How do Kirstie Alley, Kendra Wilkinson, Cheryl Burke, Wendy Williams, Chelsie Hightower, Kym Johnson, Anna Trebunskaya, Chelsea Kane and Petra Nemcova all get the look for Dancing with the Stars?
How do Kirstie Alley, Kendra Wilkinson, Cheryl Burke, Wendy Williams, Chelsie Hightower, Kym Johnson, Anna Trebunskaya, Chelsea Kane and Petra Nemcova all get the look for Dancing with the Stars?
It has a little something to do with the Emmy Award-winning hair and makeup teams that turn these already beautiful women into glamourpusses that glow like J-Lo under the hot lights and show day rehearsals.
This season I was once again a guest of Melanie Mills, Zena Shteysel, Angela Moos, Patti Ramsey Bortoli, Nadege Schoenfeld, Barbi Fonte and spray tanner Fiona Locke, whose seamless work with hair and wardrobe turned out yet another hopeful Emmy nomination and possible win for their season 12 efforts.
The visit uncovered many of the stand-by needed workhorse color lines, M.A.C., Makeup Forever, Armani, Dior, Aucoin, YSL, Laura Mercier, Lancôme, L'Oreal, NYX, Ardell Lashes, OPI, Bed Head by Tigi and Julie Hewett - and revealed some new star players that are making the contestants gorgeous for the camera.
New additions include Yaby palettes, new Hard Candy colors for lips, cheeks and eyes, Anastasia Beverly Hills full range of brow products, lip glosses and cheek duos, and Ja'maal Buster eyelashes.
Mills is a brand ambassador for St. Tropez and a spokesperson for Anastasia Beverly Hills and shares with me that makeup for DWTS must have staying power for the long days on Monday and Tuesday.
It all starts with St. Tropez self-tanning, the first step for all DWTS contestants. For the last five years, Mills put her distinctive glamour makeup stamp on the show and revolutionized body makeup, taking it to new heights with her very own Gleam Body Radiance, now available in four shades.
"I couldn't find deeper shades of body makeup with a velvet shimmer that wouldn't go greasy or ashy on the skin, and it was a problem. I wanted to perfect the St. Tropez tan and have a luminous look and finish to the skin, not a hard shine, but that 'lit from within' look that defines the look of bare skin on this show," says Mills.
Her Gleam Body Radiance is due in stores in May 2011. The product has already been written up in US Weekly and is an industry hit with many professional makeup artists calling up Melanie for their celebrity clients. "For several years I have stars coming to my house to get some Gleam for red carpet events and award shows, and it was time to make it available for everyone," says Mills. Melanie is taking pre-orders at www.gleambymelaniemills.com .
Even makeup artist Zena Shteysel has used her experience on the show to create a valuable tool that the whole makeup trailer uses. Zena invented the clever Z Palette. The clear top allows a busy artist to color coordinate eyes, cheeks and lips to make finding that certain color all the easier. Zena's Z Palettes are hot items and can be found at www.zpalette.com .
Other convenient and striking color collections that are making waves in the trailer are dot candy styled Yaby palettes palettes
NYX Palette in Nude on Nude
"After the crucial St. Tropez self tanning step, the body is finished on show day with Gleam Body Radiance in Rose Gold, Bronze Gold and Deep Gold, depending on the star. Light Gold is mainly used as a highlighter in body sculpting and on the cheekbones and eyes for this show," explained Mills."Nobody wants to be on camera without Gleam.”
Another must-have item for all the artists is the Beauty Blender, a clever pink water drop shaped reusable sponge that you use after you run it under warm/hot water, and then squeeze. It makes foundation look flawless.
Mills shared that Anastasia
Also used were Anastasia Highlighting Creme Cheek duos and Eye Shadows, highly pigmented colors that improve the texture of the delicate eyelid skin.
Angel’s Makeup Collagen Pads are everyone's little de-bagger secret. They work miracles and all the artists use them, on the men and women.
The staple line of lashes are always Ardell Lashes. The strips (114, 117, 118, 40, 316) and individuals can be layered on big eyes like Wendy Williams and pro dancer Lacey Schwimmer. Newcomer Ja'Maal Buster eyelashes
Luxe foundations rule on DWTS, and you will find Chanel VitaLumiere, Giorgio Armani's crème foundation in shade #8 and #9 with fluid sheer#3 used frequently, Christian Dior's foundations, Laura Mercier foundation powders, Creme de la Mer's creme foundations, Kevyn Aucoin's foundations and concealers, MAC powders and glitter, Makeup Forever glitter pigments, Visiora foundations and Makeup Forever's High Definition finishing powder. Pro makeup line RCMA (Research Council of Makeup Artists) was used extensively with every artist having their palette of crème pigment rich foundation bases.
Laura Mercier dominated the concealers, with Secret Camouflage in shades 'SC-6," 'SC-5" and “SC-4” being the most popular. Zena's secret weapon is YSL's Touche Eclat, a click-pen of luminous concealer with light diffusing quality that pops the eyes open.
Nails and toes were painted with OPI polish, the most popular colors being hot corals like The Texas Sorbet collection of Y'all Come Back Ya Hear (wowza orange) and Too Hot Pink To Hold Em.
Who wore your favorite looks for the season?
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