Beauty trends we weren't expecting from London Fashion Week
Neon Fix
From elephant tails to ombré eyes, here are the eight most INTERESTING beauty trends that London Fashion Week has thrown up from behind the backstage scenes so far
Sun damage de rigueur
The fashion for freckles finally makes it way from the neck down as seen at Preen, where Nicola Joss, global tanning and skin finishing expert for St Tropez "took the delicate dusting of freckles down from the face and onto the chest, arms and legs."
Giant bows
Take a bow, a giant one, because it's time to super size accessorise say Sibling, under the helm of hair stylist Kenna. We love an Alice band n' all, though of this big trend we may have to bow out.
Ombré eyeliner
For Holly Fulton's faces - created in the name of "youth, elegance and modernity," explained lead make-up artist Andrew Gallimore - we think we spotted ombre eyeliner. From icy blue on the inner corners to an electric hue on the outer, yes Gallimore had taken the current trend for a dip-dye to the eye, using MAC's Chromographic Pencil in Hi-Def Cyan blended seamlessly into the Pure White shade by the time it go to the tear duct. We're now just waiting for eyelights.
Brideshead revisited
After a sizeable portion of ponytails (which even he admits he's bored of) it was only a matter of shows before international backstage hair stylist James Pecis did something different. But we had to wait until the Julian Macdonald show, where Pecis decided to veil the tightly cropped and braided head of hair belonging to the last model (wearing the £4 million wedding dress by the way) all over with lace cut outs for his take on bridal beauty.
Lace n locks by @jamespecis @julienmacdonald #hair #lfw said @stiffyhm. Photo: @stiffyhm
Evangelical sweat beads
Was it the lighting, was it the nerves, was it the thought they had another four days to go at LFW that had got the models into a cold sweat? No, it was in fact gel skin, carved and cooked into sweat-beads by Andrew Gallimore, the lead make-up artist for Teatum Jones who had spent hours the night before melting the creations in his microwave. Why was she sweating we asked? Inspired by a young Nina Simone, "the Teatum Jones girl is in an evangelical frenzy," he explained.
Photo: @andrewgallimakeup
Pearl finish Princess Margaret manicures
"Pearl finishes are the least forgiving. On little old ladies who wear pearl polish you can always spot every ridge and snag," admitted nail artist Michelle Humphries, the Maybelline nail expert who led the backstage pearl-on-pearl manicure team for Shrimps. But create it they did, with Princess Margaret as the inspiration: "The trick is to use a good base coat, and buff your nails beforehand," according to Humphries, and use a thicker polish just like Maybelline's Marshmellow. It's been a while, but we may just give pearl a whirl.
Elephant tails at Bora Asku
Apparently it's not just ponytails we'll be wearing in six months time, it's Nelly the elephant's tail too, as illustrated on the Bora Asku runway.
Photo: Isadore Montag
Chain Nail
Mariana Jungmann's manicure team decided to pierce nails and hang fine metal chains from the long, shiny tips like a gun-metal waterfall. Just mind how you text.
Photo: @_zeromagazine