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My Fashion Week Diary: The Recap

Follow a TotalBeauty.com editor at New York Fashion Week to get an exclusive glimpse of the hottest new trends -- and the magic (and mayhem) backstage

by Dawn Davis | COMMENT

PHOTO 3/7

Day 4: What the Heck is Banana Lining? I was shocked to learn something new backstage yesterday. I'm not implying that I know everything there is to know about beauty, but fashion week is a sea of monochromatic makeup and undone hair, so the artists aren't digging too deep into their repertoires.

At Tracy Reese, I talked with lead makeup artist Daniel Martin, working for NYX Cosmetics. "The look is radiant and pretty with structure," said Martin. Pretty, indeed, but it didn't seem much different from the looks I was seeing everywhere else. Then I noticed the liner. "We're banana lining the crease," he explained. "It's theatrical but not harsh."

Banana lining? I'd never heard the term before, and I guess he could tell based on the blank expression on my face. "We're using black liquid liner and following the natural crease," he explained. "It looks different on everyone based on the shape of the eye. Sometimes it's invisible and sometimes it's more dramatic." On most of the models, I could barely see the liner when their eyes were open, but I got a glimpse of something graphic every time they blinked.

The subtly cool makeup was accompanied by "undone ballerina" hair accented with headbands by Scünci and watercolor-ish nails using the next Tracy Reese for Sally Hansen polish collection. Overall, the look was a winner, and I'm excited to add a new term to my beauty vocabulary.

SEE NEXT PAGE: Day 3: White Striped Nails