Well, instead of being all doom and gloom here, I thought it might be fun to play off the “scary” theme and relive some of those not-so-savory moments in the world of makeup. Wanna play? It’s Friday, of course you do!

Okay, here’s what I want to know: What makeup disaster have you made that makes you quake in your stilettos to this day? Was it a bad color or a freaky formula? Let us know in the comments below. This will be fun.

I’ll start and I’ll keep it to two words: Coral lipstick!

Your turn…

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Trend 1: Focus On The Lips

It’s all about a beautiful bold lip! Whether it’s warm or cool, a bold, opaque, red lip has a very sexy yet romantic feel. The eyes are as glamorous or neutral as your wardrobe dictates. During the day, eyes are kept simple; at night, opt for a darker look. Either way, eye makeup should be blended beautifully and brows should be perfectly groomed for an elegant look. Finish the eyes with long, beautiful lashes. Pair this look with clean, glowy makeup, achieved with foundation, concealer and powder. For cheeks, use a complementary color to the red of the lip that works with your skin tone. Apply on the apples of the check for a pop of color.

Trend 2: Eyes…Use Color!

Whether it’s a wash of color or a bold, dark statement, using color on the eyes looks gorgeous. Try a beautiful violet, blue or dark purple, or coordinate your eye color with your clothing. Try using color on the upper lids only, or on the upper lids and under the lower lash line. You can even add a hint of color on the inner corners and under the eye…just make sure the edges are blended out beautifully. Think of watercolors and softness…that’s what makes this color work! Use a complementary lip and cheek color for softer eye makeup shades and a transparent lip and cheek look when using bolder eye colors.

Trend 3: It’s All About The Metallics!

I love a dark, dramatic, metallic eye in black, dark brown, navy or burgundy. It’s very sexy and a great look for an evening party or event. Start with a dark liner that matches your shadow at the base of the lash. Apply a dark metallic shadow on the lid, up to the crease. Lightly run a little metallic shadow under the lower lashes. Use a lighter metallic shadow on the brow bone and on the inner corners of the eye. For a really shimmery effect, you can add an extra highlighter over the entire eyelid. Finish the eyes with dramatic, sweeping lashes. Pair this look with matte, satin skin and keep lips and cheeks very neutral.

Photo Credit: Newscom

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Here are the products Sephora is recommending to wow party guests this Holiday season and have everyone talking about just how hot you look:

Kevyn Aucoin The Sensual Skin Enhancer
Benefit Powderflage
Make Up For Ever Eyelashes (#25021)
Stila Eye Shadow Pan Black Cat
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Eldorado
Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte in Red Taboo

Do you love it or hate it?

*Photo Credit: Sephora

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The gorgeous eye shadow is a neutral tone in Catwalk (pictured)–a creamy taupe and the powder shadow a rich chocolate color. Each shadow exhibits a shimmer on your eyes and looks beautiful. I found that using my Elizabeth Arden Advanced Eye-Fix Primer helps prevent this duo from creasing. In fact, I tried it without the primer and it did crease slightly, so I definitely recommend wearing a primer underneath. I also found that the powder shadow makes for a great eye brow filler as well.

The Metallic Eye Liner in Hot Bronze is lovely. It’s not overdone and looks just as good for a daytime look as it does for night.

The Blush Highlighter Duo has a sheer blush while its counterpart has a subtle shimmer. The one I have is called Runway and contains the most perfect pale pinks.

The Lip Gloss Duo is a double ended lip gloss where one is a cream and one offers shimmering shine. You can pair them up to add some pow to your pout or wear each alone. Show is a beautiful creamy fleshtone with a slightly beige/clear gloss.

All products are available for a limited time and can be found at both Victoria’s Secrets stores and www.VictoriasSecret.com.

*Photo Credit: Victoria’s Secret

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The official quote from the folks at YSL:

“Mysterious, sensual, luminous… A cosmetic jewel that turns lips into a spectacular fashion statement.From plum to ebony, it dresses lips in an infinite range of shades, depending on how it is applied – feather light or rich and bold. Transparent yet intense, it plays on the depths of black and the pure shine of a sparkle-free formula.

For fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, black is THE color. And as a make-up artist, lips are THE focus.”

What do you think? Love it or hate it?

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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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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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Not only is the skin matte with this look, but it spans eyes, cheeks and lips as well.

Products used for this model include:

Colour Surge Eye Shadow Stay Matte in Stone Violet and Slate
High Impact Mascara in Black
Blushwear Cream Stick in Shy Blush
Defining Lip Liner in Sugared Fig
High Impact Lip Colour SPF 15 in Plum Nude

This makeup look is one that would fit into the fall fashion trend of American Classic. In fact, this look will definitely fall in line with the Belted Dress in Spanish Brown that I bought from Isaac Mizrahi at Target the other day. Classic beauty always wins in my book.

*Photo Credit: Clinique

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