Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs are a hot, hip young duo who graduated from the Parson’s School of Design. While they may be relative dilettantes in Fashion Week, their style stems from inspiration of films, photography. In their own words, the Cushnie and Ochs woman is no wallflower!

This season, the backstage beauty showcased a very flowing, loose flowing hair that was more gritty in texture (think elegant and disheveled … a bedhead-inspired mass of strands that still could be paired with elegant cocktail dresses and evening gowns).

The hair was done by Jordan M for Bumble and Bumble, the makeup by Sarah Tanno for MAC Cosmetics, and Pattie Yankee of Dashing Diva for the nails. In keeping with the raw elegance theme, Pattie Yankee created a gritty, animalistic texture for the nails and pressed on Chrome nails with an appliqué of crushed glass glitter in black and silver for some fierce added texture.

The nails at the Blonds Fall 2010 Fashion Week (by Phillipe & David Blond) were done by the Creative Nail Design team (co-founder Jan Arnold and a host of other talented nail pros). The look was pure ruby red with sequins on them to complement the makeup and the sheer audacity and color of the clothes.

Take a look at the nail detail:

We’ve seen a lot of reds and burgundys on the runway for Fall 2010 (remember that nail color from Monique Lhuillier Fall 2010- see below):

But a show like The Blonds calls for that extra sparkle and fire that can only shine through Minx or Sequins.

Oh, in case you were wondering, both Adam Lambert and Amanda Lepore were there at the show. Oh yeah!

Georges Chakra Fall 2010

The nail look for the Fall 2010 Georges Chakra show came from the inspiration of Russian Aristocracy meeting Red Carpet Vampire (thanks Twilight and Last Station!).

The nails were done by Patti Yankee for Dashing Diva. Naturally, the color was a blood red shade called Central Park After Dark.

Lorick, Fall 2010

Perfect and preppy, Gossip Girl meets Teen Vogue, Lorick’s look was disheveled classy. The nails were a bright neon orange polish (chosen by Abigal Lorick herself!)to accent the blues, greens and browns in the collection.

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

(more…)

The new neon pink nails for the summer by Kiss are lovely and easy as a breeze to apply.

They come in a pack with so many shapes and sizes for all different nail widths. Even though I applied the above in literally two minutes flat, I was pleased at how they turned out.

The kit comes with several nails (some colored, some plain…I personally love to alternate the plain with the colored ones for an interesting an unusual set up), a nail file, and nail glue. You have to apply the glue on your nail as well as to the back of the acrylic, and then it goes on like a snap.

The only parts that irked me about these nails is that they were far too long to be practical — I would have preferred a slightly shorter version; and that the kit doesn’t come with acetone (you have to purchase this separately…you soak your hands in acetone-filled remover and they dissolve off).

I am eagerly waiting for Kiss to make this neon nail in a slightly shorter version and one that doesn’t need acetone for removal. The quality of the nails are simply excellent! This kit retails at www.kissusa.com