There was simply no doubt as to make up artist Gucci Westman’s focus when creating the look at Antonio Berardi. A strong, full crimson lip that was beautifully tempered by clear, flawless, almost-glossy skin. It was, for me, the lip of London Fashion Week. Created by first outlining, and then filling in, the lip using Revlon’s ColorStay Lip Liner in Red, Gucci then combined Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Kiss Me Coral with ColorBurst Lipstick in Really Red for a custom, graphic lip shade . “I’ll never do a full gloss again,” said Gucci as she daubed Revlon Shine City Lip Gloss onto the centre of the lip only, “It’s just so messy, it drips and is a disaster, in the middle it’s a lot chicer.” And who are we to argue? Meanwhile, a luminous base was created using the new Revlon Skinlights in Pink Light illuminator, blended with Dr Hauschka’s Facial Oil and the Nearly Naked Make Up for a barely-there, porcelain, polished skin.
If there was one over arching trend to come out of LFW’s beauty looks it’s this. Gothic, grunge is back for AW13. That means dark shadowy eyes, stained lips, a pared-back skin and textured, left-loose hair. The Wednesday-Addams-Meets-Tim-Burton hair and make up at Giles was a perfect scene-setter as MAC make up artists worked a bruise-coloured shadow around the eyes, nude onto lips and, whilst foregoing mascara, squared off brows into a strong, boyish shape. To ensure the look remains ghostly beautiful (rather than just ghostly), keep skin sheeny and lustrous, backstage MAC Cosmetics’ cult Strobe Cream was worked across the high points of the face for a fresh, youthful and dewy skin finish.
At Felder Felder, Max Factor’s Mel Arter created a look that was the epitome of London-cool. Rebellious but elegant. Inspired by the attitude and street spirit of the 70s Z-Boys (Zephyr skateboarders) it translates into an insouciant rock’n’roll charm that London girls do so well. Yet another all-about-the-lip look, Mel created the matte bright tomato-orange shade using a mix of Max Factor Elixir Lip Pencil in Ruby Tuesday with one of the multi-tasking Max Factor Flipsticks in Gypsy Red. Unlike the other strong lip looks, where the only hint of colour was placed on the mouth, Mel plumped for a soft, rosy cheek colour to accompany the lip. On top of a sheer sheeny base, created by buffing the new spring-launch Max Factor CC Cream onto well-moisturised skin, a placement of cream blush in soft pink into the hollows of the cheek gave the look a natural, worn-in feel.
Individuality and enhancement reigned at Christopher Kane where, using NARS Cosmetics, each model was made up depending on their skin tone and features. “We didn’t want to take away from the collection, but still wanted some definition in the face. It’s quite boyish, especially with the brow, complemented by beautiful skin.” The overall look was one of simple, fresh, clean beauty as radiant, glowing skin was created using NARSskin Optimal Brightening Concentrate and NARSskin Luminous Moisture Cream. Faces were further enhanced using the brand’s featherlight Sheer Glow Foundation and daubs of the new Radiant Creamy Concealer, where needed. Any hint of tonal colour came from NARS Blush in Zen and the Illuminator in Copacabana. Whilst lips were painted with a choice of Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Belle du Jour, Pure Matte Lipstick in Madere and Pure Matte Lipstick in Peloponesse. Simple, but stunning.
There was a strong sexy 90s rock’n’roll theme behind the look at Holly Fulton this season as MAC make up artist Andrew Gallimore channelled French actress Beatrice Dalle. Glossy, dishevelled eyes were creating with MAC Kohl Pencil in Feline and the new (and hotly anticipated) MAC Pro Eye Gloss in Black Sea, whilst those exaggerated, oversized red lips were drawn on using MAC Lip Pencil in Vino around the lip line and filled in using MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in High Energy as a base, sealed and mattified with MAC Pigment in Basic Red. But the best part of all. The drawn-in gap between the models front-teeth, that added that whimsical, “young girls truing to be grown-ups” touch that Holly Fulton’s collections never fail to deliver.
After SS13’s kaleidoscope colours there was barely a bright eye in the house for AW13. Thankfully, we can always rely on the playful palette of Topshop make up artist Hannah Murray for fun-loving rainbow brights. Inspired by 90s Brit Pop fashion, the bright blue eye at Unique was given a cool modern edge thanks to its less classically winged and more rounded panda-eye shape. Adding to the joy was the ease of application, recreated simply by covering the eyelid with the metallic blue eyeshadow taken from the Topshop Eye Quad in Game On and topping with the brighter pop of colour taken from the Topshop Eyeshadow Duo in Solstice (both available in May). The Topshop Unique girls were given a pretty flush of pink blush and a rosebud pout to keep the look pretty cool-edged look.