Make Up Director Alex Box | Report by Celine Bopp

Supremely chic, as the girls walked round the fluorescent light filled room, it had a sporty feel to the collection. The girls’ foundation was kept super minimal using a little MAC Studio Sculpt, and then the fun began! Using MAC Lip Mix in Yellow we blended a tiny bit on areas such as the creases of the arms and back of knees to give a bruise like feel. Then using a special effects’ product that was melted down in hot water, we created oblong shapes on parts of the body.  Each girl had an individual look, so some had shapes on their face and some on their legs and arms. Once it set on their skin we dusted MAC pigment in Reflects Teal, a pearly white, which was barely visible until they hit the fluorescent lights on the catwalk, giving flashes of light. Gorgeous girls, perfectly suited to Tait’s wonderful collection.

Makeup Director Wendy Rowe | Report by Celine Bopp

“Every season for Burberry the girls grace the catwalk with elegance and style, the look is effortlessly beautiful. Makeup Director Wendy Rowe created the look using Burberry’s own make up range. The girls all wore a very well blended light smokey eye using Burberry Eyeshadows in Almond and Taupe brown. A little mascara in Midnight Brown was used on each girl. The skin was kept fresh only given a tiny bit of a warm base where needed using Burberry’s Sheer Foundation. A gentle sculpting was used on the cheek, and Burberrys Lip Cover in a rose shade was applied very sheer on the lips. Absolutely divine.”

Makeup Director Sam Bryant | Sponsored by MAC | Report by Celine Bopp

One of the high points of London Fashion Week is always Richard Nicholl’s exquisite show, and this year was no exception. Here’s what Sam’s team leader Celine Bopp had to say:

“The girls at Richard, oh my word…sensational. Gorgeous lunar skinned highlighted girls, and the inspiration for Richard’s collection was from a unfinished film in the 1960s called L’Enfer. Think groovy chic, babydoll silhouettes, a simply amazing collection.

Sam created the look for the girls coming up with a 60’s feel, by taking a 60’s liner and adding a conceptual twist.

The girls had dreamy lunar skin, absolutely gorgeously highlighted, and a dewy, minimal base was created using MAC Face and Body foundation, just to cover any imperfections and give it a sheer feel. A slight contour was used on some of the girls if they needed it using a foundation shade darker than their skin tone. The lashes were curled and MAC Shell Cream Colour Base was used to highlight the girls on the cheekbones, bridge of nose, cupid’s bow, and every body part that wasn’t covered by clothes. The conceptual liner was made out of a matte black tape, cut out in exact oblong shapes and put in a titled placement on the outer corner of the eye. In the line up Sam added an extra highlight on each girl, using white iridescent powder.”

Makeup Director Sam Bryant - Report by Celine Bopp

London Fashion Week had its most exciting season in ages with amazing shows, both for the clothes and the hair and makeup looks. London is traditionally where the fash pack cut loose with their creativity and go for looks that are less ‘safe’ (as you usually get in New York, or even Paris and Milan). This season was no exception with lots of 90’s grunge references, big brows, outrageous back combed hair, dip dyed nails and even stick on eyeliner! The MM LFW backstage correspondent is again fabulous London makeup artist Celine Bopp who was on a number of teams this season, including Sam Bryant, Kay Montano, Florrie White and Alex Box, and we’re lucky enough to have the first of her backstage reports here:

John Rocha Look – Shadowy Androgyny

“Taking a cue from last season’s look Sam created a grungy shadowy androgen look, keeping the skin light and pale with shaded eyes and sculpted cheeks.

Using MAC Pro Sculpting Cream in Sand Brown we shaded inner, outer, socket line and under the eye.  We followed with a grey shadow, MAC Typographic to intensify, layering up the colours gave the look an edge, something interesting, grading the shades.

Using MAC Sand Brown Pro Sculpting Cream to sculpt the cheeks when needed, and followed by MAC Shadowy Sculpting powder to intensify the cheek.

The luminizer was MAC Shell Cream Colour Base dusted over the lips and cheek bones.”

Hot Like Rio!
Makeup by Kay Montano

The inspiration for the gorgeous, glowing makeup at the Issa show at London Fashion Week this season was Bo Derek in ‘10’. It was a super sexy, vibrant, colourful show (complete with Ana Beatriz in full-on carnival headdress and costume) and the makeup made the girls look like Ipanema goddesses. Here’s what Kay used:

Foundation

• MyFace MyMix foundation

Powder

• Jurlique Rose Silk Finishing Powder

Luminiser

• Revlon SkinLights in Warm Glow on the tops of the cheekbones

Bronzer

• NARS Laguna to contour, shade and sun-kiss the girls

Blush

• Stila Convertible Colour in Poppy

Eyes

• Chanel Eyeliner pencil in Brun-Ciuvre smudged into lashline and on inner rim of eye
• Chanel Ombre d’Illusion in Illusoire
• Chanel Inimitable mascara in Noir

Lips

• NARS Easy Lover gloss

Report by Celine Bopp | Makeup Director – Alex Box | Sponsor – MAC

As Alex’s assistant, Celine Bopp, so rightly says “The girls at Gareth Pugh… well, well, well! Another extravaganza from the Box.” Alex describes the look of the show as “religious iconography”.

Celine says “The girls and boys in the show this season were sensational, along with those clothes and the colour that Pugh sneaked into his collection this year was fab – black, gold and blue… beautiful.”

Foundation: The models’ base was kept minimal using MAC Studio Sculpt foundation to match the girls’ skin tone, and the cheeks were left relatively sheer and fresh so to see the natural skin flesh tone.

Eyes: The eye pads were stuck underneath the models’ eye, with either a gold or a blue winged out shape, using ‘secret material’.

Face Gloss: MAC Lipglass in Clear, and Gloss Brilliance was placed on the cheekbones and cupid’s bow.

The boys didn’t wear the mystery winged out shape under their eyes but they had amazing highlights and textures on their skin which looked gorgeous. We used MAC Studio Sculpt foundation, MAC Lipglass, Strobe Cream, and a few different MAC Reflecting Pigments to get the effect that Alex wanted.

Makeup Director – Alex Box | Report by Celine Bopp | Sponsored by MAC

Skin: The girls were given flawless skin, using MAC Studio Sculpt foundation and Prep + Prime primer.

Highlights: MAC Vanilla Pigment was used to highlight the face and mouth.

Contour: MAC Pro Longwear Eyeshadow in Beige was used to contour and define the cheekbone.

Eyes: A sheer wash of colour could be seen across the girls’ eyelids in cream eyeshadow in Blasé and powder eyeshadow in Lady Grey.

Eyebrows: A lovely natural but brushed upwards look was given to the girls’ eyebrows

Lips: Beautiful dark lips were the focal point for the Anne Valerie models, dark plum winey lips using MAC Portside Cremeliner to line the lips, and Prince Noir Lipstick. (This is turning out to be a serious season favourite, showing up on quite a few shows).
 

Makeup Director – Kay Montano

Vogue’s Beauty Blog called this show look “strange beauty”. Kay told me she aimed for a “polished and perfected look with a subtle edge.”

Foundation: MyFace Mymix foundation

Powder: MAC Prep and Prime powder

Eyes: Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in Black Ink. No mascara “as it gives a certain oddness which is interesting”, Kay  said.

Lips: MAC Prince Noir lipstick applied to the innermost centre of the lips and smudged outward with a finger, creating a black cherry stain which was both sensual and innocent.

Makeup Director – Pat McGrath

The YSL show is always considered to be a beauty bellwether – whereever Pat McGrath decides to take the models’ wearing Stefano Pilati’s gorgeous clothes, we can all expect to be following in her incredible footsteps’ next year.

This season there was a change on the lip colour right before show time – I don’t know whether we’d call it Lipgate, but the original, gorgeous strong violet lip colour was decided to be a little overpowering and minutes before show time Pat had her team remove the violet lip and replace it with a gorgeous, glossy nude.  I love both but as always I think Pat made the right call. Can this woman do any wrong?

Here’s what she used (all products by YSL Beauté)

FACE

Pale polished skin, very neutral, touch of shimmer on cheeks

• Teint Radiance N° 1 – Ivory
• Touche Éclat N° 1 – Luminous Pink
• Touche Éclat N° 2 – Luminous Ivory
• Semi Loose Natural Radiant Powder N° 1
• Highlighter – Ombres Duolumières N° 1 – Evenly Beige/ Astral Brown used on cheekbones to add touch of shimmer

EYES

• Eyes sculpted in taupe – Ombre Duo Lumières N° 1 – Evenly Beige/ Astral Brown
• Beautiful designed brows – Dessin des Sourcils N° 2 – Dark Brown
• and Dessin des Sourcils N° 3 – Glazed Brown
• Mascara Volume Effets Faux Cils N° 2 – Brown –  on upper lashes only.

LIPS

• Stunning chic coral beige lacquered mouth
• Sculpted with Touche Éclat N° 1 Luminous Pink
• Touche Éclat N° 2 – Luminous Ivory
• Rouge Pur Couture N° 10 – Beige Tribute
• mixed with new Rouge Pur Couture N° 36 – Coral Legend (available with the Fall Look 2011).
• Topped off with Golden Gloss N° 11 – Golden Whisper – or a modern “patent” shine

NAILS

• La Laque N° 14 – Transparent Pink

For more information about the products, please visit www.yslbeautyus.com

Report by Celine Bopp | Makeup Director Sam Bryant

Sponsored by MAC

The girls at Richard had very defined eyebrows, with a ‘finished and sporty’ glow, dewy and alive, but always cool.

Skin

The skin was perfected and kept cool toned using MAC Studio Sculpt foundation.

Eyebrows

Squared off and elongated using MAC Eyebrow Pencils in Fling, Lingering, Spiked and Stud (depending on the model’s colouring).

Contouring

Using three tones on the cheeks, MAC Cream Colour Base in Sand Brown to create the cheek bone, Cheek Matt low on the cheeks, with a touch of Ginger Cream Blush in the middle, all beautifully blended together. Divine.

Highlights

Beautiful highlights were placed on the cheekbones, bridge of nose, inner eyes, Cupid’s bow and chin using Vaseline and MAC Silver Dusk powder

Lips

Just buffed off with cotton bud and left au naturel.

Report by Celine Bopp | Makeup Director Sam Bryant

Sponsored by MAC

The theme of this show was a dancer, just come out of dance class, fresh faced and innocent. Beautiful.

Skin

MAC Face & Body foundation for a very sheer base, and only if the model needed it. Super fresh skin.

Eyebrows

Brushed up using MAC Eyebrow Gel

Eye

A tiny line blended into the socket line of MAC Evil eye shadow, barely there, just enough to see as she blinks her eye.

Cheek

A flushed cheek, using a mixture of MAC Lilicent and So Sweet So Easy cream blushes to make it look like she’d been working out.

Lip

The natural colour of the lips was brought out by mixing either MAC Lip pencils in either Beet, Dervish or Spice, with a little Vaseline, and then blotted to take out any glossiness.

Simply Divine!

Celine Bopp doing makeup at the John Rocha show

Report by Celine Bopp | Makeup Director – Sam Bryant

Inspiration

This season the John Rocha girls were just on their way to Glastonbury to work on the circus, a bit grungy fresh, with a conceptual lip. Feral eyebrows.

Skin

Fresh skin was the look, using MAC Face and Body foundation a fraction paler than their skin tone, so that the skin felt real on the girls.

Becca Shimmering Skin Pefector was used for highlighting nose, chin, cheeks and a wash over the eyelid.

Cheek

A fleshy coloured cream colour (MAC Uncommon Blush Crème) was placed just at the low front part of the cheek, just a suggestion, not heavy.

Eyebrows

Real hair was finely chopped and added into the girls brows to make them big and ‘feral’!

Lip

MAC Vino Pencil  was used to create the strong v-shaped lip, top lip sharp with a softened lower lip, giving it a grungy but not too grungy feel.

MAC Silver pigment and MAC Mixing Medium was used to acccentuate the cupids bow.

Finally a light dusting of Ben Nye Translucent powder, not too heavy, just to take off the shine.

Makeup Mole @LFW

Well not actually me in person if you haven’t guessed, but the Mole has her spies everywhere! This time around my superspy superstar backstage makeup artist is Celine Bopp, one of my oldest and dearest London makeup friends. Celine was first assistant to major makeup artist Sam Bryant for over three years, where she worked constantly with photographers like Tim Walker and celebs like Natalie Portman. She has also assisted Alex Box and Kay Montano on a regular basis for a number of years, and is a fabulous makeup artist in her own right, now working independently on jobs like Hugo Boss and McQ by Alexander McQueen.

For London Fashion Week this year she was on Sam Bryant and Alex Box’s team – here she shares with us the look at Betty Jackson (one of my favourite shows to work on. Great girls, great clothes and great makeup – what more could a girl ask?)

BETTY JACKSON
Makeup Director Sam Bryant
Sponsored by MAC

Inspiration
Think Patti Smith grunge, smokes a lot of fags and doesn’t pluck her eyebrows. Tobacco stained girls with a touch of Violet from the Incredibles. Amazing.

Foundation
Pale skin using MAC Studio Sculpt foundation

Brows
Thick elongated brows with MAC Eyebrow Pencils in Fling, Lingering, Stud and Spiked (an MM favourite!)

Eyes
Tobacco eye – Like a nicotine wash over the whole lid, slightly squared off at the brow, buffing in MAC Pro Sculpting Cream in Malaysia

Cheeks
MAC Pro Sculpting Cream in Malaysia was used as the lighter colour, and Pro Sculpting Cream in Sand Brown was used at the back of cheekbone to create the contoured intensity

Lips
Lip are nude by paling them down with MAC Lip Erase in Dim

Accents and Highlights
MAC Polished Ivory Paint Stick was used to create this, no shimmer!

Powder
Finished with a light dusting of Powder with either MAC Shimmering White or Translucent

www.maccosmetics.com

I think I might have mentioned in a previous post how excited I am that Revlon current Global Artistic Director is Gucci Westman. I’m a big fan of hers – she has the perfect career mixing red carpet work and celebrities with beautiful editorial work in the world’s most prestigious magazines (most months will find her work gracing W magazine, Allure, and more than one Vogue, amongst others.)

Not only that but I just like her. I see her interviewed and she seems like a really nice person – switched on, relaxed and just plain cool, like someone you might actually want to be friends with. (It doesn’t hurt I would probably beat her up in a bathroom for her wardrobe as well – but then she is married to Rag and Bone’s co-founder, David Neville, so I guess style just runs in that family). Not to mention she has pretty single-handedly revived my interest in Revlon which is looking younger and fresher by the minute, plus I love that they’re getting their digital on lately. The products are great and in the US/UK you can’t go wrong with the price point – not so much in Australia but cosmetics in general are outrageously priced over here, so it’s not just Revlon that is expensive in Oz – and compared to a lot of other brands they’re still downright reasonable!

And now without further ado, here’s a breakdown of the latest look she created for Rag and Bone’s New York show for A/W 2011/12 yesterday. The inspiration was an “urban eskimo”.

Face

• Revlon Cream Blush in Berry Flirtatious

Eyes

• Revlon Crème Illuminance eyeshadow in Wild Orchid
• Revlon Matte eyeshadow in Rich Sable
• Revlon Luxurious Color Eyeliner in Black Velvet
• Revlon Colorstay Liquid Liner in Blackest Black
• Revlon Smoky Crayon in Black Smoke

Lips

• Gucci Westman for Revlon lip palette in Bordeaux in the Snow (out later this year).

www.revlon.com

Stella McCartney for Adidas - Makeup by Kay Montano

It’s been quite a hard LFW to be away from this year – all my peeps have been doing gorgeous work in London on Richard Nicholl, Margaret Howell and Betty Jackson (all my old regulars, sniff!)

But I was especially sad I couldn’t be there for the Stella McCartney for Adidas show as it’s my old dream team – Kay Montano on makeup, Sophy Robson on nails and the lovely Katie Service busting out makeup alongside Kay. (And it was in a gorgeous private home in London as well, rumour has it the home of one of the A-list!)

However even though I couldn’t be there in person, I DO have the breakdown of how to achieve a perfect sporty glow, even though the models turned up looking decidedly lackluster as it’s halfway through the international fashion calendar.

Skin – No extra moisturiser needed as the foundation gave a creamy glow

Base – Myface Mymix foundation, applied from the centre of the face outwards with a sponge

Concealer - Myface Mycover concealer in the matching shade for the models’ skintone, applied to any redness around the nose

Blush – Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Pink Truffle applied with the sponge to create the ’30 minutes of cardio’ look to their cheeks.

Lips – Lucas’ Paw Paw Ointment

www.myfacecosmetics.com

www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com

Thursday’s fashion parade for Myer’s Spring/Summer collections was all glitter and mayhem backstage, with 22 makeup artists, 75 models, 7 manicurists and a veritable fleet of hairdressers all working their creative magic to make the girls look breathtaking.

New makeup kid on the block, Illamasqua, just arrived from the UK and selling like the proverbial hotcakes at Myer, was sponsoring the show so we were using all of their products to create the looks. We were also fortunate enough to have the Illamasqua creative director, Alex Box, here to direct the show, which is a rare treat.

I’ve assisted Alex in London and Paris for a long time so I was heading up the Ready to Wear section of the parade whilst she was looking after the Avant Garde Gold section. Dressed in the season’s hottest trend of nude dresses the models literally looked like they’d swum out of a golden, glittery sea. Genius hairdresser Brad Ngata did an amazing job on the hair, which was either loose, gorgeous and sexy hair for the Ready to Wear models, or for the golden girls slicked back with gold leaf through it.

We were lucky to get some of Sydney’s top makeup artists to work on the show as many of them are fans of Alex’s editorial work, so backstage it was lovely to see some of our major makeup stars working side by side.

Illamasqua very kindly gave every artist a full set of Illamasqua brushes so we were all getting into those, particularly the Contour and Buffing Brushes. I love the feel as they are made of synthetic fibres so they are cruelty free, super soft and easy to clean. This was big makeup so we put those bad boys to work!

Both the looks were heavily contoured so we used cream foundation to perfect their skin, and then spent quite a bit of time buffing in contouring and highlighting powders (key to both looks was the layering of products). Here is a breakdown for Alex Box’s Gold Avant Garde Goddesses.

Illamasqua Avant Garde Gold
All products are by Illamasqua

Face

• Flatten brows against the skin using soap and a toothbrush to create an exaggerated bushy shape
• Illamasqua Satin Primer all over face
• Using Illamasqua cream foundation about two shades darker than their natural skintone, start bronzing the skin with the Foundation brush.
• Contour the skin using Illamasqua Rumour powder blush (a grey tone) then work into the same area with Disobey Powder blush, a biscuit colour, using the Blush Brush 2 over the brow, up into the temples, under the chin and down in to the neck. The combination of colours is what brings dimension to the face.
• Using Illamasqua Bronzer duo in Glint/Burnish, dust the dark side of the bronzing duo over the same contoured area again.
• Use the lighter side of the Bronze duo Glint/Burnish, fill in the areas of the face that weren’t covered with the contour/bronzer to start bringing radiance to the centre of the face.
• Using Create blush, go over the chin, forehead, neck, ears and cheek area using wide, sweeping motions and a Blush Brush 1 brush, but avoiding the nose.
• Take Marvel pigment and a Blush Brush 1 brush to go over the whole face, but adding more gold through the centre of the face. Work gradually to build the colour.

Eyes

• Illamasqua Wolf Powder shadow is used first to get the shape of the eye, creating a strong contour shape up into the crease and over the lid. Take the Wolf shadow quite high on the crease, and use an Eyeshadow Brush to smudge underneath eye to make a dramatic round shaped eye.
• Using Gimp shadow, a matte black, go over the whole lid and up into the crease, with the Eyeshadow Brush, and under the eye as well. Make sure it is stronger on the outer 2/3rds and up into the crease area for extra drama. Soften the outer edges with a Blend Brush 1 underneath so it blends in with the gold on the cheeks.
• Line waterline with black Sophie pencil and smudge all around eye. Blend in well with the Gimp shadow.
• Spatter Solstice Liquid Metal (Gold) on inner eye corners and tear ducts using fingers and a Lip Brush. It should cover the inner 1/3 of the eye, and look quite organic. Take under the inner eye corner as well with the Lip Brush.
• Gold Marvel pigment goes over this, with the same Lip Brush.
• Harness mascara (black) top and bottom lashes
• No 13 lash is applied to top lashes.
• Use Gimp shadow with Eyeshadow brush along the upper lashline to make sure there are no gaps in the black
• Illamasqua Android pigment goes on the outer corner of the lid, just up to where it meets the gold on the inner corners, with Eyeshadow Brush
• Solstice Liquid Metal is painted all over neck, body and ears with Foundation brush.
• Spatter large craft glitter in gold randomly over hairline and neck and shoulders

Lips

• Gold highlight lip using Solstice Liquid Metal on cupid’s bow and Lipliner Brush.
• Add Brilliant clear gloss with Marvel pigment in it with fingers in the centre of lips.

I loved this show – incredible clothes (what we have come to expect from Alber Elbaz), and I found the aesthetic to be really interesting. This season the Lanvin team were playing with the idea that everybody is starting to look the same, which I think we can all attest to – the incredible rise in plastic surgery creating a veritable army of clone-like female “beauty”. By giving the models the same hair and a robotic black eye, Elbaz eloquently makes the point that fashion should also be about diversity. It might be beautiful, but surely we don’t want everyone to look the same? Nice to see a really interesting ethos behind a show. Hats off to Elbaz, Guido on hair and the redoubtable Pat McGrath on makeup (who, quite frankly, does it again).

For those viewers at home who would like to take this look for a spin, I would recommend:

• Bobbi Brown Black Ink Gel Eyeliner plus MAC Smolder pencil and MAC Carbon shadow to create the black structure to the eye
• MAC Pro glitter in Gold and Reflects Antique Gold for golden shine on the lid
• Benefit Hoola bronzer for contour under the cheekbones (no blush)
• Estee Lauder Vanilla Truffle lipstick for an expensive beige mouth, and Estee Lauder Clear Gloss for shine

Last Thursday was the Hugo Boss Black show which is the biggest show I’ve ever worked on. A total of 35 models (both men and women) walked the extra-long runway in a gigantic museum in Berlin as the snow fell outside.

Kay Montano was the makeup artist and the amazing British hairdresser Sam McKnight and his team worked their magic on the models’ hair. A total of  22 hair and makeup artists worked for 6 hours to get everybody perfect for the show (which ran a little late as Hilary Swank was chatting to reporters outside.)

It was the Scottish designer Graeme Black’s first season designing with Hugo Boss and the resulting collection was absolutely immaculate – androgynous Austrian model Iris Strubegger stole the show in a thigh high pair of suede boots and intricately beaded minidress.

The makeup concept according to Kay was “vintage Catherine Denevue via Kevyn Aucoin heavy natural, with noughties rock eyeliner”. Lips were classic beige courtesy of  NARS Belle de Jour, and it was the first outing for the new Max Factor Lash Extension mascara, which is my new must-have product.

Our final report of the week comes from Richard Nicholl’s show – predictably another standout show from the Aussie designer.

The makeup from Sam Bryant’s team was either a wash or purple or a wash of orange on the eyes. These were created using a mixture of textures – creams, shimmer powders, and pigment mixed with MAC Mixing Medium.

The show was sponsored by MAC.

Purple and Orange Eyes

Base – MAC Studio Sculpt foundation, with MAC Pearl Cream Color Base as a highlight

Eyes – Purple

Apply a  color wash of purple crème all over eyelid, from lash line to browbone

Mix MAC Fuchsia pigment with MAC Makeup mixer and apply to outer corners for intensity

MAC Swish Frost eyeshadow

Eyes – Orange

MAC Dusty Coral Paint Stick washed all over eye

MAC Basic Red Paint Stick blended and washed into the Dusty Coral

Blush – Powder blush blended right into the temples and hairline (the product used was a Mineralize duo that’s not yet available)

Lips – Dab crème colors over lips with fingertip and blend

Niamh Kavanagh was on Miranda Joyce’s team yesterday, for TopShop Unique, where the inspiration for the show was none other than Pamela Anderson, who is rapidly gaining a living icon status.

Hair was by the ever- amazing hair wiz Paul Hanlon and featured totally disheveled ponytails gripped with neon-pink bows.

Sponsored by MAC

Neon Pink Pumped up Lips

Base – MAC Studio Sculpt foundation, really minimal, only where needed

Lips – MAC Magenta Madness pigment, with Pink Shock Cream Color Base

The breakdowns continue! Niamh Kavanagh was on Charlotte Tilbury’s team yesterday afternoon for the Jenny Packham show, where the reference was grunge muse, Courtney Love.

This season MAC seem to have dialed down their ubiquitous presence at the shows, however even without sponsorship it seems no catwalk look is complete without a healthy dose of MAC. It leaves the playing field wide open for other companies – like NARS, Lancome and Illamasqua to sponsor shows, as the PR that follows is great for brand exposure.

Courtney Love Beautiful Grunge look – Charlotte Tilbury

Base – Very pale, using MyFace Fair foundation and MyFace Pressed Powder in Fair (which Niamh tells me is amazing!) all over face, down neck and onto arms for a Seattle moon-glow.

Eyes – Elizabeth Arden Smoky Eyes Powder Pencil in Smoky Black along the upper lash line, with no blending, and no winging at the outer corners.

MyFace Black mascara on top lashes, and slightly on lower lashes

MAC Clear Gloss all over top lid, up to the browbone, with a bit of the Elizabeth Arden Smoky Eyes Smoky Black liner mixed in with it, to create a shiny grey wash.

Lips – MAC Brick lip liner all over entire lip, then a mixture of MAC Ruby Woo lipstick and MAC Black Lipmix was dabbed on top of this to create a burgundy stain.

The look for John Rocha was very antique dolls – Sam Bryant’s team on makeup, and Sam Hillerby on hair.

Base – MAC Face and Body in C1, to make the girls slightly paler than their natural color

Eyes – Illamasqua palette in Solstice over the entire lid up to the brow.

MAC Gold pigment dusted over lid and into the crease to really add definition, and also up into the brows, onto the temples and over the cheekbones.

Then to make the shape more Egyptian, MAC Mixing Medium was added to the Gold pigment and worked into the inner and outer eye corners to make a more unusual eye shape.

Cheeks – Ben Nye Orange and Pink cream blushes, mixed together applied in an upside down triangle shape to cheeks, then blended well

Lips – The same Ben Nye cheek colors were used on the lips.

So the madness begins! London Fashion Week has kicked off again and I can guarantee that right at this moment hundreds of hairdryers are being used, lips are getting stained in all sorts of colors and mascara is going on lovely curled lashes all over this fair city. I’ll be bringing you the beauty breakdowns as they happen – the clothes, the girls, but most importantly – what eyeliner are they wearing?

Our first backstage report comes courtesy of makeup artist Niamh Kavanagh who is quite the lady in demand this season. She has shows all over town on teams ranging from Sam Bryant’s to Charlotte Tilbury’s. Her first show was Eon Jeong, with key makeup artist, Polly Osmond.

Eon Jeong was held at Somerset House which is Fashion Base Camp this season, and the energy backstage was off the charts! Alain Pichon was rocking out crazy big hair which is already looking like becoming something of a trend this season, storming the runways of New York and now hopping the pond over to London.

The show was sponsored by Loreal Cosmetics. The makeup was icy white eyes with a very clean base.

Base – L’Oreal’s Studio Secrets foundation, all over to even skin tone

Eyes – Studio Secrets white eyeliner inside and around both upper and lower eyelids

Mascara – Using the white of the Double Extension Renewal mascara to add a ‘touch of white’ to the lashes, top and bottom

Lips – Finish off with Studio Secrets lip lacquer 410 by gently pressing in to the lip with tips of fingers

With the Paris shows having recently finished, it’s time for the Fall ’09 runway Beauty rundown. 

If there was one strong theme that strode off the catwalks this season just finished, it was that Cool Rules. It’s just as much about what you don’t do, as what you emphasise. Case in point – again it was a season with very little blush, it was all about cheek contour at almost every show. Mascara was rarely used, and lashes were not really the focal point. 

What was happening was a strong, single element, but boy did that change! Orange lips, black lips, grey lips, berry lips (even green in one very directional London show, but that’s what London is for, right?) At Alexander McQueen red lips went ridiculously oversized so they looked like fake plastic lips (suspiciously similar to the oversized red lip Inge Grognard created for A.F Vandevorst last season). 

Smoky eyes came out to play in London, New York, Paris and Milan, but it was often paired with a glossy texture and almost always with an undone mouth (and you all know how to do that, right?  It’s concealer patted on with a finger. If you find conventional concealers too dry, try MAC Lip Erase). 

Dramatic 50’s flick eyeliner arrived in style at Dolce and Gabbana, Chanel and Valentino. At Lanvin and Dolce and Gabbana a wine red or cherry lip was patted on with a finger to work with the insouciance that has categorized this season of major economic uncertainty. It’s all about gleaming skin, and not trying too hard. 

A round up of the major looks: 

Tough Beauty – Lanvin, Michael Kors

Michael Kors

Warrior women at their best. At Lanvin it was a cherry lip that gave the look its structure, and at Michael Kors Dick Page constructed a beautiful smoky eye. As Michael Kors said “When times get tough, New York women get tougher!”

 Gray lips – Doo.Ri, Tuleh

This is a tough one for regular women to wear and it’s the logical progression from the gray nail trend we’ve been having this season. It’s in the air and if it’s on your mind, MAC do an amazing lip pencil called Stone, or you can pat on their Black LipMix but be warned! Go easy on it. It’s a short step from directional to dead. 

Contour

This is major, major, major. I can’t remember the last time I used pretty blush on a show. It’s either contouring with bronzer (a matte one please), or a brown gray powder, like MAC’s Taupe. They also do a great range of powders called Sculpt and Shade for this purpose, and these were heavily used at the shows. (MAC are the biggest sponsors of the shows around the world, which is why you see their products everywhere at this time).

Scary 80’s

Sessilee Lopez, oh Lord, what happened??

I have to talk about it, even though it pains me. Gucci, Alessandro del Acqua, Issa and (shudder, this show gave me the heebie jeebies), Marc Jacobs. I’m talking the full magilla – colored contour, winged eyeshadow to the temples, bright glossy lipsticks, strong brows, lots of base, the full 9 yards. 

When done properly this is a fierce, ruling look, but in the wrong hands (sorry Sessilee Lopez, I’m talking to you!)picture), it really is frighten-the-children, flat-out scary. And when the most beautiful women in the world look like aging drag queens, this is a look regular women want to avoid like the plague. A hint – if you are going to go there, keep the base minimal and fresh so the focus is on your major lips and eyes, and not on your Dynasty-like base. Krystal Carrington, beauty icon? Not so much. 

Gorgeous makeup at the Chloe show

I do have to give an honorable mention to the Chloe show, where Charlotte Tilbury created glowing, bronzey early 80’s winged eyes. What’s particularly interesting about this show is it’s such a departure from their signature natural no-makeup look. So if they’re doing proper makeup at Chloe, chances are good you will be too in the coming months.  But ladies, let’s do it right!

Return of the 1990’s

I hear you all gasp! Not possible? Oh yes, it’s come around again. But this time it’s taking the good elements and leaving the unattractive bits behind. No chocolate lip liner in a big old  nasty ring around the mouth. None of those bad overdrawn lips, or dead person brown muddy lipstick. It’s about taking

Matthew Williamson

1990’s elements – like lipliner and tawny tones – and adding modern textures and finishes.

Cases in point – Diane Kendal’s lovely makeup for Proenza Schouler. Brown cream eyeshadow all around the eye, a soft pink cream on cheeks (one of the few shows that did blush, and it was a welcome relief from all those razor sharp cheekbones), no mascara and lips patted down with concealer. The Matthew Williamson show had  a similar last decade ethos.

 And at the Graham Black show in London where Kay Montano did a shiny brown eye using Satin Taupe, and heralded the return of MAC Underworld lipstick which I believe was last gracing our lips right about when we were rocking out to Smells Like Teen Spirit. It’s Grunge, but not as we know it.