I feel like I’m just getting my head around our exciting Spring trends and I’m already falling over myself trying to keep up with LFW! But I wont lie I do love it – and continue to be inspired day to day but the fabulous new trends our clever nail supremo’s and make-up artists come up with year by year.
So I’ll start with House of Holland – hooray Henry – loving your work! At Holland, skater skirts and evening dresses were teamed with Houndstooth pink and royal blue nails complimented with deep red matte lips. Matte lips give a 40′s feel – I don’t think we started experimenting with glossy realms for a long, long time. And matte is easily achieved by the whole prep and prime kiss your lips on the tissue scenario. It has FAR more staying power than gloss – plus you won’t get it on your teeth – bonus.
One of my favourite hairstylists (Aussie Ambassador) Liz Taw was working backstage for Antipodium (she was on the Take That tour last year lucky b*ggar). The models hair was bed-head beach waves – something you wouldn’t instantly resonate with Autumn/Winter – but she loves to push the boundaries. I’m a bit obsessed with this look after sporting a rather softer beachy blonde these days. If you rough-dry your hair then spritz some salt spray, plait it and sleep in it, you should wake up with these effortless tresses. But, if like me you leave your hair too wet and it wakes you up at 5am because you’re cold and confused, resembling Medusa with random plaits flailing about everywhere – yeah, you get the picture – make sure it’s almost dry before plaiting to get this look. It IS very easy this way – just prepare for some funny bed looks from your partner.
Liz’s top tip: “Use fingertips instead of combs for this look. The key to it – is texture.”
Meanwhile at the other end of the spectrum Mr Jonathan Saunders used equestrian and ponies as his inspiration, which spawned the idea of a perfectly groomed, glossy vinyl hairstyle aka the humble ‘pony’ - a spiffing look for the Ascot pony set. If you’re a lover of a neat, prim style – it’s the ultimate groomed look for you – and teamed with a tweed Chelsea style ensemble – you’ll be hot to trot.
Whilst munching Propercorn (the fashionista’s nibble of choice) the Frow (that’s the front row to you and I) Cos Sakkas from Toni&Guy matched bright brazilian style prints with big, beautiful bouncing curls. He hailed it ‘A modern day Lauren Bacall‘ (my namesake) – and we can’t help but feel Kylie’s recent Stylist cover along with songstress Adele‘s bouncing bounce could have given a tiddy amount of inspiration for the statement look. It’s definitely a flirty one – just need to do the L’Oreal style ‘swish’ for maximum impact.
For a little while now bold brows have been in vogue, it seems Autumn/Winter is carrying on this trend. We’re going from steamy/post-workout shiny skin to glowing and luminous (note: not sweaty looking) Big brows give a young, androgynous strong look about and bold statement brows work wonderfully if you’re a sporting one of this season’s icy blondes, or 70′s style brunette (i.e ashy and very natural – not a highlight in sight!). We loved the look at Christopher Kane created by Lucia Pieroni for NARS – the fresh, natural look is great to copy for day-to-day and thick brows are easily achieved by feathering dark eye-shadow into your current brows.
Dick Page (yes this is his name) created TWO looks (greedy) for Narciso Rodrigues using Shiseido. One was a punky strong eye in yellow (gold) and orange hues, and look two was a naturally ladylike strong lip – in a deep plum and deep orange. The inspiration was based on the idea of two different women living in the same world but showing a contrast between pristine or mismatched (assuming that’s the eye look!) He said: “Models come out – and they’re individuals – you’re not sure what you’re going to get.”
We also liked the play on colour at Philip Lim by using red liner on eyes – Francelle Daly, NARS brand ambassador gave the romantic and edgy look pizazz by pushing beauty boundaries on eyes – and it worked.
So all in all we’re looking at sexy skin, statement matte lips and big bountiful hair and brows with a smattering of colour – but nothing too garish. Thankfully for us all – the trends are quite safe, sexy – and not to out-there so easily achievable – only thing is we need to get through this clashing brights/pastel/dip-dyed acid hair stage first. Gah!
