Richard Chai Spring 2009 Runway Show Magnificent Minimalistic Joy!

Designer Richard Chai's signature minimalism was carried through to the makeup and hair for his Spring 2009 runway show. Backstage, James Kaliardos, lead makeup artist for M.A.C. Cosmetics and the M.A.C. Pro Team explained the makeup concept in four words: "An experiment in minimalism."

The "no-makeup" look (or "natural" makeup look if you will) shows a clean, fresh face where emphasis is on one feature, be it the brows, the lips, or the eyes. For Chai's show, James focused on the brows. He used a clear brow gel and combed brows up "More than Brooke Shields" he said. Then he added highlight to the inner corners of the eyes with a cream texture pearl shadow.

photo courtesy Merdedes Benz

The look is simple but "very honest" said James, who picked this minimalist look to go with Chai's preference for minimalism. "It's a great teen look" James said.

The fresh-faced look seems face looks as if nothing much was done to accentuate the model's beauty, but in reality, it takes time, makeup and lots of tools to make the look, work. For Chai's look, James used three different shades of MAC Sculpt and Shape Foundation --applying lighter tones down the center of the face to highlight, and darker shades on temples and cheekbones to subtly contour, (natural shades go everywhere else). Then he powdered the T-zone." Lips were conditioned with lip balm.

The hair, created by Kevin Ryan from RSessions, focused on a simple twist that hung loose and textured from the the knot at the top, with swingy, shiny hair. The youthful, pretty look is one you can easily do at home. Start with perfectly clean, straight, shiny hair (use a hot iron if necessary). Then pull up the sides in a half-up, half down style by twisting the top and pinning it. Twist (or braid) the tail with a styling product. Let dry the tail dry, and then loosen it up. FYI: Kevin is teaming up with Rickys (the great cosmetics and beauty store chain) to produce a holiday up-do kit which I hope will be available in time for the Advice Sisters to review it in our upcoming What Works Beauty review column.

photo courtesy of Mercedes Benz photo courtesy of Mercedes Benz

Richard Chai's Spring 2009 collection,was a Spring collection full of "joy" and casual, feminine looks that in summary, resonated with his fans, and was a great success for Chai. I love this graceful, natural-colored jacket-it would be perfect over everything from pants to a party dress. And I loved this feminine, flowing day dress that mixed sheer with a cover-up of a long vest (vests will be a "must-have" accessory for Spring '09).

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