginning, at least in my brain, that Hannah was going to be darker and initially we were going for darker and then we kind of landed on this and it was so cool.  They are all definitely different.  Lena, when they were finished she wore Hannah at shoots and would text me pictures of her wearing it and then will write to me and say ‘can I be Shoshanna today?’  And I said ‘you can be whatever you want whenever you want!’“

And here is a picture of us:

 

All in all I thought this was a really cool collection as a tie in with the show Girls.  I love that they gave each of the characters a polish that matched their personalities.  Hannah was the true stand out for me because it's such a gorgeous shade of green and I love the hidden shimmer to Shoshanna.  This is a limited edition set that retails for $45 and can be found until supplies run out wherever Deborah Lippmann is sold.

What did you think of these polishes? Must have? Any dupes?

The products in this post were sent to me for my unbiased review. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Nicole by OPI Modern Family Collection for Spring 2013 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Monday!  I hope you are all having a wonderful start to your week!  I can't believe it's been over a week since I went on vacation!  I will have more on that soon but first, I wanted to do a quick post (read that as lots of pics and little talking) about a collection I"m way behind on!

 

The Nicole by OPI Modern Family collection is 14 polishes that are all based off the hit TV show.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Am I Making Myself Claire?

Am I Making Myself Claire is halfway between a lilac and a grey, so let's call it a grelac!  It's a good neutral color for spring, not quite nude with a hint of purple.  The formula was good, opaque in 2 coats.

Above:  2 coats of My Jay or the Highway

My Jay or the Highway is a yellow toned taupe.  I think it's supposed to be more nude but on someone as pale as me, it looks fairly dark.  The formula was good, opaque in 2 coats.

Above:  3 coats of Alex By The Books

Alex By the Books is a gorgeous minty green creme that's a bit blue leaning.  This was a real stand out of the collection for me.  I found the formula to be a bit streaky so I used three thin coats to get it even.

Above:  3 thin coats of Stand by Your Manny

Ugh, I really wanted to love this color because it's so beautiful in the bottle, a lovely light blue full of silvery almost glass fleck like shimmers.  But the formula was just so difficult.  I tried 2 normal coats, three thin coats, and nothing could stop it from being patchy and streaky.

Above:  1 coat of Haley Good Looking over 3 coats Stand By Your Manny

Haley Good Looking is a glitter topper of a peachy pink micro glitter with some larger pieces of glitter in the same shade.  The formula was find for a glitter topper, not hard to get out at all.

Above:  2 coats of I Do De-Claire!

I Do De-Claire! is a light pink very frosty polish.  I'm really not a fan of frosty polishes because I dont' like seeing brush strokes

 

Above:  2 coats of A Like-Haley Story

A Like-Haley Story is a bright pink that has a very subtle shimmer to it.  In the bottle it looks like the pink version of Stand By Your Manny but on the nail the shimmer is not as apparent but the formula is much better.  It only took two coats for full opacity.

Above:  2 coats of Basking in Gloria

Basking in Gloria is a gorgeous purple toned red polish with pink shimmer to it.  This one really is beautiful!  So much depth!  The formula was good, opaque in 2 coats and easy to apply.

Above:  2 coats of Candid Cameron

Candid Cameron is a gorgeous teal shimmer that has slight flashes of green and blue to it!  It's beautiful!  The brush strokes seem to show up with my camera but not in real life.  The formula was good on this one, easy to use and opaque in 2 coats.

Above:  3 coats of What's the Mituation?

What's the Mituation is a deep blue shimmer.  The formula was super sheer on this one and even with 3 coats I felt like it wasn't totally even.

Above:  1 coat of She's Lily Something

This was a frustrating polish.  In the bottle, it looks like a pink duochrome glassfleck sheer base with holographic star glitters.  However getting the start glitters out is not easy and once you do, they are virtually impossible to lay flat on the nail.  I also found the formula to be rather thick.

Above:  3 thin coats of Back in my Gloria Days

This polish is a gorgeous and vibrant bright purple shimmer!  However the formula was a bit thin so I found I needed three coats to build it up, but once I did it was really beautiful.

Above:  3 coats of A Phil's Paradise

A Phil's Paradise is like a less intense cousin of Chanel Graphite.  This shade is a dark grey shimmer that flashes a bit of silver and a hint of green.  The formula was a bit thin so it took 3 coats for full opacity.

 

Above:  2 coats of Luke of the Draw

Lastly is Luke of the draw, a black jelly full of multi sized silver glitter.  I'm a big fan of black jellies with glitters in them and this one built up nicely.  The formula was pretty easy to use and the glitter went on easily.

All in all, this wasn't my favorite collection by Nicole by OPI.  I found that a lot of the formulas seemed to have problems and the pretty colors you could see in the bottles didn't translate well to the nail.  If you are willing to take the time to do several layers or thin your polishes, there are some pretty colors but many of them are fairly dupable.  These polishes are available now wherever NOPI is sold.


What did you think of these polishes? Must have? Any dupes?

The products in this post were sent to me for my unbiased review. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.