Fashion Week, for all the bloggers I know, is especially trying. It’s terrific to see everyone backstage, especially the makeup artists and designers, but there’s nothing more comforting than to retreat to a place “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” so to speak.

And one such retreat – god bless his heart- was Robert Verdi’s Luxe Lab, which was teeming with people who were ready and eager to show you a grand time and some real, fit-for-Rachel-Zoe-style pampering.

Robert curates everything in his Luxe Lab so beautifully that I wanted to share with you some of the people, treats and brands that made my Fashion Week so very special:

Car and Carriage: bloggers could come to the Luxe Lab by reserving some of the newest cars from Mercedes Benz (it IS called Mercedes Benz Fashion Week for a reason, dolls!).

Constantly hungry, I was on the prowl for snack food, and found it in the form of delicious Popcorn Indiana Kettlecorn! It was so close to Nirvani snacking without any of the guilt…

I had to have one of these beauts: the Absolut Vodka Acai Berry Sour Cocktail (mix two parts ABSOLUT BERRI ACAI with 3/4 parts simple syrup and 1 part fresh lemon juice. You gotta garnish with blueberries – YUM!). I died and went to Vodka heaven.

And I lived on Blue Print Cleanse’s Red Pepper Soups, their Pineapple Apple Mint Juice and several versions of their famous drink (I’m a vegan, yo! and this is like mama’s food to me).

The hairstylists at Phyto Haircare gave everyone blowouts and gorgeous tresses (in case you were wondering, their leave-in conditioner is SICK, just SICK! – it saved my Fashion Week hair):

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Tommy Hilfiger’s Fall 2010 collection emphasized fresh collegiate beauty. Diane Kendal for MAC Cosmetics used minimal concealer and foundation when necessary, then started on the eyes with a Coffee Eye Pencil under a chocolate brown cream eyeshadow. After that, Kendal lined eyes with a black cream eyeliner and smoothed a clear gloss over the entire lid for a dewy effect. To get a windswept look, Kendal mixed Diva and Russian Red Lipsticks and patted it onto cheeks. After all that layering, she kept the lips simple with a coat of Black Cherry Lipstick.

To complement this scholarly blue-blood look, the models’ had their long hair parted to the side after a blowout and curled with a large-barreled curling iron. The hairstylists at Hilfiger then clipped the bouncy curls in place and allowed them to cool for a few minutes before styling them in long, flowing waves.

The models at Milly had a decidedly French feel for the Fall 2010 show. As makeup artist Romy Soleimani for MAC Cosmetics explained, they went for the Goddard feel, with lived-in, “next day” smoky eyes using muted charcoal eyeshadow in Wed as a liner and subtle cheeks with Personal Style powder. Soleimani dusted Silver Dusk Iridescent Powder at the inner corners of the eye and on the temples and upper cheekbones for a pretty pop of radiance. She finished the lips with a mix of Equality and Empower lipsticks uniquely blended for each model to get their own personal shade of nude.

After prepping with Aveda Volumizing Tonic, Frank Rizzieri blew models’ hair out long and straight with L’Oreal Elnett Hairspray to hold their side ponytails in place. Flirty headbands completed the look.

To tie off this flirty look, Roxan Valinoti for CND Nails kept models’ nails short and dark, with a Dark Ruby polish that read as almost black.

It was a look that I had seen in some “theme and variations” form throughout the Fall 2010 Fashion Week shows: pink matte lips, intense eye and a fair, almost “Swiss Heidi in the mountains” skin.

Tadashi’s clothes were inspired by Mother Earth, as seen from an airplane window. Hence the silver dresses, browns, greens and punches of colors in the clothes. “The textures and the pleatings are all inspired by the Earth,” says Tadashi. “Everything is wearable.”

Rodney Cutler, who did the hair for Tadashi, says the look for the show was very simple – it’s all about a pretty and beautiful girl. The hair is not too sticky, but has a bounce. “We are going to see trends to very simple hair,” says Cutler. If you remember, the hair trends for Spring 2010 had that Marie Antoinette pouff at times and that complex texturized ponytail. It’s time to loosen things up.

Luc Bouchard for MAC Cosmetics did a very simple look. Since the dresses are so beautiful, Tadashi wanted a very simple contrast in the look. Luc did a very intense eye, and used three colors of blush to give the cheeks some flush.The lashes are not curled, but there is more mascara on top than the bottom.

Check out our video interview with Luc Bouchard below on how to achieve the Tadashi Fall 2010 look (click on the picture to play):

This is probably one of the most memorable looks from all the shows I’ve been to.

The futuristic jumpsuits and webbing of Threeasfour’s Fall 2010 show found themselves echoed in the cosmetic art of the models themselves. Andrea Helgadottir for MAC made a point of simply concealing as necessary on the models’ faces with Moisture Cover Concealer and giving them nude lips with Fleshpot and Myth lipstick shades. Helgadottir did a twist on the heavy Egyptian kohl eye by extending small fronds of the black pigment out from the models’ lash line, like a subdued version of her eye decoration for Threeasfour’s Spring 2010 show.

The Makeup at Altazurra created by Tom Pecheux for MAC focused on a dark, glossy eye. Using Meeow Lipglass up to the brow, smudged with smolder eye pencil along lash line, and then smudging Fearless Lipstick (a burgundy shade) under the eye as liner – eyes took center stage.

Studio Fix Lash Mascara & groomed brows finished this look. Skin had a very clean finish and cheeks were natural. Lips were erased and toned down with foundation to make the eyes the center of attention. Going for a gentle yet hardcore look, Tom Pecheux took his inspiration from the Altazurra collection – the clothes are so powerful that he wanted to create a makeup look that took a back seat to the collection, letting the clothes shine.

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There were five distinct nail looks for the Marc Jacobs Fall 2010 Collection, including shades from light beige to a dusky mauve. The makeup was very minimalist, and the hair was let down in an easy, breezy wavy texture reminiscent of the models in La Vie Des Autres. The makeup was done by NARS Cosmetics.

CND’s Roxanne Valinoti(with Elisa Ferri) created five unique nail shades for an atypical rainbow spectrum of color ranging from creamy brownish gray to light lavender beige in order to complement the Greige [Gray + Beige] palette on the runway. Check out the recipes for these nail shades below:

Look 1:

3\4 bottle of Chocolate Milk
1\8 bottle of Blackjack
1\8 bottle of Brilliant White
3 drops of Green scene
4 drops of Asphalt
5 drops of Bicycle Yellow

Look 2:

3\4 bottle of Chocolate milk
1\8 bottle of Blackjack
1\8 bottle of Brilliant White
3 drops of Green Scene
4 drops of Asphalt

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The look at Catharine Malandrino for Fall 2010 encompassed leather, trees and a theme of Mongolian Nomad.

The makeup created by Tom Pecheux for MAC focused on emphasizing the eyes and the cheekbones leaving the lips bare.

Jan Arnold, the co-founder and creative director of CND took her inspiration for the “leather like” nails from Malandrino’s theme of Mongolian Nomad. Called the “ bark mani” the CND team created the look with 1 coat of Deep Ruby, 1 coat of Copper Shimmer, 1 coat Super Matte Topcoat.

The look was completed by pressing a special pad on top of the nail polish to create a textured leather effect. Nails were clipped to a shorter shape. For Fall 2010, Jan foresees “a bolder, stronger, tailored shape inspired by all of the menswear looks on the runway.”

A “tree” shape was the look for the hair at Malandrino. Odile Gilbert for Phyto aimed for an organic look inspired by Mongolia and Africa. Using Phyto Professional Fiber Paste and Phyto Pro Mousse Volume Spray, the Phyto team used their hands to create the unique “tree” shape.

- Catia Carvalho Trooskin

The week’s not over yet, but we’ve seen some rather extraordinary nails at the tents, and wanted to share. So far, three looks by Diego Binetti, Ruffian and Catherine Malandrino wowed us with their “look at me, I’m out of the park” attitude. All nails were done by Creative Nail Design.

Diego Binetti

Diego Binetti Leather Nails for Fall 2010

We loved this tough, rocker chick leather nail at Diego Binetti’s Fall 2010 show. It screams “don’t mess with me” but in a highly urbane way.

Catharine Malandrino

We love the leather nail polish at this Fall 2010 runway show!

Catharine Malandrino Fall 2010 Nail

Ruffian

This lunar nail look reminds us of the extraordinarily chic dark polish look Chanel did in the 1980’s (and also of Black Satin):

Ruffian Fall 2010 Lunar Nails

If you’ve wanted to hit the Fashion Week tents in A-list Celeb style then you need to participate in this seriously decadent sweepstakes from Rowenta. Like PRONTO!

The prizes will make the New York Lottery’s own offerings pale in comparison. Here’s what the winner will receive:

1. A roundtrip airfare for two to New York.

2. Airport transfers

3. A three night stay in Manhattan and select meals for the week of the show (Feb 12th – Feb 19th, 2010).

4. Shopping spree and a makeover worth $1,000.

Enter here, and hitch your prayers to the nearest star. (No, we don’t mean Lindsay Lohan…we’re talking about the other galactic kind..)