catwalk to real walk

if you're in new york, you already know that it is absolutely beautiful outside today! after what seemed like a loooong winter, that alternated between blizzards and downpours, it seems that spring has finally sprung! in celebration of the newly balmy conditions, we are turning our attention to the lips for today's catwalk to real walk. on the runway at marc by marc jacobs, models were decked out in vibrantly colored and patterned clothes with a subversive punk-rock feel, all topped off with a big, bright bow adorning their frizzy ponytails -- and their makeup was accordingly vivid. in this case, the focus was on the lips, which were painted a bold fuchsia hue. this look was almost immediately embraced by those working the red carpet, as evidenced by ashley greene of the twilight series of movies. pictured below are ms. greene and her runway inspiration:

following this lead, we decided to give the fuchsia lip a test run at the nuBest make-up center. using our salon coordinator, maria, as our model for the day, here are the results (makeup done by anna naso):

for those of you who consider yourselves makeup neophytes, fear not, because this look is relatively simple to re-create. all it takes is a bright pink lipstick (which, if you don't have, you can purchase at the nuBest make-up center). at the marc by marc jacobs show, a matte lipstick was used, while it appears that ashley greene opted for something with a little more shine; although we went with the runway look as our true inspiration and chose to go matte, either a matte or a glossy shade is right on trend. in keeping with our inspiration, anna kept the rest of maria's makeup understated and clean. she simply lined the upper lash line with a black liner (creating a cat-eye effect at the outer corners -- another prominent spring trend!), highlighted the inner corners of the eyes with a white pencil to truly open the eyes, and used a shimmery highlighting powder on her cheekbones to accentuate maria's flawless skin and bone structure.

what do you think of today's look? would you incorporate a fuchsia lip into your beauty routine? if you have any questions for our make-up experts, or if you want to weigh in with your opinion, leave us a comment -- we'd love to hear what you think!

catwalk to real walk a few posts back, we named fuchsia lips as one of the budding spring trends. yet upon further analysis of the spring runways, it appears that some designers were thinking pink elsewhere -- specifically, on the eyes. not to be confused with the significantly less chic conjunctivitis, pink eyeshadow popped up at several shows during new york fashion week (specfically at tuleh, ports 1961, cynthia rowley and tibi, pictured below).

we would certainly suggest this particular look to anyone who's willing to experiment with color, but in a slightly more subtle way than, say, the much more bold and brazen fuchsia lip. the beauty lies in the idea that any shade of pink will fit the bill -- be it a pale pink or, like at tibi, a shock of magenta. as an added benefit, this trend will apparently carry into next

fall, as evidenced by yves saint laurent's fall/winter show, where models walked the runway with hot pink shadow and a contrasting navy blue liner:

here is our interpretation of the YSL look (which is appropriate for spring or fall), executed by anna naso, with stylist's assistant elly modeling the look:

this is a relatively literal interpretation of the original runway look, so there isn't much to explain in terms of technique. anna used a bright pink shadow to cover the entire eyelid, and applied a navy blue liner along the upper lash line. she finished with a pair of faux lashes, courtesy of the nuBest lash bar -- big lashes, exaggerated by either false lashes or lots and lots of mascara, are essential. add a bit of blush and gloss, and you're good to go.

also note elly's au courant side braid. the braid is another surefire trend for spring, so for those of you who can't discern between a french braid and a fishtail, we would definitely advise perfecting your plaiting skills in time for spring!

what do you think of today's look? would you rather wear pink lipstick or pink eyeshadow (or neither)? do you have any questions for our hair and beauty experts? leave us a comment and we'd be happy to help!