Author Archives: Kismet-Lola

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LFW: Me Backstage At Fearne Cotton & Very.co.uk SS12

Fearne Cotton took us back to the 70’s at her LFW show with Very.co.uk earlier this week. Bold colours and big hair was standard on the catwalk. Front row guests included The City star, stunning Whitney Port as well as Fearne’s bestie Holly Willoughby.
Backstage, i was with the OPI tech team picking the brightest and boldest shades for nails. Celeb stylist Karl Plewka wanted nail colours to coordinate but not match the bright orange lips that the models would be sporting. He wanted to create a Tom Ford-esq look for the runway.
Makeup
The amazing makeup team created a gorgeous retro look, sheer, natural skin, toned down eyes (there would be huge sunglasses covering them) teamed with a beautiful orange lip. The team used MAC’s Morange Amplified Lipstick with MAC Lipmix in Orange.

Nails
We used two different OPI shades to maintain that bright high gloss 70’s image. A fuchsia pink on fingers ‘You’re A Pisa Work’ and a bold lime green on toes – ‘Who The Shrek Are You’. They look like a rather odd pairing, but actually worked perfectly to create a retro look. Everyone loved it. The models were super keen on the fuchsia, Fearne also wore these shades and was pretty chuffed with her nails .

OPI You’re A Pisa Work & Who The Shrek Are You

Hair
The L’Oreal hair team were fab, they added hair pieces to the girls’ natural hair, then tightly plaited them. These were taken out just before the show achieving that BIG, almost Afro effect. It looked gorgeous, i might try it out myself.

Fearne also sported big hair and Orange lips.
The Show
Following a star studded drinks reception, guests took to their seats and were dazzled by a delicious collection of colours, cuts and styles.
The gorgeous Whitney Port supported Fearne in the front row

Holly Willoughby

Backstage Whitney with her mentor, ex boss Kelly Cutrone

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LFW: Nail Rock Designs for Meadham Kirchhoff SS12

How adorable are these gorgeous nail appliques created by Nail Rock specifically for the Meadham Kirchhoff SS12 show.
The show was a girly girls fantasy world and these definitely bring out the girly in me!

I had the task of peeling off these appliques from the nails of a couple of models yesterday afternoon. They had come straight over to the Fearne Cotton and Very.co.uk show, so were getting new looks for their fingers and toes. They did look ridiculously cute, i should have kept the peels and reused them!

If you look closely at the Kirchhoff collection, you can see which designs are reflected in the custom made nail applications.

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LFW: Me Backstage At BLOW Presents SS12

BLOW Presents showcases the work of emerging design talent destined for success. This year at LFW, Fanny and Jessy, Jane Bowler, Shinsuke Mitsouka and Eleanor Amoroso were sending their collections down the runway. The show was sponsored by Wella with the OPI tech team doing nails. I was there to witness fashion frenzy and make nails look super lovely!
There were 24 models. 12 Brunettes and 12 Blondes. The brunettes were made up in a natural looking makeup, wet look hair styled by Wella, which was pinned back in a bun, and nude nails using OPI’s Samoan Sand – this is one of my fave nude shades.

The blonde models looked slightly more vampy, they had deep dark lips, frosted brows and OPI’s Black Onyx on their fingers. Their hair was tightly cane-rowed at the front, about two or three rows. I wish i could do these plaits on my hair!

I loved the quirkiness of the Jane Bowler show, there was a lot of colour fringing going on, and it gave the makeup team an opportunity to play with lashes…taking them to a whole other level!

The BLOW Presents Show:

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LFW: Me Backstage At Marios Schwab SS12

This was my favourite show so far. Backstage was frantic. Hair stylists, makeup artists and nail techs were literally pouncing on the twenty-four Marios Schwab models to give them a sculpted Film Noir look with a play on matte and shine. This was an integral part of the collection on show, which was inspired by the contrast of light and dark ‘Chiasroscuro‘.
It was difficult not to get high on the excitement and effort that filled the room, especially when four of the models arrived only 10mins before the start of the show. Right up to the very last moment, as the girls lined up, ready to walk out on to the the runway, the backstage team were on them like flies – fixing hair, powdering faces, touching up nails. It dawned on me at this point, that the audience outside who waited patiently, listening to the show music, chatting, tweeting and blogging from their seats were quite unaware of the frenzy behind those statuesque white catwalk screens.
Hair:
The hair was styled by using Clairol Colourseal Gloss and Frederik Fakkai mousse and set into waves by blow drying over large barrelled brushes and some very hot tongs. I did get whiffs of burning hair now and again as i was crawling under the table looking for toes to paint. Inspired by 40’s fashion, and style icons Rita Hayworth and Ingrid Bergman, the models hair was parted low on one side and curled under.

The frenzy continued as up to 5 or 6 people
would work on one model to get her ready
last minute touches as the girls walk out

Makeup:
Makeup artist Val Garland created a look which tied in with the Film Noir style by giving models a feline smoky eye. With liquid liner on the eyelid and MAC Carbon shadow at the bottom, the eyes continued the theme of matte vs shine. Cheeks were super sculpted to give a deep structured finish.

Nails:
Keeping the significance of light and texture, OPI created nails that combined a matte and gloss finish. On finger nails we used a combination of either nude lacquer (OPI Passion), or a glossy high shine finish black (OPI Lady In Black). The dark lacquer was applied to acrylic tips and filed into long rounded points. It looked pretty fierce on the runway! Toes were painted black and glossy.

Applying acrylics and filing them into long points
Light matte nails
Dark glossy toes
Dark glossy pointy nails

The Show:

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LFW: Topshop Unique SS12

Yesterday’s Topshop SS12 show took inspiration from Cleopatra and ancient Egypt, then of course gave it  a modern urban spin…and lots of gold!
Keeping in line with the collection, models were given a Cleopatra meets ghetto look. They sported wet look hair combed back and draped in gold leaf. Toe nails matched in metallic gold polish, while fingernails by the amazing Sophy Robson were multi-coloured and crafted with ancient Egyptian symbols over the top. Makeup was nude but sculpted with defined brows and cheekbones.

 Pictures courtesy of Topshop

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LFW: Me Backstage At Bernard Chandran SS12

I’ve been lucky enough to work on a few London Fashion Week S/S12 shows. Here is a round up of my first show, Bernard Chandran. His collection was 1950’s inspired, the colours were muted neutrals with the odd splash of green and turquoise. This was completely reflected backstage with makeup and nails. It was a great show to work on, the pace was fast and furious, and the result was slick.

Hair:
Hair by L’Oreal was sleek with lots of extensions.

Makeup:
The look was high gloss skin, airbrushed for a perfect finish with nude lips. The MAC girls created a really high density colour which popped against the model’s dark skin. The eyes were the centrepiece for this look, a geometry style liner in a bold turquoise blue which struck out in to a wing.

Nails:
The brief was to create ‘nice sweet girl’ nails. We used two OPI shades, Tickle My France-Y and DS Glow. The nude Tickle My France-Y covered the entire nail bed while the golden DS Glow kissed the tip at an angle. I will be posting a piece on how to create the look soon.

a gold angle on one edge of the nail gave this nude look a little twist
OPI Tickle My France-Y and DS Glow

The Show

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Backstage: Prima High Street Fashion Awards 2011

The Prima High Street Fashion Awards 2011 took place last week in Battersea, London. I was there with OPI and Lena White to help manicure the 1,200 attendees. Guests included fashion industry insiders, celebrities, retailers and of course the readers of Prima magazine.
I snapped a few pictures to share with you what went on at the UK’s largest fashion event.
OPI had an area for guests to come and pamper themselves. It was a pretty hectic evening, everyone understandably wanted gorgeous nails. I loved speaking to all the guests and helping them pick nail colours to match their outfits ♥
The main room was set up with a large screen, a long fashion runway and gorgeously decorated dinner tables ♥
Other pampering treats that night included hair by Saks, lashes by LaLa Lashes and make up by Bare Ecsentuals♥
The lovely Niki from Lena White getting her hair styled ♥



My OPI manicure station ♥

 

Joe McElderry in rehearsals, he opened the event ♥ 
Other celebrity guests at the show included Tess Daley, Belle Ami, Michelle Heaton, Natasha Hamilton, Josie Gibson, Elen Rives, and a few of the TOWIE cast members ♥
Lauren and Lydia from TOWIE at dinner
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NYFW SS12: Nail Trends Hitting The Runway

Nails have been big again this year at NY Fashion Week. Along with makeup, nails added to the final looks designers strived to create. No doubt LFW will be a similar story.
Here is a rundown of some of the nail styles on show at NY Fashion Week SS12.

Joy Cioci – Nails by CND

Lucite lace nails. Clear tips teamed with a lattice pattern on the nail bed

Ruffian – Nails By CND

The moon manicure has become a Ruffian show staple 

Nicole Miller – Nails By CND

Glam rock checkered nails using CND colours Rasberry Parfait and a custom mixed blue created from CND Anchor Blue, Dark Ruby and Eclectic Purple

Jen Kao – Nails By CND

The new French Manicure?
Add caption

Jason Wu –  Nails By OPI

OPI’s MonSooner Or Later

Rebecca Taylor – Nails by OPI

OPI’s On Stranger Tides (Pirates of the Caribbean Collection)

Dean Quinn – Nails by CND.

CND Copper Shimmer with a layer of CND Putty over the top.
A final stroke of CND Dessert Suede at the cuticle 



Erickson Beamon – Nails by Butter London

Serious pops of colour 

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NYFW SS12: Bold Lips

As NYFW SS12 is well under way, the world’s fashionists await trends to adorn the catwalks. However, i am more interested in what the makeup artists have to offer!
From the pics i have seen so far, there is a fair bit of bold lipping going on.
Richard Chai‘s blue and purple lips are striking against smooth nude skin, and almost bare eyes. I have seen a few celebs sporting purple lips lately. One to add to the ‘want’ list?

Charlize Theron, recently at the GQ Man of the Year 2011 Awards flashing deep fuchsia – purplish lips combined with an otherwise natural face.

Jason Wu was bold with red at his show. His retro look models wore bright red, matte lips teamed warm cheeks and defined brows, created by MAC. Wu’s collection was inspired by street artist  KAWS and the pop art of the 50’s and 90’s which is reflected in the make up. Makeup artist Diane Kendal, who was leading the MAC team, used a vibrant scarlet red lip colour and covered it over with MAC Neo Orange Powder to achieve the final look.

OPI nails in Monsooner Or Later matched the  red lips
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I Thank You: Clinique CX Neck & Chest De-Ageing Cream

I faced a life changing moment a few weeks ago – ok that is slightly dramatic, but it definitely felt that way.

I jumped out of bed (as usual), headed straight to the mirror (as usual) and to my absolute heart wrenching horror, i discovered smirking back at me a long, vertical, looong (did i say that?) crease running from my chest all the way up to my neck. I felt my heart sink, further inspection revealed a cluster of horizontal lines across the front of my neck. I had read about this. Lines that instantly age. I thought i was too young, i thought i had good genes (my mom looks amaze), i guess not. As i applied lashings of moisturiser to said offenders, hoping to banish them, i realised i needed to step it up in the cosmetics department otherwise the road ahead was gloomy.
The Solution:
This has been my first ‘neck wrinkle’ beating investment:

Clinique’s CX Neck & Chest De-Aging Cream. The name of this product gave me instant hope!
This is a rich cream which is applied both day and night. It is said to hydrate, rebuild natural collagen and improve elasticity as quickly as 4 weeks. The little silver tub contains a concoction of ingredients to help maintain smoother skin. Here is the science:
• Whey Protein increases skin’s natural production of collagen to help firm and minimise the appearance of lines and wrinkles.
• Cholesterol Potassium Sulfate, Barley Extract, Wheat Germ Extract and Squalane, a combination of skin friendly lipids, help repair and moisturise the skin
• Acetyl Glucosamine helps restore radiance.
• Vitamin C, E, and Green Tea Extract are antioxidants that protect and help prevent future ageing damage.
The Verdict:
Over the following weeks i used this cream religiously. And YES, it did help. Right away my neck skin looked healthier which i think was down to the intense re hydration. Although i still have lines, they don’t look as bad or as noticeable, and my skin is most definitely smoother. I am hoping that with continued use, i will see further improvements, and hopefully avoid wrinkles and lines in the neck and chest area for as long as possible
The Cost:
This is an expensive treatment, £73 per 50ml pot is a heck of a lot of money, and many of us would have to think twice before spending. The way i justified my purchase was, for the cost of staying home one or two nights of the week, i could potentially have a less liney neck and chest – which quite frankly is far more important to me at the moment than a night at Faces!

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No7 Lash Adapt Mascara

When it comes to mascara, i am quite set in my way. I happily try out a new mascara but always tend to follow my way back to Bare Mineral’s Flawless.
My latest try has been Boots No7 Lash Adapt.

If i am honest, i wasn’t expecting miracles from this tube, but was curious because the advertising campaign claimed ‘up to six coats clump free’. The brush is quite standard looking, as is the packaging. Looking at it, nothing jumps out as amazingly different.
Here are the before and after shots:



Mascara free lashes

 

1 coat of Lash Adapt



2 coats of Lash Adapt



2 coats eyes closed



2/3 coats of Lash Adapt

Quite impressive. I took these pictures as i was getting ready for work today, so I stopped at 2/3 coats as my lashes then start to resemble spider legs. Just with minimum layers, my lashes were much longer and volumised, and the thickness significantly increased. The formula is a nice creamy consistency, possibly due to the addition of Jojoba oil. I haven’t experienced any clumps or smudging, and i haven’t been tempted back to my old mascara yet. In fact, in the first two weeks of wearing Lash Adapt, three people asked me if i was sporting falsies. I know, amazing. That has never happened before (unless i was actually wearing false lashes)! Hooked. Congrats to Boots No7 on the advertising for this product too, they have joined the likes of MUFE by shunning the use of retouched or digitally enhanced imagery. Many mascara advertisements add ‘fake’ lashes to models which is chronically annoying and very misleading. Thumbs up to No7! 

Available at Boots, £12.50

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Do Celebs Love Morphing?

As a child, I used to hate it when friends/ family/ teachers would compare me to my older sisters. ‘I am ME, not them’ i would scream back! I know this is a whole other level, but i wonder if celebrities feel similarly when the press compare them to each other?
Oh well, i’m going to do some celeb comparing anyway. It may be frustrating for them, it may be another one of ‘those things’ that comes with being in the public eye, but i truly think some of these well know peeps do it on purpose? Maybe it’s their way of showing love and admiration…or getting in on some extra publicity! 
Here are a couple of examples of celebrity morphing.
Exhibit 1: Victoria Beckham vs Katie Holmes
We all know VB had that bob/pob hair first.
Left – Katie in an ad campaign for Miu Miu
Right: Victoria in an ad campaign for Armarni.
Seriously, they look the same!
Exhibit 2: Victoria Beckham (again) vs Cheryl Cole
These were the days when Cheryl was trying to make a better name for herself, hanging with VB was obviously her way to do it.
Chezza does look pretty good tho.
Exhibit 3: Cheryl Cole vs Tulisa Contostavlos
This was most definitely done one purpose for the sake of X Factor. Tulisa’s stylist has turned her into Cheryl.
Same dress, same hair…same face!
It’s too much. I have to stop.
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Turn Up The Volume: L’Oreal Professional Techni Art Full Volume Extra

My new hair love.
A hairstylist friend of mine gave me this to try. I was after volume. Lots of it, and she thought L’Oreal’s Techni Art Full Volume  Extra mousse from their professional salon range would help.

Help? It sure damn did. It’s given me the big lush hair i have been dreaming about. I apply the mousse to towel dried hair and then blow dry and style with my fingers.

I’ve previously used volumising sprays, this is the first mousse I’ve tried and i am converted. I find my hair usually tends to be either limp or frizzy, but its difficult to achieve full, glossy and happy hair.
This L’Oreal mousse is so simple to use and smells delicious too. The only negative aspect is that using too much product can cause hair to harden, so don’t over spray. I’d definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a hair boost, i will certainly be sticking with it.

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The Louboutin Manicure

I never let my nails grow very long, its just not practical for me and i actually like them a shortish length. However, will this change my mind?! I recently came across this picture, its a few years old but it made me wish for loooong nails.

I’m not sure if Louboutin nails took off a few years back when they were first seen, but if i had the nails right now, i’d be all over this little trend. The underside of the nail is painted red to reflect the famous Louboutin shoe sole, and the outside is painted black, or another colour. Looks gorgeous i think.

My nails just aren’t long enough, and to prove how this manicure ‘doesn’t‘ work on short nails, i gave it a go. Big Fat Fail.

You can just about see the red polish.
I need another few inches to get this look nailed.
I used Beige Style (365) from Rimmel as the colour for the outside nail.

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Minx & Marc Jacobs. A fashionable Collaboration

A fashionable collaboration, as Minx Nails team up with Marc Jacobs (unfortunately not available in the UK why?). The outcome of such a stylish duo is ‘One Night Stand’ – a collection of nail appliques complimenting the chic 70’s style prints at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Autumn 2011 show.

The limited edition range is available at Saks New York as part of the Fashion’s Night Out event next week.
Hopefully this is the start of many Minx/ fashion designer collaborations, which will also be available to the UK.
However, for now, I may have to settle with grovelling over the phone to some long lost friends/ family/ colleagues in NY in an attempt to score a pack of these!

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£12k For Tulisa’s Teeth

Another dear celebrity has joined the Land of Veneers. In her new role as an X Factor judge, Tulisa has had a total transformation in recent months, and her teeth were definitely not left off the list. £12,000 worth of dental work (yes twelve thousend!) has left Tulisa’s gnashers looking rather enviable. Jel? Oh yes. I am.

Tulisa follows in the steps of many successful stars with her perfect teeth. Does a stunning set equal as much success?

Miley Cyrus: A perfect smile to make it big in Hollywood?



Peaches Geldof: New teeth to help kickstart her music and modeling career?



Catherine Zeta Jones: What a difference!
Cheryl Cole: Amazing set of hamsteads (Hamstead Heath…teeth!).





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OPI Muppets Collection

Those colour mixers at OPI have come up trumps for their Christmas 2011 collection – The Muppets. The range which coincides with the release of the Muppets Movie consists of a mixture of gorgeous deep shades, creamy neutrals and eye-poping glitter.

There are 12 yumptious colours with the cutest names such as ‘Getting’ Miss Piggy With It‘ and ‘Gone Gonzo’. There is also a gold shatter colour which i am really excited about trying.

Meep Meep Meep

Designers DeBetter

Warm & Fozzie

Rainbow Connection

Divine Swine
Animal-istic

Excuse Moi

Getting’ Miss Piggy With It

Gone Gonzo

Pepe’s Purple Passion

Wocka Wocka
Fresh & Frog
Gold Shatter

I was trying to pick a couple of favourites from the collection, but failed. They all look great – hopefully they are just as gorgeous in reality!