As another year of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia comes to a close, many comments were flung around backstage that 2016 was beauty’s “best year yet”. While traditionally, Australia is the last leg on the fashion week global calendar, this year saw it shift its focus to resort – becoming the first event to host an annual, organised showcase of resort collections.
The result? The hair and make-up teams took a step up. “Everybody is really excited about presenting Australia on the global stage and [is] going ‘let’s show off our own unique creativity’,” reveals hair director Richard Kavanagh.
Maybelline New York make-up director Australia Nigel Stanislaus agrees, adding: “Of all the fashion weeks I’ve done, this is the best one because it is so varied. There’s a little bit of something for everyone. What I can say is there is drama and lots of it! It’s been an exciting fashion week. In the past, there’s usually one make-up focus – like last season it was brows – but this season, it is going in all kinds of directions.”
Below, we take a look at the top 10 beauty trends spotted at the 2016 MBFWA.
1. Individuality
A key trend at this year’s MBFWA was a focus on individuality in both hair and make-up. “We’re seeing a trend of individuality – a lot of shows have two or three different looks going on as opposed to everybody wearing the same thing – and I think it makes it more fun. We can pick looks that go with the model as opposed to one look fits all,” says senior artist Carol Mackie. Kavanagh agrees, stating: “There’s not any one clear trend apart from this idea of an anti-establishment individuality.”
2. Skin looking like skin
This year more than ever before, there was a focus on the skin looking untouched. “We’re massaging a lot of good skincare on to their skin and then just adding coverage where they need it – but the whole trend for the season is about not wearing foundation. There’s a bit of foundation but not everywhere. Embrace your freckles, embrace your flushness on your cheeks – but just add coverage in the areas that you need it,” says make-up director Alphie Sadsad.
Mackie concurs: “For me, [the] key is always the skin; that’s what is tying everything together at every show –- beautiful skin that looks like it’s not even there. We’re using a lot of key products like Softening Lotion, Strobe Cream, Prep+Prime – all those products that really give luminous skin without looking like it’s greasy or shiny.
“We’re using Studio Waterweight Foundation – which is that super hydrating foundation that’s going to make the skin look perfect without looking like there’s a lot of product there. It’s not so much a dewy, shiny skin – it has that satin, matte finish to it down the centre, but you’ve still got that gorgeous highlight when you turn on the runway.” Lancôme make-up director Lara Srokowski sums up the look, stating: “Effortless and glowing skin where foundation was used to appear more like a second skin.”
3. Spidery lashes or missing mascara
Lashes went two ways at MBFWA: they were either full-on dramatic or there was no mascara to be seen. “Pointed dramatic lashes are a massive trend this week. Both top and bottom – we’re talking about three to four coats of mascara. Cameo and Emma Mulholland don’t have lashes, but everybody else – we want it spidery, spiky, clumpy – really quite crazy,” says Stanislaus.
M.A.C opted for bare minimal lashes, with Mackie revealing: “There’s been a lot of liner going on in the shows that I’ve been doing. Not so much mascara, if we’re using mascara, it’s usually using a finer mascara that’s really separating and lengthening lashes as opposed to a thick mascara. We’re not adding a lot of individual lashes or plumping up the lashes.”
4. Brushed-up natural brows
Gone are the days of manufactured brows or fully revved-up boy brows: “Brows were kept to a minimum with most runway shows using only a gel to brush them upwards,” says Srokowski. Sadsad agrees: “Brows are just brushed up. Still quite a full brow rather than a drawn brow – we’re brushing it up and then we’re using clear brow gel to set it,” says Sadsad.
It was a similar story at M.A.C, with Mackie adding: “It’s not a sharp brow. There’s a little bit of structure – we’ve been filling in gaps, we’ve been making them look like their own brows but maybe slightly fuller – so it looks like it’s a natural brow. There’s nothing really overly drawn, it’s not overshaped.”
5. Nuded out lips
With the bold lip only coming out to play at a few select shows, the week saw the majority of make-up directors taking out lip colour completely or leaving it natural with the help of a balm. “I’ve been ‘nude-ing’ out a lot of lips. Cooling them down so there’s not too much pink coming through,” says Mackie. Stanislaus adds: “The rose-coloured lip is not really a thing this season, so we’re pairing down the red and making it into a nude lip.”
At Bobbi Brown, lips were left to lip balm. “Lip balm is a good tint as it shows off the natural flushness on the lips. It gives a clear finish and we’re working with each individual’s colour tones – so rather than trying to change the lips and add too much colour, we’re just working with their natural skin,” says Sadsad.
6. Texturised grunge hair
Grungy, street and sweaty were three words often heard by the hair directors backstage at this year’s MBFWA. “We’ve noticed a little bit of grunge in our vibe this season and that’s because some of the clothing we have done is quite high fashion – if you go high fashion hair with high fashion clothing, it’s too done. We’re paring hair back and bringing that street vibe back. Undone, minimalistic, a bit greasy. The biggest thing is greasy rather than wet. If it’s a wet texture, it brings an old school feel to it,” says hair director Jon Pulitano.
7. Strong shaped strands
The ponytail popular in past years was replaced with tight shapes. “Narrow, compact shapes were a constant in hair this past week, as was hair that looked and felt like hair. Shows like Dion Lee, Karla Spetic and Misha Collection all had pulled back, strong shapes without a smatter of gel or a drop of oil – except to revitalise heavily fashion week-abused hair,” reveals Goldwell Professional hair director Dale Delaporte.
“Although tight on the surface, many looks retained that naturally healthy, silken sheen that helps hair glow and which women crave – an effect that is vital when teaming a beautiful style with a luxurious brand. Big, fluffy, dry textured hair is far, far out [from being on trend] and volume-less, compact, shapes are very in. Think Yeojin Bae, Steven Khalil and Rebecca Vallance. Whether they were up or down, they had a shape that follows that of the head with a gentle, natural and (dare I say it) effortless volume accented through the back with a hint of a random soft wave. A slight lift at the crown or the front hairline reinforces and slightly softens that strong shape.”
8. Soft, sleek effortless locks
In juxtaposition to the strong shapes trend, MBFWA also saw a key focus on maintaining effortless hair. “I think because it’s the resort collections – when you’re on holidays, the last thing you want to do is your hair. I’m doing four shows, and all four are about beautiful, modern effortless hair. Some are up, some are down, but it’s all that same base texture of really working with the girl’s individual hair. There’s a couple of shows with crazy hair, but most of the briefs from the designers has been about gorgeous, effortless, modern hair,” says Cloud Nine hair director Lauren McCowan.
9. Nude pure nails
Similar to hair and make-up, this year saw nails really focus on natural. nail director Karon McKendrick Taylor explains: “Nails are nude. This week there has seen a lot of bone colours used. It gives a clean look and it extends and lengthens the look of the finger so it makes the nails look elegant and long. It’s full coverage – a nice solid colour that’s not too see-through. The length is a little bit more rounder than we’ve seen in past years. Really natural. We’ve not changed the shapes of the girls’ nails to match, we’ve not used one tip, and I haven’t seen many artificial nails. There’s a little bit of art – [but] not so much. We’ve gone with the natural beauty and enhanced that.”
10. Misted-on realistic tans
The deep tan was replaced with realistic tans for the 2016 MBFWA. “We’ve noticed a scaled-back look of colour on skin. Rather than changing someone’s skin colour – it’s more [about] lifting their skin colour. This week, one of the biggest trends has been a more luxurious texture of tan, that oil-based nourished look,” says tan director Michael Brown.
“The applications have also changed, rather than going close to the skin, it’s misting tan. When a tan is misted on, it will fall on the skin in the natural areas where the sunlight hits, so it lands on the larger surface areas so they get tanned first and it looks very realistic.”
