"Real Girl" Beauty Backstage At Lanvin

“Dreamy”: The glittering script on the lamé T-shirt model Jamie Bochert wore to open the Lanvin show was the perfect adjective for the shine-inflected, tinsel-fringed frocks and glittering, oversize accessories Alber Elbaz sent down his spring runway. Backstage, however, the conversation was grounded firmly in reality—Bochert’s off-duty style specifically. “[Alber] really loved the way Jamie looked in the collection when she came in,” Pat McGrath explained of the deliberately “natural, individualized” makeup she’d devised for the show. “We’re keeping them as they are, but it’s enhanced,” she added, swiping on a slight contour, a hint of highlighter, and a bit of blush that was purposefully muted to offset the flush that many girls had acquired naturally, thanks to the unusually warm fall temperatures that have been the talk of the Paris collections. She finished by applying mascara only at the roots of lashes, grooming the brows, and giving the eyelids a wash of taupe shadow for definition.

“It’s a very simple look—again,” hairstylist Guido Palau added of the side-parted, low-slung ponytails he was prepping with Redken Guts 10 Volume Spray Foam for a lived-in texture, alluding to one of the season’s overarching themes that calls for easy, effortless beauty, over anything too complicated or fussy. “It’s how girls would really wear these clothes,” he noted while applying a few spritzes of the brand’s Quick Tease 15 Backcombing Finishing Spray for a small dose of volume at the crown, breaking apart strands across the forehead for a “bed-head” quality. He had a point: With anything too contrived, model Janice Alida’s full-length, glimmering copper jumpsuit might have veered into costumey terrain. Worn with Palau’s pared-down updos and McGrath’s “anti-makeup makeup,” on the other hand, it captured just the kind of unstudied ease that is so utterly wantable—and yet often so hard to achieve.

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Giving Color The Green Light, Backstage At Giorgio Armani

This season, makeup artist Linda Cantello categorized the Armani woman as “delicate” and the “antithesis of the Prada lady,” which, funnily enough, was one of the few other shows to employ a bold use color on the lids for Spring 2014. The face painter’s approach, however, was less about women in revolt and more focused on creating a “passive” femininity on the runway. And while the underlying theme of the collection was Jardin Majorelle, she grappled with the choice between purple and green (not blue, which would have been too obvious a choice) to pick up on the amethyst and anemonelike tones in the clothes. In the end, a gentle wash of emerald won out. “Mr. Armani was very specific that it shouldn’t be too green—he wanted it to have a diaphanous, photo-transparent [quality],” she explained.

After priming skin with a BB cream to eliminate redness or any lingering effects of summer (i.e., a tan), she used Giorgio Armani Beauty Maestro Foundation to create the “pale perfection” requested by the designer. Complexions were then dusted with powder for a matte—but still luminous—finish. The alluring malachite shade wrapped around lids was a combination of sea foam and slightly deeper jade pigments (inspired by a Sarah Moon image from the seventies that was pinned to Cantello’s mirror). For translucency and the “essence of speed,” she mixed the eye shadow with Fluid Sheer in 2, the lightest hue in the range of radiance boosters. The formula was initially applied with a brush along the crease, outer corners, and lower lash lines, but Cantello used her finger to blend it out and down. To cancel dark shadows, a concealer was dotted on the inner corners of the eyes and a light stain was tapped onto lips to make the girls “look more healthy than dead.”

In contrast to the gentle makeup, the hair by Franco Gobbi was a bit more aggressive. There was certainly an eighties reference, illustrated by the side-swept waves (similar to the swoop seen at Emilio Pucci), and the length was pinned up off the neck to resemble an undercut. To finish, strands were misted with hair spray to lock in the fluffy texture. While I’m not entirely sold on this particular swoosh, Cantello’s gauzy shadow makes being green look absolutely gorgeous.

Chemical Peach Lips and Choppy Black Crops at Fendi

“Eighties Linda Evangelista meets the Beatles—with a Japanese thing thrown in,” said Sam McKnight backstage at Fendi this morning, explaining the inspiration behind the choppy, jet-colored wigs he was custom-cutting to suit each model’s face shape with a slim men’s razor. “Karl [Lagerfeld] sent a sketch last week. He wanted short black hair, something graphic. From there, it evolved into something boyish and a bit messy,” he said of the bowl-shaped silhouette, which featured heavy blunt-cut bangs that hit just below the forehead, nearly obscuring the eyes. Currently on his eleventh girl of the day, he was snipping away furiously at a section near the ears. “It’s a bit shorter at the sides and back, and it’s not supposed to be perfect,” he emphasized, finishing each model’s hair with Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray before adding with a devilish smile. “You know, Karl likes a look.”

Even in the light-filled upstairs space of the house’s Via Solari compound, the uniform hairpieces rendered models like Joan Smalls and Lindsey Wixson all but unrecognizable, save for their famously pillowy lips—now rendered in a punchy shade of neon coral.

“I keep calling it chemical peach,” said makeup artist Peter Philips of the bright pastel pigment he was using to carefully fill in models’ mouths. It wasn’t hard to figure out where he came up with the vibrant hue. A few feet away, the fashion houses’s spring 2014 show invitation—featuring a series of color-block motifs in an identical shade—was propped up along the makeup mirror. Philips said his choice of color also made reference to a tongue-in-cheek written brief about the collection that Lagerfeld had sent him in the days before the show, a quirky play on words inspired by the now all-encompassing reach of today’s Internet culture. “It’s quite futuristic, almost synthetic,” he explained of the similarly manufactured shade, which he achieved by using Make Up For Ever’s brightly colored pencil in #18C all over the mouth as a base, then going over it with the company’s matching lipstick in #39. “The shape is classic,” he said simply of its precise outline, “but the color is not.”

The same could be said of Lagerfeld’s lineup of streamlined silhouettes—simple chiffon shifts in fluorescent sherbert hues, tailored pencil skirts with eye-catching pops of color at the hem, and, perhaps most memorably, a discreet midi-length cocktail dress rendered in what appeared to be a bright, bold bolt of cardinal red fur.

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Tattooed sergeant, a disabled beauty and two Crystal Lees - meet Miss America finalists

The finale of the Miss America pageant returns to Atlantic City on Sunday night, with plenty of drama to augment the glamour.

Will the next Miss America be the tattooed Army sergeant, Miss Kansas, or the inspirational Miss Iowa, who was born without part of an arm? Will it be Miss Hawaii or Miss California both of whom are named Crystal Lee?

How will Miss Florida, hobbled by a knee injury she sustained in baton-twirling rehearsals on Thursday, fare in the live national telecast? Can hometown hero Miss New Jersey capture the title less than a mile from where Superstorm Sandy came ashore last October?

Sam Haskell, CEO of the Miss America Organization, is delighted it will all be playing out in Atlantic City again after a six-year stint in Las Vegas.

"This is where we belong," he told The Associated Press. "This is the home of Miss America, and this is where we're going to stay."

The show will begin with the traditional parade of states, where each contestant briefly introduces herself and her state, usually in a humorous or attention-grabbing manner. Take Miss Kentucky's intro, for example:

"From the home of fast horses and beautiful women - better not get those two things mixed up - I'm Jenna Day, Miss Kentucky!" she said during preliminary rehearsals.

Much attention has been given to Miss Kansas, Theresa Vail, a U.S. Army sergeant who is believed to be the first Miss America contestant to openly display tattoos. She has the Serenity Prayer on her rib cage and a military insignia on the back of a shoulder. While other contestants wore glamorous costumes and elaborately decorated footwear during Saturday night's "show-us-your-shoes" parade on the Boardwalk, Vail wore camouflage gear and Army boots.

In a Twitter message Sunday, Vail wrote: "Win or not tonight, I have accomplished what I set out to do. I have empowered women. I have opened eyes."

And Myrrhanda Jones, who is Miss Florida, will be wearing a knee brace after tearing a knee ligament Thursday while rehearsing her baton-twirling act. A pageant spokeswoman said Jones will compete while wearing the brace Sunday night if she is one of the 15 semifinalists.

The pageant started in Atlantic City in 1921 as a way to extend the summer tourism season for an extra weekend.

The move from Las Vegas cut short the reign of the current Miss America, Mallory Hagan, who was crowned in January and expected to have a full year as the title holder. The pageant is compensating her for the shortened term.

The pageant pits 53 contestants one from each state, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in swimsuit, evening gown, talent and interview competitions.

Fresh Faces: Models Vanessa Axente and Sam Rollinson on Their Fashion Week Beauty Survival Strategies

New York Fashion Week often acts as a barometer for the industry’s freshest faces—and this season, newcomers Vanessa Axente and Sam Rollinson are emerging as early designer favorites. Rollinson, a dark-haired British beauty who hails from Yorkshire, has graced runways from Rag & Bone and Jason Wu to Rodarte and Altuzarra, while Hungarian-born Axente has snapped up coveted spots in Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors, and Alexander Wang. We caught up with them backstage this morning. Here, they share the beauty essentials that keep them healthy and glowing through late-night fittings, whirlwind show schedules, and endless makeup applications.

From left: Vanessa Axente and Sam Rollinson

Sam Rollinson

In terms of beauty products, what’s carrying you through Fashion Week?

“Carmex lip balm. A classic, really. I seem to use a lot. Lipstick makes make my lips really dry, so I’m putting that on like there’s no tomorrow. I’ve also got a Clarins moisturizer in my bag. I think it has SPF in it, because it’s quite sunny here, isn’t it? My fragile skin—my fragile English skin might get burned! But no, I don’t burn that easily, actually, to be honest. I just read somewhere that you should always wear it, even in winter, apparently. The sun can get you anywhere. Probably not in here, though!”

Are you into makeup?

“I do like wearing lipstick, but I don’t like having to reapply it all the time. So I have this one, it’s called [Dior] Lip Glow, and you put it on and it makes your lips more pink gradually, but it doesn’t wear off, like a stain. If you keep putting it on, it makes the color pop more, but if you just leave it, it’s fine as it is. No one will look at you and think, Oh, she needs to put more lipstick on.”

What’s the best thing about having short hair? Less time with hair backstage, for one?

“Yes, which is amazing. I like that. Plus, I don’t really do my hair anyway. I just sort of dry it. If I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll put a bit of hair spray in it. That’s it. My hair’s so thick, I like the Aussie shampoo called Miracle Moist. It’s from Boots in London.”

Things you keep in your bag, or wish you did?

“I carry around Yorkshire Tea bags, because the tea here is a bit horrendous, really! I’m not going to lie. Lipton and all that—ugh, it’s horrible. So I just carry my own and I’m safe!”

Are you a green juice person?

“No, I’m a bit scared of the green juice! If I want broccoli, I’ll eat it. If I want juice, I want a tasty fruit one. I don’t want a broccoli juice. I did have one earlier though. It was the berry kind, and that was quite nice.”

Highlights of the week?

“I did Marc by Marc, which was fun. One highlight yesterday was having a nice meal. I had a steak at the Mercer Kitchen and it was so good. I was so satisfied. Whenever I go for a meal, I get a steak. It always seems to be the best thing on the menu.”

Vanessa Axente

Is there anything you do for yourself before—or during—the collections to make sure the constant wear-and-tear doesn’t get to you?

“I take a lot of vitamins—vitamin C, E, fish oils—I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, sometimes meats, whatever my body needs. When I come to New York, I love to go to Whole Foods.”

Even after six days of shows, your skin still looks pretty flawless. Do you have a regimen you like to stick to, even when traveling?

“I’m always using La Roche-Posay face spray and cream, and Chanel cleansing water. I don’t wear much sunscreen, though, because I usually wear a hat. I don’t like to put too much on my face.”

What about color? When you’re not having your makeup done backstage, what do you stock your bag with?

“I really only use mascara. I’m always looking for a good one. I was using a Saint Laurent one a few years ago, and now I’m using one by Chanel.”

You have amazing brows. Who typically does them? Do you have any favorite, local beauty haunts in Hungary?

“I live in a very small village, so for spas you need to go to Budapest. I don’t do my brows, but sometimes I have to let other people [on set and backstage] do them. This summer, I was in Slovenia and Italy with my family, and I had more than one month off, so I let them grow in!”

Any favorite things to do in New York when you’re not running between shows?

“I love to get Japanese food. We don’t have good sushi in Hungary!”

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Gwyneth Paltrow and Stella McCartney to collaborate on a clothing line

Some BFFs are just meant to be. See Gwyneth Paltrow and Stella McCartney – the alpha beauty and the Olympic-worthy designer. Even their names – Gwenyth and Stella – trip off the tongue together, like some sort of post-Abba Scandinavian pop group ready to take over the pop charts.

Instead, it was announced today, following rumours last week, that the pair would be collaborating on a line of clothes for Paltrow's lifestyle website, Goop. Speaking to fashion website WWD, Paltrow said "we complement each other".

Launching next Friday, the result of their alliance will be perfect basics, as you might expect. "This is a big reflection of her [Paltrow's] life," says McCartney, of the range. "These designs are not going to blow anyone away. They are staple pieces." While pictures are yet to be released, items apparently include a black blazer, black jeans, a black jumpsuit and the Beckett bag in black, grey and white. Only available in the US arm of the site, prices start at around $795 (£510), so they don't come cheap, but they are about equivalent of the prices of McCartney's main line.

The precise monochrome colour palate suits brand Paltrow and will no doubt sell well with Goop-ers out to emulate their guru's life, recipes and style. The site is a place where Paltrow says she "shares life's positives", and those have included clothes for a while. She has introduced other collaborations with very Paltrow brands, ranging from cashmere from Chinti & Parker to swimwear by Melissa Odabash.

None of them has been as flawless as this, though. Paltrow has been a loyal red carpet supporter of McCartney, so the rise of the two of them is already linked and associated with a glossy, if slightly control freaky, lifestyle of quinoa on tap, a beautiful brood and having great pins over 40. Gwyneth and Stella joining forces in an official manner is like the stars aligning. You're left wondering what took them so long.

Your 4-Step Labor Day Guide to Staying Hydrated While Partying

Okay, okay: Drinking is really bad for your skin. Not only does it dehydrate you in the short run, but it can lead to puffiness, sagging, broken capillaries, and red-veined eyes in the long run. Don't believe me? Just check out this terrifying app. Despite the fact that drinking is pretty much all-around awful, we're going to do it anyway. There are too many Labor Day BBQs, late-night dance parties, and epic birthdays (21! 25! 29! 30!!!) to keep us on the bandwagon — at least for now.

So if you're going to drink like a fool, you might as well do it like an educated fool. Here's how I've learned to stay hydrated — and keep my skin from morphing into lizard-like scales — while drinking champagne from the bottle and demanding that the DJ play Jesse McCartney "ironically."

1. Stock up before you head out.

Look at you, doing your eyeliner in front of the mirror and bopping around to Jimi Hendrix! While the night may seem young and endless now, we both know that in about six hours, you'll be stumbling back here in the dark and trying to make the quickest nosedive of all time into bed. Now is the time to artfully position things like electrolytes and carbs around your room, where your sloshed self will inevitably run into them.

Buy yourself a huge bottle of coconut water, your favorite cereal, a jug of milk, and a really easy makeup remover. (Electrolytes, liquids, carbs, and a little bit of fat are your insides' best friends right now.) Put a large glass of water right by your bedside table and a makeup-removing wipe right beside it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of morning-after crusty eye makeup and the possibility of eye infections.

2. Hydrate at home.

You really should be drinking a glass of water in between every cocktail. But after one cocktail leads to two or three, you are going to forget that. So start yourself off on the right foot by chugging water during the day and chugging even more right before you go out. Try not to begin the night as shriveled as a raisin.

3. Double-fist.

Every time you order a new drink, as for a glass of water. Alternate between sips of each. Again, you might forget to do this. But when you're partying, every drop of water counts.

4. Drink water before bed by any means necessary.

I don't care what you have to do — get that H2O down your throat, lady! Write a huge note and leave it on your pillow. Set a million reminders to drink water on your phone. Leave water bottles positioned around your apartment. The biggest factor in your potentially skin-tightening, eye-reddening hangover is how much water you chugged the night before. (Well that, and whether or not you succumbed to the lure of bad karaoke.)

Happy Labor Day! Drink safe.

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