Spring 2009 Beauty Trends: Backstage at Alexandre Herchcovitch

SHOW: Alexandre Herchcovitch
MAKEUP: Jose Rivera and the Sephora Pro Beauty Team
HAIR: Omar Lopez for ghd
MODEL: Julia Oliv for Women
BEAUTY BOTTOM-LINE: Salmon lids, dewy skin, stained lips

THE LOOK: Vivid lids are finally making an appearance here at New York Fashion Week, thanks to our very own Sephora Pro Beauty Team, lead by my pal Jose Rivera. This ambitious look, consisting of highly pigmented eye creases and flawless skin, was created to complement the collection’s military look and pastel fabrics. The intense color is a combo of MAKE UP FOR EVER Flash Colors set with MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Powder. “If you don’t use the powder, it’s a hot mess,” Jose admits. (Keep this great trick handy for when you need rich color in a powder finish.) For the skin, he mixed together foundation with a luminizer and gently patted on cream blush for a slight flush. Here’s another great concoction Jose whipped up, this time for the lashes: brown Flash Color with Dior Black Out Mascara. Just seconds before the show, the artists dabbed gloss under the eyes to emulate sweat. “We want them to look like they’re working hard at fashion,” jokes Jose. Did they pull it off? Sir, yes, sir!






















The hair, also military inspired, was simply stunning. Omar from sprayed the hair down with ghd Sea Spray and then started a cornrow (inside-out French braid) in the front corner, up to the crown of the head, around behind the left ear, and down through the bottom right corner. After braiding out the rest of the length of the hair, he tied it off with Sephora elastics, then pinned the loose braid up along the same path of the cornrow. (It only took about 4-5 pins!) Then he showed me how to “tuck and hide” the end of the hair and elastic under the braid. Tip: If you’re not good at cornrows, you can also create three separate regular braids and pin then down to the head in the same formation for a similar look.

GET IT:
Makeup: MAKE UP FOR EVER Flash Colors in Orange 12 and Fuchsia 5 (eyes) and Brown 23 (mascara), MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Microfinish Powder, LORAC Eye Shadow in Nude, Stila Convertible Color, Thebalm Stainiac in Prom Queen, Dior Diorshow Black Out Mascara, MAKE UP FOR EVER Face & Body Liquid Makeup, ck Calvin Klein Runway Radiance Illuminating Cream

Hair: ghd Sea Spray for Matte Waves, Sephora Brand Snag-Free Hair Elastics