Threeasfour Hair by Ashley Javier

Ashley Javier is a devastatingly attractive, extremely talented stylist. On this day of big hair for all in rain drenched New York City he created polished silhouettes conjuring up 60s glamour for the Threeasfour show. A joy to talk to, I print the interview in it's entirety below. If you want goddess-like hair, or simply want to meet this cinnamon-skinned statue of David look-a-like, visit the Ashley Javier Parlour.

Ashley styles the model above mid-process.

AJ: It's a little grand.

the SPOT: What is your inspiration for the look?

AJ: It's really about creating irony. Because the clothes are so futuristic and the shapes are so complicated in terms of where the references and inspiration come from I wanted to do something that was still young something that gives girls an idea something that gives them a certain feeling of grandeur. It gives them a little glamour. I wanted to create something that was modern and clean but could give them something so it's not just the old everyday playing it safe. It's an idea. It's bringing something back and using these little cushions to create the volume, we are pinning it under. So it's very opera singer, Maria Callas, very 60's. When women felt more glamorous. It creates a silhouette with the two shapes and makes the face smaller when we create that volume. We all know thick hair makes everything smaller. It's a great irony to what they are doing and gives girls and women a little idea to try.

the SPOT: Is this an easy look to get at home?

AJ: Yes we are doing it in a way that is really easy. Any woman can get these little cushions, le cushion (with a French accent). Unfortunately they are called "ratz." I don't like calling it that so I'm calling them "cushion" (with French accent).

the SPOT: Just because they look like a little rat?

AJ: Well, because back in the 60s when they were doing all those hairdressing things they would rat the hair to make it cushioned.

Fall Winter 09 New York Fashion Week

Girls, I hate that I'm not in NYC for Fashion Week. I'm following every show from afar and will bring you the best of. First, the MAC Key Artist Twitter Widget is already posted on the right. Second, Day 1 (tomorrow) schedule below. ThreeasFour was one of my favs at SS09 with Gordon Espinet and Ashley Javier on makeup and hair respectively. I can't wait to see what they do tomorrow.


10am
Lacoste Show
sponsored by

The Tent, Bryant Park
11-12pm
Koi Suwannagate Presentation

Morgans Hotel, 237 Madison Ave. PH
11am
United Bamboo Show
The Altman Building, 135 W. 18th St. (6th/7th Ave.)

11am
Edition by Georges Chakra Show
The Promenade, Bryant Park

12pm
Ohne Titel Show
123 W 18th St. 4th Fl

1-2pm
James Coviello Presentation
13 W. 9th St (5th/6th)

1pm
VPL by Victoria Bartlett Show
Focus Studio, 599 Eleventh Ave. (45th St.)

1pm
Andy & Debb Show
The Salon, Bryant Park

2pm
Adam/Adam Lippes Show
The Promenade, Bryant Park

3pm
Barbie Runway Show
The Tent, Bryant Park

3pm
Karen Walker Show
Altman Building, 135 West 18th Street (6th/7th Ave.)

4-5pm
Vena Cava Presentation
Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st

5pm
Alexander Wang Show
Roseland Ballroom, 239 W. 52nd St. (Broadway & 8th Ave.)

6pm
Verrier Show
The Salon, Bryant Park

6-8pm
Frank Tell Presentation
Tribeca Grand Hotel, 2 Avenue of the Americas (White)

6-8pm
Poleci Presentation
Poleci Store, 32 Gansevoort St.

7pm
Monarchy Show
The Promenade, Bryant Park

7-8pm
threeASFOUR Presentation
Greene Naftali Gallery, 516 W. 26th St., 8th floor

7:30-9pm
Elise Overland Presentation
Drive-In Studios, 443 W. 18th St. (9th/10th Ave.)

8pm
Ruffian Show
New Dance Group Studio, 305 W. 38th St. Near 8th

Threeasfour Key Artist, Gordon Espinet

Gordon Espinet, Vice President of Makeup Artistry for MAC Cosmetics, was the key artist for the Threeasfour show held yesterday at the Altman Building in Chelsea. Three as four may be having resounding success but as the quintessential downtown designers, this location left them safely 22 blocks south of the establishment. Gordon was an absolute delight to speak with and since I hung on absolutely every word he said, I'm printing the interview (with a detailed how-to included) verbatim below. Check out the full show at Style.com

the SPOT: What is your inspiration for this show?

GE: They always like a little some-thing but not a lot of makeup. Adi and Angela themselves, They love to look beautiful but its really sometimes more about cool than beautiful but the beauty is what walks in here. What I do to them is really not about trying to change it or trying to tell a story. Its just about adding a cool element to it. There is a lot of coral in the collection . Its not orange. Not Pink. Its' right in the middle. So we gravitated to that color. We wanted the girls to look really fresh and pretty because of course the cast is really young and fresh and pretty. Using a mixture of two MAC cream color bases. One is called virgin island the other is called real coral. We put it just at the back of their check so that they seem to have a radiance about them and we used a MAC lip conditioner called gentle coral. It looks really cute and pretty and little bit doll-like but no too doll-y. Then we used a brow set to make their brows look a little bushy. That's it we really kept it very subtle.

the SPOT: What is your Favorite runway look so far?

GE: I like the more artistic approach to makeup that we saw last season. I like to just see beautiful women. Yesterday I went to Alice McCol. She is English, grew up in Australia, showed in London and now she is showing here. She is fabulous. Makeup artist Matius did this really cool look based on the rorschach color test so at the end they put this gloss on their eyes and made them look up so that everyone has a different pattern that comes up. I thought it was really cool, like they were doing something that had an intellectual element but not making it too intellectual.

the SPOT: I have been following your updates on Twitter. Is this a new thing for you?

GE: Oh yes this is a new thing for me that I have to learn. (Cheery laughs all around as Gordon realizes I've already been tuned in to his every move via twitter) For the next five weeks, I'll be twittering up a storm. On top of the shows I do myself I get to go to a whole lot of other shows. So I'll keep twittering!

I couldn't help but share this adorable video of Gordon. He is in fact a legend.

Mapping Nail Trends with Creative Nail Design: The 40s Moon Manicure

The glamour and hope of post WWII returned to fashion in the form of bold beauty elements including matte red lips, pin curled hair, lined eyes and half moon manicures. Ruffian, inspired by a vintage Vogue cover, updated the moon manicure from Vogue’s coral to a deep blood red. At FORM, the urban black uniforms were contrasted with 40s hair and makeup and black and white moon manicures. At ThreeAsFour, CND’s Roxanne Valinoti abstracted the manicure with black triangular moons on nude nails. At Thakoon, CND’s Wanda Ruiz took the look a step further with a French moon mani in beige and black. For more on Thakoon's show we refer to the video below.