Photos/Interview: The Blonds Spring Summer 2012 Backstage Beauty New York Fashion Week

Designer: The Blonds

Make Up: Kabuki for M.A.C.

Hair: Bumble & Bumble

Nails: Kristina Estabrooks for CND

The Look: Playboy

“The inspiration is the Playboy model at the Blonds,” says lead M.A.C. makeup artist Kabuki of the highly theatrical show. “It’s sex kitten, futuristic, Raquel Welch and Ursula Andress in one: it’s sexy and sharp.”

Kabuki used a false eyebrow on the models, a winged eye and a “lightning bolt” eyeliner look. “It’s not exactly a lightning bolt but it’s a little flick on the bottom,” he says. “We’re contouring the face in nude, and the lip a mango kind of gloss. We’re using the same color on the cheeks so that the models the edginess — like Priscilla Presley. The Playboy look is always a little bit dangerous.”

Kabuki used the Fluidline Liner in Black, #36 false eye lashes, Immortal Flower Blush, and Matchmaster Foundation among others. The mango shade of lip color is called Woo Me Kissable Lip Color, and he also used a lipstick in Flamingo.

“We found the perfect mango gloss,” says Kabuki, “a fruity kind of color.” He also sculpted the eyebrow with a sculpting kit.

The nails — which are one of the brightest stars of the show –glittered and dazzled with Kristina Estabrooks “crushed glass” and “24k gold” vision for for CND.

“The nails took 100 hours to make,” says Estabrooks, and were inspired by the 1960’s Playboy glamor. Some nails were decorated with crushed glass, and the gold nails were practically draped in genuine 24k gold leaf. “It was a true labor of love,” she says, speaking highly of the artists who painstakingly painted or bejeweled each nail with the attention to detail a Michaelangelo would have.

There were 20 sets of nail tips in all, including a “Stocking Series” with fishnets, lacy tights and sexy seams. The crushed glass nails used vintage cosmic-shaped glass imported from Germany: the result was high-wattage fingertip electricity that would have made Goldfinger proud.

The Blonds Spring Summer 2012 Backstage Beauty New York Fashion Week

The Blonds Spring Summer 2012 Backstage Beauty New York Fashion Week

The Blonds Spring Summer 2012 Backstage Beauty New York Fashion Week

The Blonds Spring Summer 2012 Backstage Beauty New York Fashion Week

The Blonds Spring Summer 2012 Backstage Beauty New York Fashion Week

The Blonds Spring Summer 2012 Backstage Beauty New York Fashion Week

Charu Suri

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