As everyone settles back into work after all the craziness of Australian Fashion Week, BEAUTYDIRECTORY takes a look at the best make-up, hair and nail trends that popped up on the catwalks...
Make-up
Similar to last year, MBFWA 2015 saw heavy make-up looks take a back seat, with minimal, raw beauty emerging as the key trend of the week. According to senior vice president of makeup artistry Gordon Espinet, make-up has now become elemental, like a decoration, rather than being used as a tool to correct the face. “The trend is really about respecting the face, not trying to change it, but adding elements or embellishments to a person’s face so that she still looks like her,” says Espinet.
But this year, the ‘nude’ concept took a new direction. “Nude this year is a bit more sophisticated, more purposeful - it’s not nude for the sake of being nude. For example, in Maticevski, we had an early Victorian nude make-up - it’s nude with a purpose,” explains Maybelline New York make-up director Nigel Stanislaus.
For Espinet, another big trend is knowing when to say stop with make-up. “It’s like knowing the difference between having on a piece of fabulous jewellery or simply too much jewellery - we’re seeing that take place. Whether it’s a strong lip or a really plain brow or a specific kind of eyeliner shape, it’s that detail.”
While contouring was the word on everybody’s lips in 2014, this year, it was all about adding colour to cheeks. “Everybody has cheeks this year. But it’s about where you position it, either on the apples of the cheeks or on the cheekbones. This year, we’re seeing a lot of going down the cheek in a painterly manner, rather than going upwards on the cheekbone,” says Stanislaus.
Espinet agrees, revealing: “One of the things we’re seeing making a comeback is blush. I feel like blush really got pushed out of the water for contour for so many seasons - it was about sculpting the face and not adding colour. Now we’ve gone back to that innocence of looking flushed. Blush is pink and rosy and peachy, but it’s really about putting colour back on the face. Not to shape, but just to add colour.”
Flushed cheeks at the Steven Khalil show.
Skin
Never before has an Australian Fashion Week focused so strongly on skin. When talking us through the make-up looks, directors often first explained their skin preparation. “I think probably the trend that we’re seeing everywhere around the world is this focus on skin, and it’s a trend I’d say is driven by technology - everyone has this opportunity now to have fabulous skin. It’s not about a make-up look, it’s about beautiful skin,” says Espinet.
According to Stanislaus, the finish was velvety. “It’s a very fine balance between dewy and matte, it’s in-between - it’s kind of like when a baby wakes up and has that light sheen on the skin.” As Epsinet confirms, the look is very natural. “For a while, skin got really glossy where it looked like we used product to get there, now the glow comes from inside. It’s a much more natural skin versus skin that looks deliberately radiant.”
Natural skin at the Watson x Watson show.
Eyes
From false lashes to no lashes at all, the eyes varied quite a bit this year. “Lashes will always be lashes. We’ve seen the no mascara thing show up a lot, but we also see that too-much mascara thing. I think the idea of playing with lashes is very, very important,” says Espinet. But Stanislaus firmly believes the 2015 lash is about a lick of mascara on top - nothing too OTT but it’s not completely barren, either.
One thing that was noticeably missing in a lot of shows was eyeshadow. While some shows sent models down the runway with heavily coloured eyeshadow, when shadow wasn’t the feature, it was often left off the face completely. “Eyeliner is almost pushing eyeshadow out of the water a little bit,” explains Espinet.
Emphasised lashes at the Ginger & Smart show.
Brows
Brows are still very much in the limelight, but the ‘boyfriend’ brow has been replaced with a more natural full brow. “It’s innocent. It’s not about a brow that looks like the girl knows what she’s doing and has tweezed her brows and arched them. Even though we see what’s going on, like on YouTube and Instagram, with this really defined, shaped, methodical brows, in fashion it seems to go the other way, where it’s really about a girl who doesn’t mess with her brows at all. It’s about an untweezed brow,” says Espinet. Stanislaus agrees, stating: “Last year was the boyfriend brow. This year comes in a different form, but it’s still strong. Lighter and more feathery, but still strong.”
Untweezed brows at Jayson Brunsdon.
Lips
Lips had a major moment at this year’s MBFWA, with nudes , deep berry reds and everything in between hitting the catwalk. “There’s the runway trend of lips that could be dark, we call it ‘emo lips’, but we’ve seen red, we’ve seen purple, we’ve seen burgundy, we’ve seen orange, we’ve seen every shade of a lip,” says Espinet. It’s a similar story at Maybelline New York, with Stanislaus explaining that they’ve got berries, strong colours, fuschia pink, red, orange, tangerine… the list goes on.
When it comes to texture, make-up directors favoured flat, matte finishes. “There’s not a lot of glossy, glossy lips going on. Even if it’s a natural lip, it’s more balm than it is gloss. It’s definitely more about the stain. Again, we’re stepping away from make-up looking very deliberate,” explains Espinet.
Bold berry lips at Johanna Johnson.
Hair
The majority of hair looks at MBFWA can be described in three words: effortless, texturised and grungy. “There’s definitely a lot of texture in this season, that 90’s kind of post-grunge vibe. I think the key is effortless. Everything is effortless - not super-done or super-glam or anything,” says Redken hair director Richard Kavanagh. Fellow Redken hair director Jon Pulitano agrees with this, explaining: “I’m working a lot with these slightly greasy textures that give a slightly grungier feel. We’re finding that’s a big thing on the runway at the moment. Because all the clothes are so beautiful and so wearable, if you have really polished hair as well, it’s almost too much. It’s too matchy-matchy. Most people want hair that’s effortless now, that looks lived-in. There’s a lot of grunge - it’s all about natural, grungy hair.”
For ghd hair director Alan White, the 2015 hair look is reminiscent of an “it girl”. He expands on this idea: “A little bit of movement, a little bit of locked-in moisture. Not wet - it’s accessible to the woman on the street as opposed to being wet. Worn-in, healthy hair is where it’s at at the moment. We’ve moved away from the Victoria’s Secret and beach look - it’s really the same wave but with a beautiful finish. If you’ve got a head of healthy hair with a wave, you’re definitely on-trend.”
This season saw plenty of models sporting ponytails, but they almost always offered some twist on the original - whether it be extra balayage pieces added or a tiny braid down the centre. “It’s not just ponytails. If there is a ponytail, it has a twist,” reveals Kavanagh.
Grungy ponytails with a twist at Macgraw.
Nails
Nails this year were very wearable, but sophisticated in terms of length and colour. “The nail trend for this week has been clean, polished manicures, regardless of the colour or design. All Essie shows have had an elegant, modern or linear finish, whether it was geometric designs or a negative space mani. We've celebrated with beautiful wine colours, modern denim shades and, of course, classic nude and pink tones,” explains essie nail director Ali Magliveras.
Like with make-up, the trend for nails this year was very neutral. “Really clean, crisp, short, natural-looking nails. There are a couple of shows that are a little bit out there, but most of the colours that we’re seeing are very neutral,” says nail director Karon McKendrick-Taylor. While nail art was spotted at some shows, it was definitely the exception, not the rule, at this year’s MBFWA. “There will be some nail art around, some interesting little bits and pieces popping up,” says McKendrick-Taylor.
Neutral nails at Han.
