Runway Report: Speed in Motion at Opening Ceremony

Taking place at Pier 90, an old docking site in New York City, the Opening Ceremony show location reflects the collection’s theme to a T. This season, that theme is transport, speed and motion. Bumble and Bumble Hair Lead Jimmy Paul translates this notion of “motion and speed” with a nod to the movie Blade Runner by creating a “messy finger wave.”  “It’s very fast; it’s the idea of motion and a woman being able to do her own hair very quickly,” Paul says. He works in Bumble and Bumble Prep throughout lengths, and then draws a deep side part. Using a comb and Bb. Gel, he makes the messy finger wave over one eye from the part to the ear. He then glops on more gel, which he slicks behind the ear. He combs hair down at the back with a mix of Prep and Bumble and Bumble Thickening Hairspray, which he adds in for hold as the style air-dries.

“The designers wanted the girls to look like they were in movement, or this idea of motion and transformation—of propelling forward,” explains Maybelline Makeup Lead Yadim. He doesn’t want to create anything “too cosmetic” for this show, so he went to an art supply shop to buy glitter. “It’s sparkly but in a uniform way. It ends up looking like a second skin,” he theorizes, noting that the silver glitter is meant to mimic the idea of a cyborg who’s metal peeks through the outer “human” shell. The slashes of glitter change from girl to girl; Yadim randomizes where the glitter goes and which model the glitter goes on. “We just do one feature [in glitter], whether that’s an eye or a cheek; it feels like they’re morphing,” he explains. For the skin, Yadim creates a flawless canvas with Maybelline Fit Me! Foundation and then achieves robot-worthy highlights with Master Strobe Illuminating Face Stick (out in June 2016). The rest of the face receives subtle definition; Brow Drama Pomade Crayon in Blonde warms the lids for the lightest kiss of color while get the slightest hint of sheen from Baby Lips Balm in Quenched.

China Glaze Nail Lead Naomi Yasuda carries the idea of “transformation and speed” through to the nails, but ups the ante with a little bit of cyborg essence as well. “I wanted to create something futuristic and unique, so I cut press-on nail tips into a weird, wavy shape, and painted them with China Glaze Icicle,” Yasuda says. After polishing the natural nail with China Glaze Sorry I’m Latte to mimic “mannequin nails,” she then adheres the wavy pieces using nail glue to the cuticle area of the nail. “The thickness of the nail tip gives a nice dimension—it almost looks 3-D,” she says. Yasuda notes that the wave shape of the tips is meant to look like “metal dripping down”—much like the accompanying glitter makeup. Just as the metal is slowly taking over the nail, technology is taking over the world, which echoes the Blade Runner reference. To get this look at home, Yasuda suggests swapping out the cut nail tips with China Glaze Striper Rite in When in Chrome (launching March 2016), which has a “really skinny, easy-to-use brush.”

[Images: Courtesy of Maybelline; China Glaze]