A fellow beauty blogger, Lianne from TheMakeupGirl, Samara and myself. We were at an Italian restaurant (IL Menestrello) that as Lianne put it, “Was real gangsta!” I had a great time at dinner with these ladies and we certainly laughed a lot.

I was invited to an event at Estee Lauder with Total Beauty and The Beauty Blog Network. We were given a tour of Mrs. Lauder’s office, intact the way she had it while she was still alive. The room was gorgeous, although I remarked on the fact that her bathroom was all mirrors, which kind of freaked me out. Loved the view from her office out to the skyline of New York City. This is the event where I also got a picture with Bobbi Brown.

These are Mrs. Lauder’s antique compacts–aren’t they beautiful?

These were some of the items designed for Runway to Change, which I wrote about on my work blog. And we all know how much I adore Isaac Mizrahi–so when I was paying the cab driver when we pulled up to the event, Isaac was leaving the VIP portion of the party with Russell Simmons in front of him. I tried to make the cab driver move a little faster getting me my change so that I could talk to him, but Isaac was quick and got in his car and left. I was so disappointed, but at least I can say I saw him in person and he has such a bright smile as you see in all of his pictures.

This is Pamela Pekerman, who attended Runway to Change with me (and was also at The Budget Fashionista party where I met Carson Kressley). In full disclosure she is a Pierce Mattie PR client, but nevertheless, she is exceptionally nice and we had a really great chat that night.

Here’s just a small video of what it looked like inside Runway to Change:

This is me in my hotel room a few hours before I had to speak at the HBA Expo (and later that night met Jane Iredale.) Leandro Bare from Lancome came to my hotel room to do my makeup (because he is amazing like that!) He had fallen asleep on the bus ride over and left his whole makeup kit on the bus. So he used what I had. Just goes to show you what an incredible talent he is!

Then this is just me in the last few hours I was in the city hanging out at Pierce Mattie’s Media Oasis.

Of course, look through the archives here and at A Girl’s Gotta Spa! and you’ll find more photos from backstage. I look forward to going back again next year!

*Photo Credit: All photos (c) Shannon Nelson

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Charlotte’s look for Behnaz’s show was romantic, paintly and garden nymph-inspired. She used no foundation on the face, only lip conditioner on the lips (for a sweet, healthy look), and broken silver (Cyber Metal X) and brown on the eyes.

The makeup complimented Ashley’s ethereal look for hair. The overall look reminded me of fairytales and fairy-like beings playfully flying among the flowers in the forest. The look was beautiful and one that I thought was completely viable as a true look for spring.

Above are some great images from backstage–and yes that many people work on a model at once! It is chaos my friends!

Many thanks to photographer Peter Lueders who I met backstage and graciously emailed me his work to use! Please check out his website www.peterlueders.com

For my post on the hair for backstage and more pictures of Ashley Javier (also pictured above) please check out A Girl’s Gotta Spa!

*Photo Credit: Charlotte Tilbury is (c) Shannon Nelson; Backstage pictures (c) Peter Lueders

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Bobbi Brown’s looks on the runway this fashion week seem to follow a similar pattern–a soft smoky eye in Spring-like colors. The only difference among them has really been the skin. She has sometimes opted for dewy or glowing and in the Brian Reyes runway show, she chose matte (my favorite).

I am completely loving the lip colors she has chosen at all of her shows. The best part is that the colors are wearable for me, which means I have some shopping to do!

Bobbi’s inspiration for this Spring 2009 makeup look:

“Brian Reyes’ Spring 2009 collection was inspired by the Ethiopian desert, so I created a complementary makeup look with matte textures and neutral, earthy tones. To give the skin an even, matte look I used concealer and stick foundation. On the eyes I played with texture, layering powder and cream shadows. To give the lips a nude, flat look I applied only foundation. A strong, rich brow – filled in with matte powder eye shadow and tousled with brow gel – completed the look.”

What have you thought about Bobbi Brown’s looks for Spring?

*Photo Credit: Bobbi Brown

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The focus for this show was on the brows, however not your typical bold brow like last season, but one uniquely different. They were a defined penciled brow with pops of color. Wavy Blue and Magenta were used to shade the brows drawing attention above the eyes. Each brow was draw with a thin black line. Skin was glowing and natural, as was the lip.

The look was meant to look youthful and fun, as if all belonging to the same tribe. There was also a nod to Alice Cooper on a few models drawing his trademark black markings above and below the eye.

I asked Val where she was when she was inspired to bring color to the eyebrows for this look. She told me it was actually when she was with the designer and saw some of the staining on the clothes.

What do you think? Will blue and pink shaded brows catch on this Spring?

Photo Credit: (c) Shannon Nelson

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Be on the lookout for this makeup trend come Spring 2009–cat eyes with color! See the above chart to find out how the makeup artists from tarte cosmetics got Tina Turnbow’s inspired look.

The palette used for this look comes out February 2009, so be on the look out!

* Photo Credit (c) Shannon Nelson

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Amazingly, smoky eyes are in for Spring, but I must say, I absolutely love this lip color that Bobbi Brown did for Tory Burch’s show this past Tuesday at New York Fashion Week.

“Tory Burch and I have worked together many times during Fashion Week, and I always enjoy designing the makeup for her show. This season, she created a look that was inspired by architecture: It was modern, structural, and chic. To reflect this in the makeup, I created a fresh, nude face with a textured, multi-dimensional smoky eye. For a beautiful base, I applied concealer underneath the eyes followed by foundation to even out the skin tone. A dusting of Illuminating Bronzer made the cheeks pop, and the lips were kept natural with a pale mauve lip color. I enhanced the models’ eyes by layering textures—the mixture of metallic, matte, and cream shadows created dimension.” — Bobbi Brown

Here’s a picture of me and Bobbi Brown at an Estee Lauder event on Monday night!

*Photo Credit: (c) Shannon Nelson

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Yigal Azrouel: The look was “dirty, grimey New York.” Senior Pro MAC Makeup Artist Polly Osmond was inspired by New York’s West Side Highway for Yigal’s show. THe eyes definitely had that “sooty” look to them, but in the end, it was a fabulous sexy look.

Jason Wu: A “fresh starry-eyed” look was the accomplishment of Romy Soleimani for Jason Wu’s show. I absolutely loved it! Not to mention the incredible mascara they used that I couldn’t tell you about then…but in a few more weeks I can. ;) Word on the street is…haha word on the street! What I mean is, a MAC birdie relayed the news to me that the mascara will be in a collection coming out this holiday season. And when I say the model’s lashes looked amazing–I mean AMAZING!

I also covered Nicole Miller, but unfortunately relied on my voice recorder for it and lost that. Oy! However, please see the picture above, as that is a model from Nicole Miller wearing her fall cosmetics look.

Shows I look forward to covering while I am at SS09 Fashion Week are Diesel Black Gold, Behnaz Sarafpour and Doucette Duval. I can’t wait to relay to you what we can expect for Spring’s makeup trends!

* Photo Credit (c) Shannon Nelson

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Romy Soleimani

The eyes were a soft grey for a soft smokey eye and reflected the cool of the grey and the warm of gold. She used MAC’s Reflects Antique Gold on the inner crease. The face was neutral with a natural lip.

I also had the chance to watch MAC’s Dallas Senior Makeup Artist Gina Bettelli complete the look. She used this amazing mascara that was in “product testing” for possible launch this Fall. I can’t tell you the name, but I can tell you that the wand has a spring in it. The model’s lashes looked amazing. I surely hope the mascara passes as a favorite so I can add it to my long list of mascara’s in my makeup bag.

Gina also used MAC’s #217 Pro brush, which is very fluffy, for applying a translucent layer to the face. Pro brush #242 was used to apply Reflects to the inner crease. Gina gave a great tip, stating that you should always do your eyes first and your face last when applying makeup. Gina used Sculpt for contouring, which she told me would give a “natural dimension.” Concealer was MAC Studio Finish and most amazingly she applied this bright lip color on the model then layered MAC’s blush cream in “lilicent” atop it. It gave the lips a perfect flush color that was subtle and subdued.

*Photo’s Copyright Shannon Nelson of Makeup Minute. Do not reuse without written permission.

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Polly told me that the inspiration for this look was “dirty, grimey New York.” She used greys and charcoals in multiple layers with black liquid liner. Under the eye she used gloss to give it that greasy feeling and for the makeup to run into the creases to contribute to that “murky” feeling. The model’s faces were bare and made matte. On the lips she used MAC’s 3N.

When I asked her where in New York she was inspired for this look she told me, “The West Side Highway.”

Photo Copyright Shannon Nelson of Makeup Minute. Do not reuse without written permission.

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Sculpt & Shape contours the face and helps define the aspects you want to stand out. While the Glitter is multi-purpose, it can bring life to the eyes without overdoing it.

A really fabulous tip that MAC makeup artist Gina Bettelli shared with me when it comes to applying the Glitter, was to spray at cotton pad with MAC’s Charged Water and gently hold the cotton pad under the eye (wet side facing out). That way as you apply the glitter, not only does the cotton pad catch what dusts off the eye to prevent it from skattering all over your face, but having the pad slightly wet will hold the glitter in place as you move the pad away from your eye.

Sculpt & Shape and the Glitter in Reflects sure looked amazing on the models. Have you used them?

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