If the beauty looks from New York and London Fashion Week have taught us one thing, it is that this season is all about extremes: go big or go bare.
A convergence of past and present, Tom Ford resurrected the 70s disco era in NYC while Nensi Dojaka presented the modern woman, in all her sexy confidence for her London show.
These are the top beauty trends to try...
Fresh as a daisy
At Nensi Dojaka, you would be forgiven for thinking you’d wandered into a spa rather than a London Fashion Week catwalk show. Lucia Pica, Naples-born makeup artist and Chanel’s global creative make-up and colour designer, worked on making a powerful statement, that ‘simplicity can be strong’. She notes Dojaka’s ability to ‘celebrate a woman’s power’ as inspiration for the pared-back looks.
Pica used products such as Byredo’s All-In-One Refillable Brow Pencil (£35), Astronomical Mascara (£37), and Vinyl Liquid Lip in Fantome (£40) (which she applies all over: lips, eyes, and cheeks) to make the effortless look, actually effortless.
Bed head
For 16Arlington, it was the French girl approach to hair. Stylist Sam McKnight used the Cool Girl mist (£25) from his collection (Hair by Sam McKnight) to enhance texture and volume. His top tip: throw your hair upside down before you mist.
Emo chic
Tommy Hilfiger, whose show was a tribute to Andy Warhol’s NYC factory, presented another genre of pop culture: punk-rock. Re-popularised by artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and Maggie Lindemann, nobody is doing the resurgence quite as much service as Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker (who sat front row).
A dramatic eye and deep side parting may be winter’s new going out go-to. For a different approach, try a thick black liner as seen at Khaite and Jason Wu — think Amy Winehouse circa 2007.
Caught in the rain
‘Gel is making a huge comeback!’ says Sam McKnight whose lacquered locks at Richard Quinn were an ode to the late Queen’s ability to be ‘elegant yet strict and in complete control’.
Continuting this thread, the sleek bun (love it or hate it) is clearly here to stay. Stylist Jimmy Paul, who worked at the Jason Wu show, gives a step-by-step for achieving the perfect one: starting with the Olaplex No.9 bond protector hair serum (£28), which he quotes as being ‘a great base for any hairstyle’. To reduce flyaways, the Olaplex No.6 bond smoother (£28) and to finish, the Olaplex No.7 bonding oil (£28) for that high-shine look .
Celestial eyes
Metallics in bold colours and liner-like shapes enhanced the mythical fantasy that is Fashion Week. Isamaya Ffrench, the makeup-artist renowned for her incredible ability to work with colour, talks about her creative process. “Keep your eyes open. Don’t expect to find inspiration just from images. Conversations, music and reading can do more for the creative brain than looking at pictures.”
Ffrench whose work graced the catwalk at Poster Girl, 16Arlingon and KNWLS used a mixture of shades from the ISAMAYA INDUSTRIAL Colour Pigments Palette (£95), as well as some shades from an upcoming collection to create the looks.
