Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is done and dusted for another year. Behind each 10-minute show there is thousands of hours work in preparation – including everything from designers creating the pieces, stylists putting the garments together, set designs being built, show scheduling and re-scheduling, media instagramming and posting articles and of course, the hair, make-up and nail teams coming up with looks to best offset the clothing.
Never before has a fashion week seen beauty and fashion fuse so well together. Alan White for ghd stenciled images from the Emma Mulholland clothing onto hair extensions, Nail Rock used prints from the We Are Handsome fabrics to create nail wraps and Maybelline New York even worked with We Are Handsome to create a special limited-edition range of make-up.
While there’s always going to be exceptions to the rule (think Romance Was Born and Easton Pearson), this year’s make-up, hair and nails were all about wearable 24-7 looks. 2013 was the year for natural and healthy beauty with references back to the 90s. We sat down with some of the prominent hair, make-up and nail directors at MBFWA to find out the big beauty trends coming out of this year’s Fashion Week.
MAKE-UP
Radiant and natural-looking skin
Luminosity was the word of the week at last year’s MBFWA, but this year it has been replaced with radiance. It’s more about radiance than luminosity this year– radiance is a really fine sheen pigment, it’s not about shimmer,” says Kate Squires from . ’s Nicole Thompson agrees, If I hear luminous, I think about shimmer and iridescence and I’m not seeing so much shimmer, it’s more about gloss – a natural radiance that comes out of the skin.”
Another thing that stood out at this year’s fashion week was that skin not only looked healthy, but it also looked natural. There were no signs of thick matte foundation. I’m finding a lot of designers want really natural-looking gorgeous skin but without a lot of effort, and not too much coverage on the skin,” says ’s Stephen Gaskett. Natasha Severino for M.A.C adds, It’s flawless, beautiful skin. Not much on there.”
L to R: Suboo and Maticevski.
Contouring and colour
To complement radiant skin, healthy cheek colour has returned to the catwalk. The last two seasons it was always about a monochromatic face. Now we’ve got blush all the way to the temples. Girls are finally looking like they go outdoors and have fun in the sun. The girls are happy and they’re celebrating life,” says Nigel Stanislaus from Maybelline NY.
While contouring has taken a back seat for Maybelline NY this year in favour of bronzers and blushes, it has been a standout feature for Napoleon. I think every single show we’ve done this year features contouring. You’ve either got these feminine, pretty peachy pink hues, or on the other hand, it’s taupe, latte sculpted contours,” says Squires.
For Thompson, contouring application and colour had lots of references to the 90s. Lots of stony taupes and nude contours and shadows around the eyes. Cementy taupes, which is a great throw-back to the 90s. Contouring under the cheekbones but also contouring into the eye temples, around the nose. We’re creating shadows, not a make-up look. No more pretty ethereal, it’s a bit more sexy, dirty, fun girl,” says Thompson.
L to R: White Sands and By Johnny.
Brows and lashes
While there were a lot of statement eyes at MBFWA this year, there wasn’t too much emphasis on the brows or lashes. Barely any false lashes were sighted and brows tended to be full and boyish but still soft. What we’re doing this year is a soft monochromatic brow – so it doesn’t take over the face whatsoever. We’re only filling them in if there are vast patches, if not, we’re just leaving them. Structured but soft,” explains Stanislaus.
It’s a similar story at Napoleon Perdis. Brows haven’t been a huge statement for us this year. It’s just working with the girl’s natural brow. It’s obviously still about a fuller brow. It’s about squaring them up on that inner corner and straightening them out so they don’t have that super glamorous arch – that comes back to those trends that show a little more androgyny and masculinity and that innocence as well,” says Squires.
Lashes have joined brows in taking a step out of the limelight. False lashes may have been an integral part of many shows in 2012, but this year there were barely any to be found. It’s either no mascara and that really masculine type of look or it’s about a sexier lash using lots of mascara and maybe a few individual lashes. Not false eyelashes, it’s an extension of your natural lash,” says Squires. M.A.C also hardly used lashes. We’re putting mascara on, but I find we’re not doing a big dolly lash. It’s not about coating them and making them really long and really gigantic. The lashes are there, but they’re just coating the lash rather than going over the top with them,” reveals Thompson.
L to R: Aje and Ellery.
Lip service
From nudes and naturals to full-on reds, pinks and even blues, there were no clear trends when it came to lip colours this year. Lips to me is a whole gamut,” says Stanislaus. We either have 100 per cent opacity from We Are Handsome and Watson X Watson to 20 per cent opacity at Michael Lo Sordo with a nude gloss. They’re going in for the lip but at different rates.”
While colour was ranging across the board, it was shiny and silky lips over matte. Gloss is back! Last year’s season it was matte – almost that chalkiness. I think the gloss is taking the statement away from the colour. Not a lot of colour, there hasn’t been a statement lip for us this year,” reveals Squires. For Liz Kelsh from , lips are in between the gloss and matte. It’s not so much a shine, it just has a very soft, silky finish.”
L - R: Watson x Watson and Michael Lo Sordo.
- Click here to read about the hair trends at MBFWA.
- Click here to read about the nail trends at MBFWA.