“It’s kind of Jean Shrimpton meets Picasso,” says MAC key artist James Kaliardos of the look he created for the Ruffian spring 2010 runway show.

The accent on the eyes was a gray liquid liner that Kaliardos mixed up “art-school style” and painted on in a sweep from the inner corner up over the eyelid crease.

“We’re inspired by painters and the feeling of being an artsy girl,” says Kaliardos. “She’s beautiful, still, yet not too precise. It’s a strong look.”

Kaliardos completed the face with a “Liza lash,” cream blush under the cheekbones and a peachy lip.

Bumble + bumble celebrity hairstylist Neil Moodie created a loose chignon with lots of texture for the Ruffian show. “We used our fingers–no brushes–to make it natural,” says Moodie. “It’s very home-made, as if she created this look herself.”

To get this look:

• Prep hair by blow drying with lots of Bumble + bumble Styling Creme

for texture.

• Section dry hair into two and twist the top portion into a loose chignon just below the crown.
• Grab the lower section and connect into the chignon, leaving it loose at the nape.

The Ruffian look was finished off with raspberry nails to match the carpet. No joke—the inspiration for the nails began from the floor up!

Creative Nail Design used Plumville and Blackjack nail shades to create a Picasso-inspired nail that was both theatrical and artistic.

The products featured in this video are:

Chanel Nail Color in Gondola (#499) from the upcoming Chanel Fall 2009 Collection.

Essie Nail Polish in Perky Purple from the Neon Collection.

Orly Nail Lacquer in Sol Cabana, a gorgeous shade of orange from the Tiki Time Collection.

A staple here at Makeup Bag HQ (as you can see from the near-empty bottle), Solar Speed Spray from CND is used after every manicure in our house. With all the nail painting we do, I’d say a minimum of six manis take place each week.

Benefit One Hot Minute, the HOTTEST product of the summer! Brush this on for aah-maaaazing skin in one hot minute. Not even kidding.

Benefit One Hot Minute is a Sephora Exclusive, available this month!

This morning my friend Ann came over for a visit and, as always, we got to talking about our favorite beauty products and trends of the season.

We both agreed that deep purple nail polish is our favorite trend right now with the gorgeous Chanel Vendetta taking top spot. However, if you’d rather not spend $23 on a nail polish, here’s a few shades of purple that are a tad more affordable:

Jessica Cosmetics in Birds of Paradise ($7)

Application is tricky with this polish as it tends to grab and pull the first layer of color, but if you can get past that, you’ll be left with gorgeous jewel-toned nails that are beyond shiny.

Orly Nail Color in Midnight Star ($7.50)

Not only is this a beautiful, shimmery shade of rich purple, but it also comes with a coordinating gemstone costume ring.

Nicole by OPI Nic’s Sticks in I’m on Deadline ($5.99)

Janey turned me on to Nic’s Sticks last year and I have to say—they’re quick, easy and great for travel. The new shades for spring are expected to hit counters in May and I’m in love with this intense blue-violet shades called I’m on Deadline.

CND in Deep Velvet (On Sale for $6)

CND polishes never fail to impress me. My all-time favorite shade is Nail Noir but I’m adoring Deep Velvet, a deep shimmery purple.

Check out these tips I picked up from the Creative Nail Design nail pros while I was in New York in February:

(more…)

Our little french manicure only lasted for two days. (Not because it wasn’t looking fresh, because it totally was.)

It is just that after having deep dark nails for the last several weeks, we just weren’t feeling the preppy french-mani look. We felt sort of guilty erasing the pretty white tips off our nails with an acetone soaked cotton ball, but we couldn’t take it any longer.

We literally felt naked without our sexy goth fingertips.

This week we gave Creative Nail Design’s Fedora a spin, and we’re digging the darkness without being black (it’s a very dark brown.) Definitely use two coats of this for deep dark perfection.

Creative Nail Design Fedora, $6