Backstage Beauty: Catherine Malandrino Fall 2012

Backstage at Catherine Malandrino’s Fall 2012 showing, models display beauty elements s-purrr-ed by cats. “The hairstyle is inspired by the 1982 movie Cat People,” says Moroccanoil artistic director Antonio Corral Calero, the man behind the hair design. “The movie poster shows this woman whose hair is drenched in water. It’s very dark and sensual.”

To start, Antonio preps damp strands with Moroccanoil Treatment or Treatment Light (depending on the models’ hair textures and colors) as well as Hydrating Styling Cream. “Hair needs to be conditioned and healthy for this look to work, and these products help,” he says. After blow-drying, he neads Moroccanoil Volumizing Mousse (available late Fall 2012) into the crown and sides, fully saturating the hair. “I want a lacquered, wet look that’s shiny, yet still feels and looks natural,” Antonio says.

He pulls the hair taut and tight to the sides of the head, allowing the girls’ facial features to draw forward, much like a feline. “It’s the separation at the top of this hairstyle that makes it more graphic,” he notes of the demarcated sections at the crown that he’s first setting using hair clips, and then blow-drying to seal in the pattern. Once he releases the clips, he begins crisscrossing the raised bits, lending “more height and volume.” The rest of the hair tumbles into a smooth sheet, pressed perfectly with a flat iron and glossed with a few mists of Moroccanoil Glimmer Shine Spray. “I really wanted to do something women would wear,” Antonio says.

When the claws come out for the manicure, they’re perfectly groomed in a gorgeous custom-blend “cherry plum” that CND lead tech Angi Wingle says creates “a mood that’s perfect for daywear, active wear and evening wear.” She tops the rich hue with two coats of CND Air Dry for a high-gloss finish. “This gives it more depth. It’s like a dark lip with a high-shine lip gloss over it,” she says. When asked about replicating the color in the salon, Angi offers up this nugget: “Do one thin coat of CND Colour Plumville and one thin coat of Dark Ruby. You’ll want to use a flat-brush technique: Lay the brush flat to the nail and gently glide over." —Karie L. Frost

(Main image: Helen Oppenheim; nail image: courtesy of CND; all others: Liudi Hara for Moroccanoil)

Other Backstage Beauty Articles: Antonio Marras  |  Paul Smith   |  Alexander McQueen  |  ValentinoPrabal Gurung  | Issey Miyake  | Roberto Cavalli   |  Alice + OliviaJill Stuart Marc Jacobs   |   Lauren Moffatt  |   Rag + Bone  |   Peter Som Fall |  Katie Gallagher   |  Rachel Roy  |  Christian Siriano  |   Derek Lam and Diane Von Furstenberg   |  Richard Chai   |  Houghton   |  Tadashi Shoji

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