We've Moved - www.solessence.com

We have LOVED being on blogger for so many years, but we've taken a leap and gone on our own. Please join us over at www.solessence.com

This site will stay up, but we hope you'll reset your feeds and links to the new location. See you soon!

She's Got The Look: Kristen Stewart - MTV VMAs

New Moon premiere on 11/20, and Twilight's Kristen Stewart was at the VMAs with her co-stars in a classic yet edgy look styled by Celebrity Stylist for Pantene, Hallie Bowman.



You can do this too! Here’s how Hallie created Kristen’s look:

1. Hallie started by shampooing and conditioning Kristen’s hair with a moisturizing formula to create a good base for styling

2. She began by cutting bangs to create roundness around the cheekbones, a look that is complimentary of her heart shape face

3. Hallie applied the Pantene Pro-V Volume Root Lifter Gel from root to tip to begin building volume, as well as the Pantene Pro-V Texture Spray Wax to make hair more malleable for styling

4. Then, she blow dried Kristen’s hair while brushing it away from the scalp, periodically flipping her hair over to ensure lots of volume at the crown

5. Hallie then pinned sections of her hair back with bobby pins to secure it away from the face, leaving some pieces around the face to give the illusion of a bob with bangs – a nod to the bowl cut, but with a modern feel

6. To polish off the look, Hallie used the Pantene Pro-V Smooth Serum to give Kristen’s hair long lasting shine for the night

Mary J. Blige receive's HBA's first Positively Beautiful Award

Mary J. Blige is awarded the first Positively Beautiful Award from HBA Global Expo this morning in New York. On hand to present the award during the even Kick-off Presentation was Lisa Price, founder of Carol's Daughter.

The Positively Beautiful Award annually recognizes the "positive and inspiring" influence a person has on the HBA audience. She's a singer with more than 40 million albums sold worldwide, and a face for Carol's Daughter, launching her new fragrance, "My Life", in 2010. Ms. Blige is additionally recognized for her work as co-founder of The Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now, Inc (FFAWN) whose mission is to help women gain confidence and skills necessary to reach individual potential.

VMA - Beyonce's Minx Manicure

Lisa Logan "installed" Beyonce's Minx nails, along with 15 of her dancers. What do you think of the metallic manicures?

Lela Rose - ss 10 MBFW

Hair by Ted Gibson. Check back for interview.

Herve Leger - ss 10 MBFW makeup

Show is about to start, and there was a lot of orange action going on in the makeup department

Rachel Roy - ss 10 MBFW - makeup

One of my favorite looks. bobbi brown for Rachael Roy

Yigal Azrouel - ss 10 - MBFW - makeup

bobbi brown for Yigal Azrouel

Rebecca Taylor ss1 10 - MBFW - makeup

MAC's Rie Omoto for Rebecca Taylor

Richard Chai

Elle's Joe Zee raved about the Richard Chai show. From this shot I can see the line is lustworthy!

Jeremy Lang ss 10 MBFW - makeup

Chado Ralph Rucci s/s 10 MBFW Makeup

Tom Pecheau, a favorite mua with MAC created one of my favorite looks so far. The drawn down lashes seem to flatter and widen every eye in a very doe-like manner. The faces are clean but accented.

Siriano s/s 10 MBFW

Le shoes? Siriano for Payless. At Fashion Week! He's "all about the runways and the sidewalks!"



















































































Was this meant to be a wedding dress? Because it would be an unbelievable wedding gown.


Here comes the bridesmaid

Vivienne Tam

Let's start with the glittery finale


Spot the new butterfly Clutch?


All in the details






Vivienne Tam's highly anticipated show revealed a butterfly theme for S/S 10. The winged beauties graced the clothing line as well as the new laptop Clutch. A stark contrast to the first edition red flowers, HP gets a makeover in neutral taupe with several pops of color in the forms of butterflies. That pop of color is what S/S 10 is all about.

I did a butterfly collection when I was in hs, so I have a soft spot for the creatures. Will this translate well to the masses?

Side note: I snapped a photo of this Tam Clutch HP had. Must have been an early demo model from overseas. Check out the Enter key.

Twinkle: s/s 10 MBFW Makeup

MAC orange lipmix with mua Luc B



MAC orange lipmix

Luca Luca - MBFW s/s 10 Makeup

**Change Alert** The makeup look had to completely change last minute due to multiple colorful pieces in line.












MAC's James Skaliardos channels the power of pink at Luca Luca. Still very pretty.

Jason Wu preview? MBFW s/s 10 MAC Makeup

All about the lips by Romero. Coral Sunset Lip Story with 5 of the newest MAC glosses

Monique Lhuillier - MBFW - s/s 10 shows MAC makeup

I think this would have been very beautiful on a different face type - asian, Kate Moss type. Something where the eyes are not so deep set and the makeup could have reflected the gradient look.



























photo courtesy Heather Park

Ruffian -MB Fashion Week S/S 10 makeup

MAC's James Skaliardos uses #35 lashes with Graffic liner




Very bold, yet pretty & feminine





















photo credit Heather Park

















































photo credit Roselyn

Preen Makeup - Mercedes Benz Fashion Week s/s 10 Makeup

Fresh off the runway, Preen looks by MAC's James Skaliardos

"Just arrived backstage at Preen. Makeup by James K. Makeup is all about subtle shading with Sculpt and Shape with an added highlight on eyes." ~ Gordon/MAC

Photo Heather Park (check out her Sakura Nail art!)

Fashion's Night Out

Another one rides the bus (courtesty of Payless):


Fashion's Night Out kicked off to great fan fare in NYC, London, and knock off parties around the globe. A much needed reglam of the industry!

Looks like my original FNO post never materialized, but I hope you caught up on the great parties and fashions and makeup parties.

Hope sales were stellar!

Back to Black - Kim Kardashian

Kim stunned the world when she changed her lush locks over to blond just as summer was wrapping up. Yesterday she went back to her dark roots! What does she have to say about the whole experience?

"Loved the blonde but that is my alter ego, I am back! Feels good to be me again! I swear I was a different person with blonde hair"

Lady GaGa - Heartbeat earphones & billy b

Celebrity makeup artist billy b worked with the one and only Lady GaGa a few days ago! What did he think of her? "2 words........ICONIC+LEGENDARY" A sample shot from that day.

Clinton Kelly: From Fashion Editor to Fashion Police

I'm all about the experience. ~ Clinton Kelly

From Fashion Editor to Fashion Police, stylist Clinton Kelly has seen it all - and his eyes are burning! He sits down to discuss the current state of fashion, his Make Over America tour and the search for Worst Dressed American. Is it you?





















Where does fashion currently rule & why: New York or LA?
Having just returned from a week in LA, I can tell you with absolute certainty that NY rules, fashionwise. The vast majority of American designers use NYC as their home base, and fashionable New Yorkers tend to take more chances than their LA counterparts. That's not to say that there's a style deficiency in LA; it's just that I found most people in the Hollywood scene to be lacking a little in creativity. Still a lot of bleached blondes with fake boobs and hair extensions. And if I saw another guy in an Ed Hardy T-shirt, I thought I would puke. Downtown LA seems to be where it's at as far as fashion goes.

You are about 1/2 way through to your Make Over America tour with Macys. How are things going?

You have no idea how much I'm loving this tour across America, which resumes shortly. In each city I make over 15 women -- all different ages and shapes and sizes -- and use them as models in a fashion show. There is nothing quite like watching a woman who came to me looking like a frump-a-dump on Friday strut her gorgeous stuff in front of a thousand cheering people on Saturday. And it looks like we'll be extending the tour through 2010. We're working on a list of cities for that now. In the meantime, you can go to macys.com/makeoveramerica to stay informed.

You've been a very positive spokesperson for Macys. How did that relationship come about?
Back when I was a magazine editor, I had made many contacts in the PR world. One day about four years ago, one of those contacts called me about hosting some style seminars for Macy's in what are called "special sizes" in the industry, meaning pluses and petites. I jumped at the chance because I believe very strongly that every woman can look and feel beautiful with the right amount of information and a little inspiration. The Macy's customer has obviously responded to this because I'm going on my fifth year of working with the company. I love it so much, I hope it never ends.

How did you get into this field, and on television? Was it an end goal?
Six years ago (or so) TLC was re-casting the male lead of WNTW and a casting agent named Barbara Barna contacted me. I think she had contacted every man working in the fashion industry. I was working as the executive editor of a very highly regarded men's fashion trade magazine called DNR at the time. It has since been folded into Women's Wear Daily. I decided to go on the audition because I figured I had nothing to lose by doing so. When it was over I thought, "Wow, I just bombed that." But I really didn't care because I already had a good job. The next day, they called me back for a second audition, where I met Stacy and we had chemistry from the first instant. A week later, I had quit my job and was signed on to do 45 episodes. Crazy! Was doing TV an end goal? Good question. Not really. I'm all about the experience. I wanted to try something new, so I did. Every job I ever accepted, I did so because I thought it would either be fun or I would learn a new skill. With WNTW, both have been true.

The wildly popular What Not to Wear is coming up on 250th episode. Let's talk about the "Worst Dressed American" you are hunting down.
Well, it's not so much that I'm hunting her down. It's the producers really. I can't even imagine someone who dresses worse than the people we've already had on the show. I feel like I've re-styled the worst dressed American about a hundred times already. But if you know someone, you can go to TLC.com and nominate them or yourself. It's such an honor that the American public -- and people from other countries for that matter -- have embraced WNTW so wholeheartedly. It's fun to be me! When I walk down the street, people tell me they love me or love my work. It's hilarious. Sure, they also ask me what I think of their outfits, and believe me, if you ask, you're gonna get the truth!

Do you ever get tired of the hot mess, or does it only motivate your mission?
I do get a little tired of the frumpy mom look, only because there are polished alternatives that are just as easy. Instead of sweatshirts and hoodies, wear a cotton jacket. Instead of faded, tapered jeans, get a dark wash trouser jean. Instead of T-shirts, wear a blouse. And instead of sneakers, wear a sandal, ballet flat or boot. This is not rocket science. I feel sometimes like I'll be giving this advice until I'm 103.


~ Hillary Fry / solessence