SHINE, SHIMMER & SPARKLE

Hi!

On Sunday, a couple of us were lucky to be invited to L'OREAL ACADEMIE to witness a gamut of SHU UEMURA Makeup Artists in action, prepping all the models for the SHAPE & SHADOWS Fashion show later that evening.

Here are some shots of the makeup and hair team (from Redken), weaving their magical wands ...

MAKEUP ARTISTRY BY SHU UEMURA

Unlike some other fashion shows where the models all sport almost the same type of look, say strong brows, pale skins and deep lips (like the MISSONI show I featured earlier), each model for the Shapes & Shadows show sported a different makeup and hair look - imagination, artistry, concentration and fast-hands were definitely the order of the day!

Look at how vibrantly the colours translated on the skin! Here are the palettes the SHU UEMURA Makeup Artists were wielding - how nice if I had these!!!

You might have also noticed - the SHU UEMURA Makeup Artists were also all fully decked out in makeup and dramatic lashes - they would be appearing on the fashion runway with the models too!

A lot of them were wearing the more dramatic, feathery types and I was a little amazed at how fast they were working in the small spaces and yet were able to fully concentrate with the huge lashes (I'd probably be super distracted) - for all that, I accidentally bumped one makeup artist (the male makeup artist in the shot below) and ran away after apologising profusely! Yikers!

The "inspiration" shots posted on the mirror in the room

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HAIR BY REDKEN

In the next room, an army of hair professionals were working on various hairstyles

That is Philip Barwick, Artistic Director, Redken Australia, working on the model in the striped shirt - she had her hair in long, stiff panels

And here are some of the finished hairstyles! My immediate reaction was to ask Mag and Iris: "How do you get it all back to normal?" and we discussed that the models probably had to intensely condition their hair first to break down all the styling product.

Check out the inset picture for how high a bouffant this model was sporting!

And this braid simply defies gravity :D

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A NUGGET OF HISTORY!

I spotted some lovely vintage posters in the hallway - I love vintage posters for their quaint artwork and the way their intent is projected

The first poster translates something to mean "inoffensive or safe hair dyes" - it was the original name of the company a young French chemist, Eugene Schueller establishe - Schueller developed a hair dye formula, Aureole, in 1907 and subseuqently formulated and sold hair products to Parisian hairdressers. This "Safe Hair Dye Company of France" eventually blossomed into leading cosmetics giant, L'OREAL.

All from a bottle of hair dye. Wow *cue jaw-drop*

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HOORAY FOR LASHES!

While we were lounging around, we got to see some new eyelashes from the upcoming tribal-themed collections.

I didn't manage to snap shots of the other designs but you can view them in IRIS' entry HERE

We were all also given the opportunity to play with some of the SHU UEMURA Lashes! I was thrilled because I've always always been fascinated with these but I'm still a total novice at applying false lashes and can hardly get them on straight! And me being me, I was instantly attracted to this pair of blingy diamante-studded lashes! They're called DAZZLING DIAMANTE

Mag was so sweet - she knows I have some problems applying lashes and she immediately said she'd help me with them! And for the rest of the evening, she kept checking on them and making sure they were secure.

Iris quickly snapped this shot of Mag fixing the lashes on me!

And these are how the lashes look when worn!

The SHU UEMURA Lash Glue has amazing hold - the lash bone of this pair of lashes was a little stiff because of the diamante but they held up pretty well over what, 6 hours? I took these last 2 shots after I got home that night at about 11pm. And I had to use a tweezer to peel back the lashes! I think the SHU UEMURA Lash Glue might be great for novices like me (I currently have a tube of Duo Lash Glue). Despite the slight stiffness of the lash bone, they were surprisingly comfortable - they didn't poke me or irritate my eyes!

Thanks Mag and Iris!

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Thank you so much to the folks at SHU UEMURA and REDKEN for hosting us backstage at the L'Oreal Academie despite running a tight schedule.

I'm also so excited that they let us try out these lashes! I love the Dazzling Diamante Lashes and really, I'm now stoked and want to check more out - I loved this pair of lashes with hearts and stars that Iris got to try - I shall go hunt the Tokyo Lash Bars for them!

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Thanks for stopping by ... more entries to come! Have a great week ahead!

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DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated to SHU UEMURA, REDKEN or L'OREAL.  All opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.