Today's post is a real multitasker: nails, makeup, and outfit all rolled into one! Last month I attended a cocktail event celebrating the Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards (CAFA) at the gorgeous Fairmont Pacific Rim. CAFA is all about recognizing achievements in the Canadian fashion industry, including stylists, designers, photographers, and models. Canada has so much fantastic talent; it was a great opportunity for me to do a little homework and learn about some homegrown designers I hadn't known before. I wanted to do a nail design inspired by the work of one of CAFA's 2014 winners and ended up really loving the Womenswear Designer of the Year, Jeremy Laing. Here's the inspiration, from the SS 2014 show:
I translated it into a white-on-beige windowpane look using Nails Inc Basil Street, OPI Alpine Snow, and nail tape. I had never done such an elaborate tape mani before and it was honestly a frigging pain in the ass. You can see I had a lot of trouble on the ring and middle fingers, where the tape took off some of my base colour Basil Street and/or left an uneven edge on the white polish I painted over top. I love that Basil Street is my perfect nude: it covers the whites (tips) of my nails and gives the illusion that I did the windowpane directly on top of my bare nails. I ended up being surprised by how cool and chic it looked, and I got a lot of compliments on it too. If you would like to try this look yourself, I have a tutorial coming soon! I started writing some quick tips on how to do this look here, but it became so long that I'm just going to turn it into a separate post .__."
Annnd here's my makeup for the night:
- Dermablend Smooth Indulgence Foundation in Sand Beige
- NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard
- Guerlain Crazy Meteorites Radiant Powder
- Sally Hansen by Carmindy blush in Cherub
- Urban Decay eyeshadow in Sin and Darkhorse (Naked 1)
- Marcelle 2 in 1 Retractable Eyeliner in Azurite
- Maybelline Mega Plush Volum'Express Mascara
- Chella Eyebrow Color Pencil in Elegant Ebony
- MAC eyeshadow in Concrete (as brow powder)
- NYX Eyebrow Wax Pencil
I went to bf's house after this and he looked at me funny. I asked what was wrong with my face, was it my eye makeup? "No, it looks good... I'm just not used to you wearing eyeball makeup anymore" LOL.
I forgot to wear it in the photos, but I also wore Annabelle TwistUp lip crayon in Cherry (which you can see in action in the outfit photo below!)
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| Thanks MizzJ for snapping this photo! |
I wore my most vaguely fashion-y dress, a space-dye bodycon from Forever 21, and tan booties. Sadly, it rained heavily that night so my soft waves turned all scraggly and flat D:
I found browsing designers' runway collections really inspiring; I definitely want to translate more runway looks into nail art, especially more stuff from Jeremy Laing. Unfortunately, I found out after the event that Jeremy Laing has closed down his label due to the competitive nature of the fashion industry, among other things. (The irony of having nails inspired by this designer and wearing a dress from a fast fashion company is not lost on me.)
By the way, the second annual CAFA awards will be taking place in January 2015 in Toronto. I see some familiar names among the nominees
here and found some cool new designers as well--check out
Sid Neigum at WMCFW!
Which designer or brand would inspire you to create a nail or makeup look?
