Maria Maria Maria! [Sharapova] – That Is, Styled by Leonard Zagami For NYFW

STORY, Anthony Palermo

Preface,by Vivian Kelly

I’ve always admired  gorgeous women with long blonde locks since I was 5 years old, starting with Goldilocks and  later, Princess Aurora, Farrah Fawcett Majors, Marilyn Monroe and more recently, Blake Lively and Maria Sharapova. Family friend, William, then a Dutch University Student, and now a KLM pilot, jokingly showed me an image of Maria Sharapova on his iphone, casually calling her “my girlfriend” and then laughing when I believed him – for a second.

Apparently, we weren’t the only ones to think Maria was something really special.

This season, at NYFW, Maria was front row at some of New York’s biggest shows. Below, Anthony Palermo, tells us how his ALS partner, Leonard Zagami, created some fresh looks for the gorgeous tennis star. I’ve featured the one she sported at the Marc Jacobs show.

And, now… here’s Anthony!

“Mercedes Benz Fashion week is always filled with fabulous people. These Fall RTW 2012 collections were more about the who’s who in the front row. One of our all time favorites , Maria Sharapova , knows how to make an entrance and cause a frenzy on the court, but the real commotion starts when she is spotted at all the hottest shows!  Celebrity make up artist  and  friend of the AnthonyLeonard Salon ,  Andie Markoe -Byrne, teamed up with  Leonard Zagami, Creative Director of ALS,  to complete Maria ’s looks for the shows.

Read on as Leonard explains look 1 of the 3 looks he gave the grand slammer for this very fashionable NYC Week!

AT Marc Jacobs:

Maria , seen here with famed photographer  Patrick Demarchelier and his wife Mia , had a slightly pinned back side part . “I used Super Shine Cream by Oribe   to get a sleek look with out it being too overdone” says Zagami. ” I also used a Kent Brush ( for fine hair) to help smooth down fly-aways”. Maria usually  parts her hair in the middle so this was a great change for her!

To read and see all 3, go to anthonyleonardsalonblog. There, you’ll find out how Leonard styled her for her appearances at Vera Wang and Oscar de la Renta. If you’re sitting next to Anna [Wintour], you had BETTER be on your game! Thanks to Leonard, Maria looked every bit the star she is.

A Night Out – Holiday Cheer W/ Shiseido at Town & Country’s Visionnaire 5th Avenue Apartment

Text, Vivian Kelly

Last week, I was the “plus one” for a swank event co-sponsored by Town & Country and Shiseido. Contributor Laura Wood and I were there for a veritable laundry list of reasons:

- to chat with her friend, Connor Raus, a digital strategist ad the Creative Director of Digitature and to watch him in action, filming host and stylist, Luciene Salomone

- to check out the decorated apartment

- to watch the Shiseido presentation of the Future Solution LX line, of which I was already a fan. [ Kaplow PR had gifted me Bio- Performance Advanced Super Revitalizing Cream which feels insanely rich and luxurious, even at 6:30 in the morning when I've only got one eye lid open. A few colleagues have told me how "rested" I looked recently.]

The event invite promised ” a lip touch-up” which sealed the deal as I can’t ever pass up an opportunity to find a new shade of lipstick, never mind the 30+ tubes of lipsticks and glosses piled behind me on the FE home office shelf.

An added bonus to the affair was to wander about the lovely apartment and to peruse the gorgeous Rizzoli coffee table books. I’ve got MM Personal: From the Private Archive of Marilyn Monroe on its way to me for some much anticipated holiday reading.

Below, a video of host, Luciene Salome discussing the events of the evening.

Makeup Madness! Neiman Marcus’ Ken Downing and his Metier de Beaute Lip and Nail Duos

Text, Vivian Kelly

One way to follow fashion before making any major wardrobe decisions is to pick up some new makeup. This may sound ridiculously simplistic, but there’s nothing like a new nail and lip color to punch-up your look in record time.

While chatting with Neiman’s charismatic fashion director, Ken Downing, during the recent Mercedes-Benz NYFW Shows, he told us that he is dabbling in cosmetics – as if he doesn’t already have enough on his plate! “SO, I asked, WHAT is the hot color? I usually only buy lipstick and nail polish.”

“Bordeaux - it’s all about that, although I did a gorgeous flame orange for summer.”

As he says, on the NM site, “It’s MINE! It’s WINE! And it’s FABULOUS! My latest color collaboration with Le Metier Beaute creates the new Twin Set. Lips matching nails, never fails, in a season of Lady Chic glamour. “ 

Click on the video to hear what else Ken has to say about fall and spring fashions, who he loves at NYFW and about his makeup collaboration with Metier de Beaute, exclusively for Neiman Marcus.

I investigated online at Neiman’s website and at the counter. Of course, I had to try all three lipsticks on and walked away, unable to decide which of the three sets in the Bordeaux Collection I would take home with me. Would it be “Red My lips”, or “I’m Worn This Way” or “It’s Mine! It’s Wine!”

The website decided it for me. I’m going with his latest – a new creme lipgloss called “In the Know Bordeaux” and “Im Worn This Way” because I have to have the nail polish!

Rambo’s Picks-Week July 18-MakeUp ForEver=The Cat’s Meow

Text, Vivian Kelly

Pick of the Week: RAMBO – Beauty Editor at Large

Rambo writes, “Our Editor in Chief, Viv, went to Miami to cover Mercedes Benz Miami Fashion Week Swim for our friends at The Fashion List. She was gone for  48 hours and came home happy and impressed by what she saw AND with 1 extra suitcase [purchased a.m. of departure]. I couldn’t wait to investigate. It was loaded with show paperwork [boring], an In-Styler Rotating Ironthat is truly amazing [more later on this and makeup – lots of it. Mmmmm.”

RAMBO made a beeline for my stash of Make Up For Ever samples the minute I threw them on the home office floor. Maybe he liked the peppy tagline on the packaging, “Created for Pros Perfect for YOU” or the selection: lip gloss, lipsticks, HD blush, primer or makeup remover, and the piece de resistance – #26 EYELASHES/Faux-Cils – ooh la la! Ours are red white and blue perfect for Bastille Day and/or the Fourth of July.

Of all of these he’s finally chosen a favorite: Make Up For Ever LAB SHINE STAR COLLECTION GLOSS IN S-2.

WHY RAMBO LOVES STAR SHINE GLOSS

1. My Editor wore it on the plane and it was still on when I welcomed her home with my signature paws up and headbutt.

2. It matches the YSL color our BFF, Theadora Brack, the cool Paris Correspondent for Euro Cheapo gave us. I love when things match – that makes me purr.

3. It’s the purrfect consistency. My whiskers didn’t get gloppy when I touched it. Like those Three Bears say, “It’s Just Right!”

4. When we run out, it’s easy to get – available at Sephora. What mall do you know that doesn’t have a Sephora? It’s one of our fave beauty bazaars. I heard they even allow dogs into the Paris one?!

5. It was free, which means, maybe I’ll get groovy Feline Tree House I’ve been jonesing for in the   Hammacher Schlemmer catalogue I’ve been rolling around on since Christmas! It’s only $799.95!

>Dick Page for Shiseido, Backstage at United Bamboo s/s2011

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TEXT, Vivian Kelly
Video, Lisa Johnson

Dick Page, Artistic Director for Shiseido is the man when it comes to doing polished makeup with one distinct element that has you looking again at the model’s face.
That was the unifying thread between the different looks he created for these NYFW shows Zero + Maria Cornejo, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez
Michael Kors, United Bamboo and Band of Outsiders.
I first became aware of Dick and his work in the late nineties, when my boss, Michael Kors, hired him to do the spring show. Michael had decided to show at Bryant Park and wanted some edge to the look. Show Producer Alex de Betak thought it would be interesting to do something on the dangerous side [a departure from the beautiful glamazons Bobbi Brown used to help create in the prior seasons.].
He referenced Brian de Palma’s 1984 thriller, ‘Body Double’, starring a dangerously somewhat punk Melanie Griffith,

“A well built woman who strips with her window open each night” who tempted ‘Jake”, who was house sitting for his actor-friend, ‘Frank’. Jake becomes obsessed with meeting her and gets caught in a bizarre web of murder and intrigue.

These days, Dick is still doing Michael’s show, and is among the most sought-after editorial stars for runway shows, and he’s added commercial and theatrical projects to his body of work. Add to that, his job as Artistic Director for Shiseido, and doing the makeup for a Broadway Play. His collaboration with Shiseido started way back in 1997, when he worked on the Japanese-based INOUI line, which he helped to relaunch in 2002 as Inoui ID. In 2007, he was named Artistic Director of Shiseido The Makeup, in which he’s a color creator and Product Developer for the brand- worldwide. The best part about this is that now we can go to the counters in the USA and pick-up the shades he’s created rather than begging a friend to ship it to us from Japan.

In our interview backstage, pre-United Bamboo, Dick showed us a gorgeous new color he was excited about,Dragon Red [a best-selling Shiseido lipstick] with some gold flecks in it”. On the other side of the spectrum, is a beige-gold color that is pretty, and anything but “EMU”. This nude-ish color is perfect if you’re looking to channel a look seen in the Michael Kors Collections ads, in which Carmen Kass looks natural and polished, each and every season. The ideal lip color to achieve this look is Shiseido Rouge Perfect Lipstick in Dune [BE310], which he used later that week for the Michael Kors s/s2011 show.
Another great look is the bold, fun one Dick created for Marc by Marc Jacobs. The eye-catching red lip at Marc Jacobs – Shiseido Makeup Perfect Rouge Lipstick in Day Lily (OR418) is on my fall makeup buy list.

The atmosphere at United Bamboo was decidedly more mellow than backstage at a Marc or Michael show, so we had time for some fun questions, in addition to the usual, “So, what’s your inspiration?” ones.

I found-out a few things about Dick that I didn’t’ know before our informal pre-show chat.
#1: Dick is a Pilates Fan.
#2: Dick was a butcher, in a previous lifetime, before he began his second career is being one of the world’s top makeup artists.
#3: He’s got one foot into his third and fourth careers –
doing photography, and working on the makeup for a Broadway Play.

Weight-in on this post! It is:

amusing

informative

snarky

Makes me want to buy it

>Backstage With Bobbi Brown at the Tibi s/s2011 show

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TEXT, VIVIAN KELLY

There are some people that it’s love at first sight with. Such was the case with MAKEUP MOGUL, BOBBI BROWN. I first met Bobbi when she’d just started her namesake company and there weren’t a whole lot of colors, but she had this great color called “brown”, which everyone agreed looked good on anyone and everyone. She wore a lot of black, very little makeup and smiled a lot. The models loved her for her chilled-out attitude, and as the harried PR for Michael Kors, so did I.

Fast-forward 15 years later, and Bobbi’s still Bobbi. It was great to get to catch-up a bit with her backstage, at the Tibi s/s2011 show. There she was, adeptly fielding questions fired at her by eager editors and film crews waving mikes in her face, all the while showing the special palette she’d created for the show. Bobbi turned to the crowd of faces and jokingly asked, “You’re all from websites? Doesn’t anyone work for magazines anymore?” She, like everyone this season who’s in the fashion business is marveling at the sheer number of bloggers and tweeters who now cover fashion week.
For Tibi, Bobbi did her signature fresh and clean makeup, which went nicely with the side parted ponytail, accessorized with two clips. The Tibi girl is historically fresh faced but she has some fun too. This season, Bobbi provided that with a thicker eyeliner with her long-wear gel eyeliner to create the winged eye that was the focus for this show. The look was pretty, but not TOO perfect.

Meanwhile, over in the hair area, Aveda stylists Kevin Ryan and Frank Rizziari dealt with hair drama. One of the models arrived on the latish side rushing from her previous show with her long blonde hair crimped to the max and loaded down with product. Frank walked over to take a closer look and warned, “Honey, you have to use water and wash it all out or you’re going to cry when we work on your hair”.
He turned back to us and explained, “When a model comes with tons of stuff in her hair, dry shampoo will only make the hair grittier and will only serve to mask it. The only thing that works is water.” Good to know, as I’d always assumed dry shampoo was the quickie solution to getting product out of one’s hair.

I caught my few minutes of face time with Bobbi, and she answered the questions I lobbed over to her.
As to what she wants the makeup to achieve for this [or any show she does] “is for women to look and say, ‘I want to look like THAT’, wearing those clothes and THAT makeup.”
We discussed how she’s able to address her ever-exapanding global customer base. When she creates a palette, she thinks about how it has to work for women in England, Japan, and the USA. In short, she wants them ALL to love it.
Bobbi’s Best-selling product after all these years is the original BROWN which started it all.
How many sku#’s does she have? “Hmm, I don’t know, but I’m really excited about this one”[pointing at the sleek silver croco “TIBI” palette of silvery shadows.” I left not knowing how many lipsticks are on the line, but I know I’m getting in line for one of the Tibi palettes when they’re out this spring.

Weight-in on this post! It is:

amusing

informative

snarky

Makes me want to buy it