Chris Benz Fall 2010

Now that fashion month is over, I can stop trying to catch up on all of the shows and really fcus on several of the beauty looks at some of my favorite shows of the season. Chris Benz's Fall 2010 collection was full of patterns and textures and was greatly influenced by the utility of clothes made for the Great Outdoors as worn by the renegade, Outward Bound Debutante.

As I walked around backstage, I noticed that before each model went to sit with a makeup artist, they sat down with a facialist from Clarisonic who gave each of the girls a mini facial pre catwalk. I asked if this was counterproductive because why would one get a facial only to pile makeup on top, right? Well, turns out that this was more to calm the model's already tired face and to give them that extra oomph before hair and makeup. I've heard many beauty bloggers rave about the wonders of Clarisonic, so jealousy was breeding inside me for a bit ;)

The lead makeup artist was Daniel Martin for Lancôme. Martin actually helped Benz create the wildly popular Chris & Tell lipstick used in the Spring 2010 show and recently went on sale in February (and sold out quicker than hotcakes! The theme was Gothic Chic and sort of a slight ode to the 90s with chocolate and brown makeup making a comeback.

Martin used Lancôme's new Ombre Magnétique, a mousse-like cream shadow, in black and layered with Color Design Eye Shadow in Guest List, an opaque espresso shade. On the lashes he used several coats of Hypnôse Drama Mascara in Excessive Black and lined the waterline with Le Stylo Waterproof EyeLiner in Noir.

The lips were just as prominent. He used Le Crayon Poudre brow pencil in Sable as lip liner (clever!) to get a specific gradated gothy lip look and topped it off with Lancôme's latest lip creation- Color Design matte lipstick in Bronze Show. He finished it with Juicy Tubes in Hallucination just on the center of the bottom lip for dimension.

On the face he used Photôgenic Lumessence foundation and Shu Uemura’s Sheer loose powder over it for that high-def finish. It's important to get that hi def finish because when on the runway, models are facing bright lights and flash photography and can easily look washed out. On the cheeks he used two of Lancôme's Blush Subtil shades- Cappucine for definition and Mauve Coquette for a pop of color.

The nails were done by editorial manicurist Ana Maria who used Lancôme’s new polish in Sweet Nude. Sweet Nude is new for fall and comes as part of a mini trio.

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