Every now and then, being a blogger allows me to attend some pretty fun and exclusive, insider events. And I always enjoy them – not like the sophisticate I wish I could be – but with the wide-eyed exuberance and delight of the 13-year-old that I really am inside! One of my favorite events recently was my visit with Jenny Packham at Chateau Marmont hosted by TRÉSemmé and Laura Mercier.

Not only did I get to have an in-person & up-close showing of Jenny Packham’s glamorous Spring/Summer 2013 Collection but I also got a sneak preview into Jenny’s Autumn/Winter 2013 Collection! Combine that with macarons and summer beverages…

getting runway-ready tips from the talented TRÉSemmé hairstylists & Laura Mercier makeup artists…and finding out that Jenny Packham is utterly delightful and you can color it a perfect day for yours truly!

Jenny’s Spring Summer 2013 collection was heartily influenced by raucous Las Vegas in the 1960s and the lovely ladies who held their own with the legendary Rat Pack. These Hollywood darlings – who were known as The Rat Pack Mascots – didn’t chase the guys in the pack, they ran with it. Women like Lauren Bacall, Shirley MacLaine and Angie Dickinson were regarded as equals by this bawdy boys club as they possessed an ravishing recipe of beauty, scrappiness, intelligence and independence.

This spunky, bold femininity they exuded is exactly what inspired Jenny’s vision for her Spring Summer 2013 collection. Ethereal silk chiffons in pale waterfall blues, soft eucalyptus greens, bold sunset oranges, full mimosa yellows, delicate lilacs and coqeuttish corals radiated on the runway!

The TRÉSemmé team created effortlessly beautiful updos. Chic chignons and low ponytails with a little edge in the front. Jeanie Syfu said, ” To get the look, we started blow drying the hair with TRÉSemmé Climate Control Mousse which gives the hair lots of texture, works on all hair textures, protects the hair and – best of all – works on all textures!  So we blow dried the back with a Mason Pearson brush….. side part, teased it just so that there was some texture and grip, over directed the front forward and then began twisting right over the eye.  That’s how you kind of get this dramatic sweep throughout the front, which Jenny loved! It was kind of the focal point of the hairstyle. And then we just began twisting all the way around the nape and then pulled everything into a low ponytail. We just made sure the ends were really polished and even though it has a lot of texture happening here, which I think makes it look very modern and fresh!”

As for the makeup, I was OBSESSED with the retro-yet-modern-and-sophisticated blue lid. So I had to ask Talia Shobrook for Laura Mercier what it was, of course! And here’s her answer: “ Ok, are you sitting down comfortably? It’s a black turquoise pencil and we set the pencil with Laura Mercier Wet/Dry Baked Eye Colour in Lagoon. It kind of has this sparkly look and if you look at it in the sunlight, it looks like jewelry. And then we used Faux Lash Mascara which is mascara that’s really voluminzing and we layered it on.  We let it dry and layered it on again.  Combed it through and then layered it on again. There was a lot of layering!”

One of the many things I love about Jenny Packham is that her collections are inspired by real, living women who are- or have been – influential to other women. For her Autumn/Winter collection, Jenny was inspired by the great intellectual salons of 17th-century Paris where noble and cultured women gathered to discuss the arts, the philosophy of Voltaire and DesCartes and to produce and shape the literature of their time.

Away from the protocols of court, these creative and enlightened women played out a social game where they alone set the rules. The Salonnières were admired and respected for their sharp wit and good taste and splendor and sophistication of their rooms reflected the passion and energy of the women that filled them. The rich tones and hues of these salons – and the women who made them come to life – are evident in the midnight blues, scarlet reds, sultry cinnamon and lustrous opals in Jenny’s Autumn/Winter 2013 collection. In each piece, the spirit of freedom that imbued these women is alive and as empowering as ever.

With the clothes powerful, Jeanie Syfu and the TRÉSemmé team kept the hair delicate, demure and pretty. Using the TRÉSemmé 24-Hour Blow Dry Lotion and subtle accents like a pale blue velvet ribbon tied around a low, loose ponytail, the legacy – and integrity – of these forward-thinking women was kept in tact.

For makeup, Talia Shobrook and the Laura Mercier team kept it beautiful but bare by using products like Laura Mercier Lip Liner in Baby Lips.

They started with Laura Mercier Multi-Vitamin serum to plump the skin, the Laura Mercier Makeup Primer – Mineral to prime the skin and then a clean, natural lip and eye. Effective enough for runway but wearable enough for red carpet and every day!

While meeting Jenny was one of the highlights of my life as a wannabe-fashionists, getting to take home a bevy of beautiful products from Laura Mercier and TRÉSemmé were like the candy on top to me!

I can’t wait to experience these pretty, pretty products and share them with you guys!

Thanks for a beautiful – and memorable – day, Jenny Packham, Laura Mercier and TRÉSemmé!

xoxo,

BF

BF Asks: What are your favorite products from TRÉSemmé and Laura Mercier? Which of these Jenny Packham runway looks are you excited to try?