Proving there is no rest for the wicked (wicked jet-setters, that is!), Essie’s lead nail artist Rita Remark led her team of savvy nail pros to showcase all that Spring 2014 will have to offer. Taking cues from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in NYC, Rita jumped right into creating custom looks for Canadian favourites such as David Dixon, Mackage and Soia & Kyo. Overall beauty looks displayed a toned-down glamour after the Fall/Winter “nailscape” of vampy oxblood and dark chrome tips made us yearn for hues less heavy. Here is the scoop on all of the looks:
Mackage
Canadian outerwear darlings Mackage dazzled the audience with summery leather pieces and showed urban trendsetters how to dress like they mean it. Rita and the Essie Canada team injected a cool twist into the usual French manicure and made it more ooh la la-worthy of showcasing the Montreal duo’s shimmering threads. The elegant base was achieved by starting with two coats of Topless and Barefoot, then topped off with the iconic staple in every girl’s nail wardrobe, Ballet Slippers, and a layer of Matte About You Topcoat for a soft finish. To add a touch of sass, a thin silver strip of No Place Like Chrome was added to the tips creating a funky twist on a manicure style undergoing a creative resurgence.
Soia & Kyo
This season, the Soia & Kyo aesthetic was keen on gem tones and earthy hues reminiscent of an urban safari. To reflect this dreamy palette offered by the outerwear brand, Rita and her team decided to steer clear of glitz and chiselled the models’ nails into short, soft square shapes in pale ethereal colours—with a touch of matte in a nod to trends seen on NYFW runways. Here is a cheat sheet of how these looks were created on every skintone!
– For ivory skin, the Essie team applied two coats of opaque pastel pink Fiji and one coat of Ballet Slippers.
-Olive skintones worked best with two coats of Topless and Barefoot.
– Darker skin tones were treated to two coats of Sand Tropez with a coat of Ballet Slippers to top it off.
– Whatever your shade, don’t forget that final layer of Matte About You Topcoat!
Caitlin Power
What is being described as, “techno tribal” and the maturing of the power suit, Caitlin Power’s spring runway collection was as bold as we had hoped for. To balance the power of the skirt suits, Rita and the backstage team dreamed up a contemporary neutral look achieved by applying two coats of Chinchilly and a layer of the must-have for spring: Matte About You Topcoat. To perfect the look of the modern day career woman, models’ nails were kept short and square so as to not get in the way of planning world dominance we’re sure!
