Photography by Barbora Simek

Jessi Wong, snapped in Toronto

Style: Utilitarian

Occupation: Nursing Student

Wearing: Aldo leather boots, Forever XXI skirt, Club Manaco tank top, jacket and purse, hat from H&M, sunglasses from Urban Outfitters

Style Philosophy: ” I like a lot of tailored menswear and utilitarian styles, it is a tough, independent look that doesn’t try hard.”

Click through to see our Montreal street style pic of the day! Read the rest of this entry

Day 2 of MFW had us coveting everything from loosely swept up hair and icy cool makeup.

Martin Lim

The hair at Martin Lim was inspired by Egypt, with the hair pulled up into a loose swirl so as to highlight the profile of the chin and jawline. “The look is chic and glossy in a high updo but with the ends left natural,” says Denis Binet, Pantene Consulting Stylist.  The overall shape of the swirl, though, is not round, but more contemporary and loose. Using Pantene gel and hairspray for fine hair, Binet  pulled hair into a  high ponytail and then swirled the hair up and casually tucked in the ends, less fixed and precise than a bun.

For makeup, Amelie Ducharme, Cover Girl Makeup Pro, looked to the 50s for inspiration and gave it a sportier twist. “We wanted a strong lip, so we kept skin pure and very natural using Cover Girl Tone Rehab and Simply Ageless concealer adn the lashes just have some NatureLuxe mascara on the top lashes,” she says. On the lips, you can get a similar almost fluorescent coral-y shade by combining Cover Girl Lip Perfections lipsticks in Fairytale. Read the rest of this entry

With the first day of Montreal Fashion Week done, we highlight some of the key beauty trends that made it down the runway.

Marie Saint-Pierre

Hair
“For Marie Saint Pierre, the look is about texture, and it’s anti-commercial, more editorial,” says Denis Binet, Pantene Consulting Stylist. Using Sebastian Microweb Fibre, he worked the product into the hair at the roots but not the ends, to plump hair at the roots and give texture at the scalp. To the rest of the hair, he worked in both mousse and gel and let it rest in the hair for two hours. Then sweeping hair to one side, he started the beginnings of a braid, only doing two to three weaves and then tied it with a black ribbon, leaving the rest of the hair loose and textured. The result? Pretty and undone, as though the models woke up late and quickly tied hair to the side as they rushed out of the house.

Makeup
To emphasize the mix of strength and femininity found in the clothing, Amelie Ducharme played up femininity by making the skin appear Photoshopped. She applied foundation, and before the foundation set, she swept on some Cover Girl Smokey Shadow Blast in white to the skin at the nose, cheeks and lips to add highlight, blending it into the foundation. “It makes them look almost unreal, like mannequins,” says Ducharme of the effect this creates. For a bit of contouring, she used Cover Girl Clean pressed powder. To the lips, she went avant garde, filling them in with two dark shades of Liquiline Blast (in Black and Grey). Read the rest of this entry

Girlie and ethereal — the look at Mulcair had us swooning. The eyes simply twinkled, thanks to Cover Girl Smokey Shadow Blast in beige used to highlight the inner corner and Gold Sizzle eyeshadow adding a small explosion of colour (with the shadow extending up the bridge of the nose and slightly extending underneath the eye as well. Extra sparkle was added with some gold glitter from M.A.C (make it stick with some professional base makeup, or a bit of gloss can do in a pinch, says Amelie Ducharme, Creative Director for Makeup at MFW). Read the rest of this entry

Faces were fresh and tone on tone at Barila. To make the brows looked gently bleached from the sun, Amelie Ducharme, Cover Girl Makeup Pro, used Simply Ageless concealer. On the eyes in the crease and underneath the lash line, she used Smokey Shadow Blast in beige. A bit of clear Shine Blast Lip Gloss 800 was then applied to the lid and cheeks for a wet look. She then gave cheeks a slightly bronzed look using Cover Girl Pressed Powder 255, and finally the lips were played up with Lip Perfection 200 Sublime, a brown with hints of red, focused on the centre of the lips. Read the rest of this entry

For the Annie 50 look, Denis Binet, creative director for hair for MFW  had an aha moment this summer in Corsica.

Do you embrace your natural wave?

What do you think of the beauty looks so far at Montreal Fashion Week?