Backstage with Revlon for Lucian Matis Monochromatic Collection

On the last day of Toronto Fashion Week, there was one more fashion show happened outside of the tents.  It was the Lucian Matis's Monochromatic Collection.  I had the opportunity to go backstage and chat with the Revlon Nail Expert Leeanne Colley and Gucci Westman Lead Assistant Mimi Imanishi.  First let's talk about the nail looks:



The above nail tips were hand painted by Leeanne Colley and her team for the show. Going with the Monochromatic theme, Leeanne came up with the charcoal black and vanilla nail designs for the show.  In the Monochromatic Collection, Lucian played with textures like leather as oppose to prints like his other collections.  Therefore, Leeanne wanted to create texture on the nails to compliment the collection.  Leeanne said  “I created a combination of sharp geometrical lines to complement Lucian’s monochromatic look. The whites in the collection are winter whites, soft and creamy not stark. I’ve combined them with a rich charcoal gray and strong black accents.”

I'm digging the porcelain shade

The leather-like finish is actually sponged on by using 1 layer of Revlon Nail Enamel in Iconic (a charcoal grey), 1 layer of Timeless (light grey), and finally another layer of Iconic and sponge it to give the texture.  After the center part, they used acentone to clean up the sides.  To create that creamy vanilla ice cream colour, Leeanne used a layer of Revlon ColorStay Longwear Nail Enamel in Porcelain (vanilla cream), a layer of Revlon Top Speed Fast Dry Nail Enamel in Spirit (white), and then another layber of Porcelain to finish it up.  Here's the end results

Model is photoready even pre-makeup... life's not fair... =P

To compliment the boxiness in the clothing of the Monochromatic Collection, Leeanne also created some outlined mani.  She used the fine tip of Revlon Nail Art Expressionist in Night & Degas (the black one) to outline the nails.  She said everything is hand-drawn, talk about skills.



Leeanne was so down to earth and enthusiastic, I got to chat with her more about nails.  I asked her to give us some tips on at home manicure.  She said the key is how you hold the brush.  When you take the brush out from the bottle, you could brush one side of the brush along the side of the bottle, so that only one side has nail polish on it.  Then you would place your brush on the center of your nail and push it towards the cuticle, then brush it back to the tip of the nails.  This way, you can avoid having too much nail polishes on the cuticles and avoid smudges.  I also asked if she has some tip for nail art because I struggle with my right hand all the time.  She said start with the hand that you have the most trouble with.  It made so much sense, because if you were to start on your easy hand, by the time you're done, you will be tired and frustrated, and don't want to do the second hand.  But if you start with the trouble hand, then when you're done, you know your easy hand is gonna be easy, and you will be able to go through with it :D.


Next, I headed over to the makeup section, where Revlon's Global Artistic Director Gucci Westman's lead assistant, Mimi Imanishi showcase the look Gucci had created for Lucian's collection.  Let's take a look at Mimi's makeup station:

Can you spy some new/not-released-yet products?  (Baby stick is so cute XD)

Gucci's inspiration of the look was “Lucian’s gorgeous, monochromatic colour palette while incorporating Safari Khaki tones to the eye.  This look is also very much inspired by the 60s, specifically, the German model, Veruschka.”, said Gucci Westman.

Colour map for the look

The look for all the makeup artists to recreate at the show

Mimi started the look with prepping the model's face and curling her lashes and applied a little bit of Revlon Nearly Naked Makeup, but only on the eyes to use as a base because she wants to be able to clean up any fallouts from the eyeshadows.



To start off with the eyes, she first used the Revlon Colorstay Crème Gel Liner to line the eyes.  She also use the same liner to create a cut crease.  She then used the Revlon Colorstay 16 Hour Eye Shadow in Shadow in Pop Art for the rest of the eye.  For the outer part of the eyelid, Mimi placed the iridescent green colour.  Next, she used the white skintone colour in the inner half of the lid, she applied it lightly so that the skin colour is still showing though.  Afterwards, she blended the dark charcoal colour on the cut crease so that it's not just black and the look flows together better.  To finish off with the eyeshadow, she applied the golden colour in the innner corner to brighten up the look.  In this look, a secret mascara was also used.  It's so secretive that it's being covered by a piece of black foam >0<.



For the face, the same Nearly Naked Makeup is used for the face.  To be fair, the model has EXTREMELY beautiful skin, that it's haunting (in a good way)!  But the Nearly Naked Makeup managed to let the skin show through that her face is, well, nearly naked!  Mimi used Revlon Baby Sticks for Lips & Cheeks in Tahitian from the Spring/Summer ’13 Collection by Gucci Westman with a brush on the cheek. It's a short stubby stick, which is very cute.  I'm very interested to see how it works in person.  Then she used the Revlon Illuminance Crème Shadow in Not Just Nudes to contour and highlight the face.  It has 4 shades that seems perfect for this purpose.  To set everything, she used the Revlon Nearly Naked Pressed Powder.  And for the lips, Mimi used Revlon ColorStay Lipliner in Nude, a retractable lip pencil, to line the lips, and she then lighty dabbed Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede Lipstick in Supermodel (how fitting) on the lips.  She also used the lightest colour in Pop Art to highlight the cupid's bow on the model.  Finally, the Revlon Brow Fantasy is used on the model's brow to frame the face.



And Voila!  (Not the same model shown here...)



I also had a chance to chat with Mimi when things are not so crazy.  Mimi is of Japanese heritage, so I took the chance and spoke with her in Japanese, because really, I rarely got the chance to use it other than watching anime or drama lol.  She told me that she has been working with Gucci for over 10 years.  After Gucci collaborated with Lucian and created this look, she flew all the way from New York for tonight's gig.  Every model was checked and perfected by Mimi.  Along the way, she also make sure that her team understand the what goes into the look and the techniques to do it.  Her attention detail is superb and she made sure everything looks great before she send the models away.  We also talked about her trip to Hong Kong, which she loved it.  I also asked her what she thought was the most difficult part of this look.  She said it's the cut crease because everyone's eye shape is different and some do not have a pronounce crease, and the solution to this problem is to draw on the crease.



I had to leave early that day so I couldn't stay for the show, but I heard it was a great one.  One thing I do know though, is that the looks, nails and makeup, are absolutely gorgeous!  I would love to try out the nail looks using those colours... but Porcelain is not available till May =(... it's such a pretty Vanilla ice cream colour!  Oh well, I'll wait.  Haha.

Are you guys digging the makeup and nail looks?  Let me know in the comments =)

Until next time.



x Rica