MY New York Fashion Week Experience

Lisa, Moni, Jenny, Toy- The Glam Squad

By Toy Taylor - I'm packing my makeup bag checking and rechecking making sure everything is perfect. For those of you who don't know me....I am somewhat of a perfectionist. Gotta keep things in order, you know? 

Anyhoo, I started thinking, um more like reflecting on my career as a hair stylist and makeup artist. From the beginning to present day it has been a pretty cool journey I have to say. And look at me now, I am headed to New York to do what I love to do...makeup! makeup!makeup! 
I had the pleasure of being part of the creative team for the Plitzs NY Fashion Week show. Yep, I was screaming inside and out.

Designer Lana May

Designer Lousy Rich

This is it. All the hard work with early morning call times, long days on set, and missing family time has led me to this very moment. I am beyond humbled and blessed at this opportunity to not only utilize my craft but to represent for

an incredible accessory designer Lana May of Art Bead Circle and Phoenix' very own fashion designer Breanna "Breazy" Skoon of Lousy Rich  who also brought her fabulous collection to

the New York runway. Their artistic pieces would be showing first on the runway, yikes!  There were over 20 designers showing that night which meant backstage was going to be a

wee bit busy. I was ready! 

First models up were Lana May's and then it was off and running. There were hair and makeup artists from everywhere. They had us neatly lined up ready to take on a ridiculous amount of models. 15-20 minutes application time was it. My squad worked their butts off. Jenny Alton and Lisa Dozier-Bonnington did their thing in the hair styling department. While my partner-in-crime Moni Monique Barrett and I were beautifying faces and chatting it up with anyone we could. She was the networking guru. This was our element!

Moni

For the next 5 hours or so we applied makeup for designers Lana May, City and Sky (Dallas) and whoever else popped up in our chair. And it went just like that. I loved every minute of it. The energy was high and pumping. It was as if we were all working together in one big salon. Hair and makeup going back and forth on one side of the conference room and the first showcase of designers on the other.

Maddening!

It was that moment when it hit me that all hell was about to break loose. It was close to showtime and things picked up real REAL quick. It was exhilaratingly maddening!

Model

I quickly learned my stage name "makeup"! We were on red lip detail for what seemed like an hour. Listen up fellow makeup artists, when a designer request a bold red lip, give them a bold red lip. Orange does not count. And neither does pink. For those of you who don't know me, I always come prepared. I had every  designers looks printed out. It clearly stated a BOLD RED LIP. I'm done.

Assistant to Creative Team Director
Katie

This NYFW experience has been the best 72  hours of my career. We all work so hard to get to that next level and now I feel like (a silly cliche) sky's the limit. To give the trip a five star rating, I got the opportunity to meet with local handbag designer Lynn Rosetti at her gallery in the Tribeca area. I was very lucky to catch her in between meetings. She had accessories designer Vanessa Lianne in house, so you know I snagged a few pics. Vanessa also had some juicy-ness to share with us. But you will have to check out my full interview with these ladies in my next blog. Ugh, what a highlight! I will never forget this experience. 

Oh and did I tell you? I rode the subway all by myself WITHOUT getting lost. Woohoo!!!
                

Lana May and Lousy Rich lineup at Plitzs New York Fashion Wee

Hope you enjoyed my New York Fashion Week experience. I know I sure did. Stay tune for our own Phoenix Fashion Week to kick off their Spring Into Style event on March 12. Ohhhhh you know how I love the runway! Come out and support our local stylists.

See you on the runway!



PHOTOS COURTESY OF MY GALAXY NOTE 5 aka MY BIBLE

A Look Into a RAW Artists Show

by Toy Taylor - I decided to step out last Thursday night to attend the latest RAW natural born artists showing at the Monarch Theatre in downtown Phoenix.  The RAW event is a gateway for artists of various artistic avenues to showcase their unique talents and originality. Again, this was my first RAW Artists event so my curiosity was peaked. For some strange reason, I was expecting a hair makeup and fashion show. Well, silly me! It was so much more. 

The show got started with the band iAm Jones heating 

up the stage with a bumping performance. They got the 

crowd ready for a great show. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Cheryl Dent was a big 

hit with her Candi 

accessory line. I was really digging her material 

wrapped  beaded necklaces. I wanted one in every 

color. Each necktie is

Cheryl Dent

hand beaded specifically for you. Cheryl was

absolutely adorable sharing her passion with 

the crowd.

It was a nice surprise seeing Jenesis 

Laforcarde's Woman's Touch Apparel on the catwalk. This young lady is busy busy busy. WTA's constant strive to empower women everywhere through her dynamic clothing line is remarkable.

Jenesis Laforcarde

Rapper Beatnic brought down the house. His performance had the crowd so engaged you almost felt like you were at his concert. Another RAW musical performer who sees sky's the limit.

4 Given Love Clothing line gave a strong yet humbling exhibition in the art of forgiveness. This brand stands to inspire others in changing the way we affect one another.

4 Given Love hopes to teach all the "ability to

forgive...to love someone beyond hurt...".  This 

message is a powerful insight into healing oneself.

Cherice Love and her sultry sexy backup dancers 

sizzled on stage. She sounded fantastic! Cherice 

came to put on a true performance. Her entire set

Cherice Love

was very well choreographed and executed. Once again, I was blown away by the performing talent in the show.

Andrea Perez line was elegant with an old world feel. Dresses were full of movement (perfect for runway). 

 I really liked the Tradiciones Dance Company with their 

ornate costuming. The head pieces with long feathers 

sticking out were jaw-dropping.

I was impressed they could dance without losing the head

pieces. The Egyptian inspired performance was quite unique.

Jalia 'Lia' Pettis

I was most excited to see 

Jalia 'Lia' Pettis on the 

runway. Lia, aka 

the Hazel Eyed Queen is 

a freelance makeup artist who comes loaded with a 

wide range of talent. Her knowledge of all realms 

of makeup artistry is astounding.

Her thinking outside the box designs were just that. To 

see her on the RAW Artist stage was inspiring.

Seeing fresh raw talent like this is ever inspiring to

keep striving for your dreams and keep moving 

forward. Great show!

Presented by www.chronicbehavior.com / @chronicbehavior www.facebook.com/FilmFashionFutures.com

Thanks to the Chronic Behavior team for their excellent coverage of the event. They are the team helping to support and promote the brand. We appreciate you for your continued support.