London Fashion Week Beauty Blog - Fashion Week - Stylist Magazine

day 5

and that's a wrap on lfw.

It's been glam, it's been grungy, it's been ghostly. We've talked after-parties with Cara, seen the back of Rihanna's head, obsessed over new product launches we've caught a glimpse of and tried the future trends we'll all be wearing come A/W13. We couldn't have done it without Carl our amazing driver and our Hyundai Santa Fe, a never-ending supply of skinny americanos and a hell of a lot of MAC Strobe Cream. Now it's time for us to have a well deserved lie down.-SF

LFW is done, thanks to the brilliant Hyundai and Carl, who battled through the crowds at Somerset House, zipped through the streets of London like a pro and was generally a great sport about having his world turned upside down by us.

See you next season, and Sam, over to your for Milan. -AB

ASHISH

The inspiration for the show was, wait for it, ‘secretary on a building site’. Which we sort of adore.

make-up

Maybelline’s Sharon Dowsett opted for a neutral, sculpted, haunted look for Ashish. “By day five the models look a bit haunted anyway,” she quipped.

She actually used a darker concealer under the eyes to hollow them out a tad, and used Maybelline’s Fit Me powder over the top of the skin without foundation to keep the skin matte and natural. She then used a hint of silver in the tear ducts and a taupe shade just below the waterline. Victorian pallor at its finest.

hair

L’Oreal Profesionnel’s Ali Pirzadeh styled the models' hair into, what he called, a wind tunnel effect. It was tonged, backcombed, and pinned up into a magnificent fro-hawk - so '80s glamazon. He finished with ounces of L’Oreal Tech Ni Art Dust.

nails

Maybelline’s beautiful manicurist Michelle Humphries created mottled holographic nails, haphazardly placing holographic transfers on the nails in patches - like they’d been scuffed up by a bit of ad-hoc building work. -AB

we have heard wigs are big for a/w13

Meadham Kirchhoff

Oh how we love Meadham Kirchoff. Each season their beauty and fashion influences are more extravagant than the one before.

Bumble and Bumble's lovely James Pecis told us that there are a variety of looks, starting with a short punky Riot Grrrl fringe, morphing to a more grown-up, '20s vibe. James used a hefty dose of stronghold products from Bumble, including Gellac and their brilliant Gel Shine Spray.

MAC's senior artist Florrie White dropped a few amazing references when she talked us through the make-up look: "Young Karen Elson in ID mag, and Tamara De Lempicka paintings inspired this ghostly look, using greyish pigments on the eyes to add a sense of sadness."

Lips were slicked in a new shade by MAC called Once Bitten - a dark berry red. We loved it so much she cut a bit off for us to try at home!

And that incredible MAC Trend Forecast Palette I was raving about, above left. It's in today's issue of Stylist!

These will be adorning the hair if some models...

A cool MAC badge we noticed, above

Butter London's Katie Hughes uses the suggestively titled Come To Bed Red for a sophisticated, perfect red nail.

A moment of calm in the Meadham Kirchoff madness. -AB

maybelline's sharon dowsett takes the Stylist beauty quiz

trend on trial: the 3-day-old braid

Anita chats to Cos Sakkas who shows her how to re-work three-day-old hair into a Matthew Williamson-inspired braid...

ROKSANDA ILINCIC

It's the last day and backstage at Roksanda was an ammalgamation of all the trends we've seen during LFW.

Lucia Pica was creating another spooky, haunted make-up look on models, blending varying shades of brown cream shadows under and outwards.

Marc Trinder, catwalk stylist for Charles Worthington was busy knotting hair up at the back in a more polished version of the street style we've seen on the catwalks so far.

Meanwhile, tanning expert Jules Hepstonhall was in charge of finishing off the skin. Creating a look he called Grace Kelly meets Tim Burton he blended a 50p amount of St Tropez Body Moisturiser and £1 amount of St Tropez Instant Glow Lotion onto a mitt and buffed onto legs, arms and decollatage finishing by patting St Tropez Rose Illuminator down the fronts of legs and arms to create an otherwordly glow.

on the catwalk

new product alert

Charles Worthington Split Ends Binder launches June. Officially it glues split ends back together but backstage at Roksanda, Marc Trinder was using its cream texture to separate and add definition as well as soothing the models heat ravaged hair.

A sneak peek, above.

PAUL COSTELLOE

A little bit of romance to finish off an otherwise ghostly week this morning at Paul Costelloe. Attracta Courtney is using Bobbi Brown Creamy Matte lipstick in Hot swiping it on with the bullet then patting it off with her finger to create a "kissed off" look. -SF

on the catwalk

day 4

GILES DEACON

It was the second time today that Wednesday Addams was used as a beauty muse but that's how make-up artist Lucia Pieroni described this hollowed, haunted look.

Using two MAC Pro-Longwear Paint Pots (in Stormy Pink and Constructionist) she buffed and blended under and around the eyes to achieve a blown-out, diffused shape.

a special shout out today

Goes to hair star Orlando Pita, who let me swipe a bottle of dry shampoo earlier, to help me deal with the bad hair days.

-SF

over at OSMAN

Lisa Eldridge worked up a duo-metallic liner look using Eyeko liquid liners in silver and rose gold. A pretty look that may never have happened: the liners didn't arrive from Tokyo until 10am this morning.

on the catwalk

BURBERRY PRORSUM

Hey girls. Cara, Jourdan and Karlie get ready for their close-up.

Problem was, they had to wait a while to get into the Burberry Beauty Photobooth. Some annoying person was spending ages in there having their picture taken. Oh. That would have been me:

Wendy Rowe works a little Burberry Make-Up magic on Cara...

As Neil Moodie gets to work on Jourdan's hair...

Accents of gold run through the collection, so Wendy incorporated that onto the skin using differing golden shades on the eyes, amping up the skin with a subtle glow and finishing with a slick of Nude Kiss lipstick, a shade Wendy described as trench coat-like.

heard backstage...

...Cara excitedly telling Jourdan that this year, they might actually be allowed to keep the trench coats.

best of british...

Backstage food at Burberry...

-SF

SOPHIA WEBSTER

Say hello to My Little Pony hair and make-up.

Is this one you'll be trialling?

ERDEM leaves his comfort zone

This season, Erdem chose a brand new hair and make-up team in the form of the fabulous Luke Hersheson and Hannah Murray, two of team Stylist's favourites. Even (one of the world's top designers) can get in a style rut, so it was up to these two to pull him out of his comfort zone.

In the past Erdem has favoured hair-up styles and graphic liners but this season Luke persuaded him to let the hair down (he gave each girl a quick trim so the ends were blunt and added tonnes of shine too, using L'Oreal Professionnel Crystal Gloss), while Hannah talked him into a softer more ghostly look.

exclusive

In an exclusive one-to-one chat with Hannah, she explained that this season, Erdem's girl remains beautiful but she has a kookiness to her. Think a grown-up Wednesday Addams.

Washing a dove grey cream shadow along the lids and right up to the brows, she then took a bluey eyeshadow from the Nars Iceland Duo compact and added to the inner corner. It's this juxtapositioning of tones and textures that makes a look modern. Ghostly Glam.

Erdem's beauty muse, Wednesday Addams, above

beauty girls on the FROW

It's very rare that us beauty girls get the chance to stay and watch a show (as one show is about to start, we're out the back door and onto our next backstage) but today, with a bit of a gap between backstages at Erdem and Burberry, I actually had a chance to watch one of my favourites. And look who I was sat next to.

Thank you to Nars for my place on the FROW.

on the catwalk

-SF

npa

New Product Alert:

I bumped into James Read backstage at Louise Gray giving lucky models a taste of his new launch: the Top Coat Tan. A clear gel meets serum with a tiny amount of gradual tanner in that infuses skin with hydrating properties AND leaves a subtle glossy sheen. Sadly this multi-tasking tanning miracle doesn't launch until 2014. Hence the picture of the cupcakes, James was using lab samples in white unlabelled bottles.

reality rules at CHRISTOPHER KANE

See a familiar face?

Yep, that's Guido (see my NYFW blog from last week) who's flown all the way from NYC to do the hair at Christopher Kane. Taking this "reality" trend to the extreme, he asked each girl to wash their hair before they arrived and let it dry naturally so that he could see their natural texture. If it was too straight he added a bit of a bend with a Babyliss wand and....that's it.

-SF

on the catwalk

all these and it's not even lunch time...

trend on trial: real girl updo

If you've been reading closely, you'll have noticed that when it comes to A/W13 hair, in London it's all about the way real girls, aka us, wear our hair. But there's always room for a little extra help.

Take it away, Toni & Guy's Efi Davies....

ANTONIO BERARDI

With a US power team at the beauty helm you wouldn't expect better than the best. And that's what we were met with backstage at Berardi.

As Orlando Pita blew hair straight using John Frieda Luxurious Volume Fine to Full Blowout Spray (my current favourite, this WORKS) he tucked it behind the ears and spritzed with shine spray.

Meanwhile Gucci Westman (the lady behind our amazing eastern inspired shoot in last week's issue) was getting busy adding layers and highlights to the skin using different textures.

"I'm blending Revlon Skin Lights into Dr Hauschka moisturiser and buffing into the skin," she told me. "On top of that I'm adding a mix of Revlon Nearly Naked liquid foundation with powder swirled in."

Gucci, above, sure knows how to give good skin.

Adding a statement red lip, Gucci finished off with a slick of clear gloss on lips and eyes.

That's another glossy eye guys!

Backstage at Berardi I bumped into Iris van Berne, a model who knows her beauty stuff, carrying her own make-up remover (Bioderma, a beauty ed.'s fave), moisturiser and cotton wool. Iris we salute you.

new product alert:

Double-ended eye liners from Revlon...

Launching Autumn. Make room in your makeup bag!

on the catwalk:

-SF

it smells like

Fashion...

The wafting fragrance of Diptyque's Opopanax candle, top left, set the mood at Antonio Berardi's show this morning, while the French perfume house's 34 Room Spray, right, will be Christopher Kane's odeur du jour later today. Both Henry Holland,and Victoria Beckham went for Fig at their shows.

my new favourite thing

This made me smile on my way to a 7am backstage call time for Peter Pilotto. What do you reckon? The UK's new girl band?! -SF

day 3

MARIOS SCHWAB

hair

L'Oreal Professionnel's Anthony Turner is a bit of a beauty journo crush. He's just so darn nice. At Marios Schwab, despite being frantic, he stopped to explain the crimped ponytail look he'd created, using plenty of hairspray, fresh dust and evoking a wistful modern romance. *sigh*

make-up

"It's been a long day, hasn't it?" says MAC supremo Val Garland. I've seen Val at varying points during today, and seen all the amazing looks she's created. Though this is one of the more simple, it's still extremely clever:

The bone-coloured contour on the crease of the eye is angled in a point to play with the shape of the eye. "It's medieval futurism," Val explains.

Val shows me the medieval influence for the make up, above right

on the catwalk

I definitely see where she's coming from, but by this point I feel like I'm starting to hallucinate with tiredness and lack of food. See you tomorrow for day 4! -AB

RICHARD NICOLL

make-up

Over to Richard Nicoll and Maybelline's make-up artist Sharon Dowsett showed us another sultry grey eye (we've seen a fair few of those so far) softened up to the brow with a simple BB cream base. Sharon told us that Richard hates mascara, so that wasn't used, but Vaseline was dabbed anywhere that needed a little lift.

hair

Using L'Oreal Paris, ounces of Studio Line Architect Wax and Elnett Diamond Hairspray, hair stylist Shon created a revamped 21st century woman with a dual-textured sleek style. Et voila. -AB

nails

Maybelline's Anatole Rainey fused two shades together to create this nude/graphite that's perfectly sheer:

-AB

PAUL SMITH

make-up

We were in and out in a flash for Paul Smith. Last season the luminous neon red pout was the talk of the beauty town, this season it's a much more feminine look, MAC's senior make-up artist Petros Petrohilos explained. It's a berry lip, darker in the centre with eyegloss daubed on the lids. We also saw a sneaky peak of the new MAC forecast palette in use, and you can find out about in this week's issue of Stylist! Probably the most exciting palette we've ever seen!

New product alert: Obsessed with this eyegloss (above right). Release date tbc. Oh MAC, I do hope it's soon. Please, I need this! -AB

hair

Sam McKnight went for a slightly textured, natural girl next door look. It's healthy and effortless he told us, half up, half down. But entirely covetable.

on the catwalk

-AB

MATTHEW WILLIAMSON

We expect pretty, playful and elegant from Matthew - like a true gent he always delivers. On hair duty, Cos Sakkas from Toni & Guy told us that Matthew's inspiration was the northern lights, and as we scanned about the room all we could see was mesmerising rail after rail of the most dazzling, jewel-encrusted gowns in a sea of blue shades.

hair

In contrast, Cos kept the hair simple, cool and textured. A long plait with visible kirby grips, finger marks and plenty of texture: "It's Sunday girl hair," he told us.

make-up

Over to make-up and Lisa Eldridge had gone for a sepia-inspired pretty look, using Benefit's Brow Zings as a shadow.

There were plenty of moonlit highlights, creamy textures and Benefit's Fake Up concealer (making its LFW debut - this concealer is uh-mayzing, trust) to make sure the skin looked ethereal and flawless. '

on the catwalk

'-AB''

matthew williamson takes the stylist backstage beauty quiz

Ahead of his shimmering, snow-filled 6pm show, Matthew took time to fill in Stylist's beauty quiz:

JONATHAN SAUNDERS

Bit of a stress-fest backstage at Jonathan Saunders, but we did accost this beautiful young model to capture a shot of her worn-in, '50s-inspired make-up:

MAC's Lucia Pieroni ran us through the look, using the Tarnished eye pencil, smudged upwards. It's meant to look lived-in, she told us.

A nude lip colour and highlights in the cheeks finished the look, but by far, her greatest tip was lash related: use black mascara on the base of the lashes to define, without adding length. That's the way to do the no mascara look we've been seeing so much of. A/W 2013 will be a sad time for my mascara wardrobe. -AB

MARY KATRANTZOU

hair

Wella's Eugene Souleiman being the hair genius that he is, created an architectural fringe out of glued-on hair wefts with a simple swingy texturised ponytail.

Eugene couldn't praise Mary highly enough, but did say the hair tests before the show were fairly exhausting.

make-up

MAC's Val Garland used a white pencil around the eyes, with a sheer foundation and a cellophane-like gloss on eyelids using their new Supergloss - part of the A/W 2013 collection - in Mother Of Pearl. Cannot wait until this product launches.

sneaky shot of one of the gowns...

on the catwalk

-AB

MARK FAST

Taking inspiration from the feathered detail in the clothing, Shu Uemura make-up artist Shinobu wanted to create a birdlike feel on the eyes.

She traced a navy Shu Uemura eye pencil around the eyes in an almond shape (I spy a trendette!) for a more elegant feel and applied mascara to the last third of the lashes only for a glittery, feathered effect.

Remember my highlighting blog post yesterday? Well, Shinobu explained she was using three different highlighting textures on the cheekbones to make skin look lit from within...

First: she used Shu Umeura's UV Underbase - an iridescent mousse-like primer.

Then: she blended an ivory-coloured cream shadow on top

Finally: she patted Shu Uemura lipstick in White 001 on top.

I know what I'll be trying tonight. -SF

backstage for the Mark Fast show is...

Um, a bedroom at the Me Hotel...

on the catwalk

TOPSHOP UNIQUE: northern girls know how to have a good time...

make-up

"Imagine that we're in a pub in Manchester, it's the early '90s, Britpop is cool and the girls want to be like Justine from Elastica," explained Hannah Murray, creative director of Topshop Makeup.

To get this look, Hannah layered shades and textures. Starting with a wash of a sheer metallic grey cream shadow from the new Topshop Make-Up quads (out this weekend), she swiped it across the lid in an elongated, almond-like shape and then pushed a blue, powder shadow on top to amp-up the intensity, before finishing with a thin line of black liner. Mixing it up even further, Hannah added a dash of Lip Cream in Smart (a sheer burgundy shade) onto the tops of the cheeks.

Over to hair. Anthony Turner (still standing, and still smiling, after this morning's early start) explained the look: "they're good time girls, they've been partying all night and just rolled home. They went out with sexy hair amped-up with volume but had a good old romp around since then."

His inspiration? "The new supermodels. Look at girls like Cara and Jourdan. They're young, they're having fun, they like to party. They're much younger and fresher than the supermodels of the past. They know how to have a good time, they give off that energy. I wanted to capture that." -SF

Accessories designer extraordinaire Claire Uzan talks Jourdan Dunn through the details, above. Rumour has it there's an inbuilt spy-camera in the bag she's carrying down the runway...

sir phil arrives for the show:

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD RED LABEL

on the catwalk

make-up

Val Garland works her Jean Cocteau-inspired magic. "I love this show, it's always mad and colourful," Val tells me. She's right - we've seen so much grey, beige and nude that it's so refreshing to see something utterly fabulous and creative.

hair

Toni & Guy's Mark Hampton creates tightly ringed curls at Westwood using heated tongs, pinning the curls and the releasing them into a Fifties inspired flowing cascade:

nails

Marian Newman uses Nail Rock's ombré nail wraps then, using a mini spray gun, continues the colour up the fingers and hands.

getting ready for the show...

Crowds gather outside as models (and hungry beauty journalists) tuck into healthy fare backstage, above. -AB

trend on trial: grunge-inspired waves

Richard Mannah from Toni & Guy shows me how to get this season's grunge-inspired relaxed waves and shares his tips for boosting the volume of fine hair. -AB

val garland takes the stylist beauty quiz

Revelation of fash week, Val collects dolls, toys, pigs and doll parts. At Christmas she has five trees, one of which is a doll limb tree. That's creepy, even by my standards Val. -AB

Val Garland gives us a piece of her mind, above.

TEMPERLEY

Based on a Hitchcock heroine, acclaimed hair stylist Malcolm Edwards creates two ponytails and wraps them around each other to create an elegant yet edgy updo using L'Oreal Professionnel products:

Meanwhile, Remington session stylist Chris Appleton is hard at work and Headless Harriet (bottom left) is back again for another season. She's quite a looker:

-AB

on the catwalk

WHISTLES

Heeeeey Jenny Longworth and James Pecis...

Backstage at Whistles' first show was weirdly calm and quiet so Revlon nail artist Jenny and I had a bit of a joke around with US hair-stylist James Pecis (on every beauty gal's hot list) while he took the Stylist Backstage Beauty Quiz, above. -SF

MULBERRY

make-up

When I wasn't chatting to Cara, I was busy getting the lowdown from Mathias Van Hooff on make-up. Here's his guide to Mulberry beauty....

L'Oreal Paris CC Cream: It's halfway through the week so models' skin isn't at its best. This removes any redness and gives a nice even base to work with.

L'Oreal Paris True Match Foundation and Concealer: Slightly heavier foundation, gives a more polished look to the skin than we've gone for in past seasons.

L'Oreal Paris Eye Pencil in Chocolate Addiction: I'm pulling this out at the outer edges; it's a sexy, slightly smudged elongated eye.

L'Oreal Paris False Lash Flutter Mascara: I'm applying three coats for really full lashes.

cara takes the stylist backstage beauty quiz

Officially the biggest model of the moment, the even-more-beautiful-in-real-life Cara Delevingne had no problems taking our quiz. Despite only getting in from The Box at 4am where she'd been partying hard with best mate Rihanna. It's 8am now. That's FOUR hours ago. Hardcore.

cool girl hair

"Its just really great hair. It's undone, its shiny, it's healthy," Sam McKnight told me, "it's the kind of hair cool girls have, it's not curly or straight its kind of nothingy but it looks good."

And the key the getting cool-girl hair? Don't try too hard, "Its about getting a good texture. I'm using a little Sebastian Mousse for hold and a bit of volume and rough drying it with my fingers." But Sam also let me in on a little secret: Magic Move.

It's a magically texturising Japanese hair pomade that he runs through the ends for to add natural looking body.

welcome to the mulberry show...

Breakfast Mulberry girl stylee.

on the catwalk

-SF

9:40am

Mega early for Temperley at midday, what a keeno. Time for some life admin (er, people watching) in Pret -AB

I left the heating on all night by mistake (sorry, planet) so awoke feeling like a sun dried raisin - shrivelled and dehydrated.

This new cellulite product from Clarins might be designed to tackle the dreaded dimple, but, it feels so tingly and refreshing that it completely transformed my mood. I genuinely felt more energetic - perhaps this is the key to making me go to the gym of a morning? -AB

HOLLY FULTON

f*ck you attitude

Yes indeedy. That was how Andrew Gallimore described the makeup look backstage.

"She's a girl trying to be a woman doing what she thinks a grown-up would do."

French actress Béatrice Dalle's full mouth and gap tooth inspired the look, on the catwalk above

That means lashings of MAC Pro Eye Gloss in Black Sea slicked across the lids, five coats of lashes and a matted down powerful red lip. Oh, and a faux gap painted on between the teeth. Love. But not as much as I love the hair by Shon. A super easy, cool-girl-don't-care knotted 'do. This may be my next trend to trial.

the complex catwalk

Who says models have it easy?

New brand alert: Morgan Taylor nailpolish in LBD and Firecracker, below. Launch June.

-SF

PREEN

7:30am Day three and the Real Girl trend seems to running right through. At Preen this morning, Anthony Turner was all for creating a sense of accessibility with the hair, "it's nothing too fantastical, she's real, just a better version of most people's real," he explained.

A light spritz of L'Oreal Professionnel Tec Ni Art Pli rough dried into hair and a little Fresh Dust at the roots was all it took to give hair a light, airy, virgin-like feel. -SF

nails

Butter London's founder Katie Jane Hughes created a custom-blend pinky-nude nail that complemented the fresh, cool feel of Preen's hair and make-up:

on the catwalk

last blog of day 2 -AB

Night falls over Somerset House. It's so atmospheric here as the sky darkens and the frenetic buzz drops to a more relaxing pace. And relax -AB

RIHANNA FOR RIVER ISLAND

the back of riri!

Tight security doesn't even come close. We had a total of 10 minutes backstage at Rihanna's debut clothing line for River Island - as you can tell by my somewhat random and hasty shots.

make-up

MAC's Sam Bryant tailored the look to each girl, using a cherry lip pencil on top of Ruby Woo (best red lipstick ever, fact). Some girls had a strong black brow, some didn't, but the skin was glossy, contoured and looked radiant as the light bounced off it.

hair

Bumble and Bumble's Johnnie Sapong was busy cutting this model's hair as he chatted the huddled throng of beauty journalists through the looks. He said it was '90s inspired, flashes of dark or blonde hair coming from underneath or on top, like, as Johnnie pointed out to everyone, my hair. (I'd like to think I'm the hair muse for the show....but I'd be lying to myself really.) The textures were tomboyish and spirited, enhancing the girl's individual personalities which is pretty rad, we feel. -AB

on the catwalk

last blog of day 2 - SF

Twelve hours of shows later and that's me done. While Anita heads off on a Rhi-Rhi hunt backstage at Rhianna for River Island, I'm off home for a sushi takeaway in my PJs. So un-fashion right? I'll be back and bringing you more reports tomorrow starting with Preen at 7.30am. On a Sunday. Valid excuse for a pyjama party if ever I heard one.

the london look: reality hits

Day 2 has thrown up a bit of a trendette. Where NYFW had us tripping over the amount of ladylike references bandied about, LFW seems to be going for an altogether easier vibe. And were not complaining. The word on the street today was 'real' with hairstylists forgoing perfection for something a bit more lifelike...

At David Koma, hair-stylist Kenna tied hair with black elastic bands, explaining "it's all part of the nonchalance of the look, I want it to be like the girls done it herself, not a hairdresser."

You can't get more low-maintenance than the morning after the night before hair on display over at House of Holland.

Sam McKnight's key aim at Moschino Cheap and Chic was to make hair look like the models had twisted it up themselves. He purposefully made sure to use products and hair bobbles/grips that everyone has at home reinforcing this attitude. -SF

up all night at HOUSE OF HOLLAND

The Invite...

HOH is always a favourite of mine not only for the pure fun factor that he brings but also his taste in beauty pros.

make-up

Lucia Pica (her of the amazing gunmetal glossy eye at Antipodium this morning) explained that this season, Henry's girls have been out partying all night. Their skin is bare, their eyelids sweaty (that'll be the Vaseline) and remnants of last night's eye makeup are still clinging on.

Now, one wouldn't think we would need much help in creating this, but Henry's girls aren't your usual dirty stop outs. They upped the glam factor stakes in a major way - to create the effect of leftover glitter, Lucia tapped MAC Pro Glitters in Fuchsia and Pink onto the inner corners of the lid with her finger.

hair

Meanwhile, Adam Reed was christening a new hairstyle - Sweat Head. Creating a worn in look with subtle movement (achieved by wrapping hair around large Babyliss tongs) hair was made to look as if it was done the night before and fallen out after hours of dancing.

nails

All this topped off with the jazziest nail we've seen all day - a tortoiseshell effect by Sophy Robson. How to? Simply put, dot three varying shades of brown on and smudge with your finger. -SF

on the catwalk

ISSA

make-up

I'm a convert to the glories of grey after hearing Val Garland wax lyrical about how feminine and pretty grey shadow is. The look is based on a festival girl, who's just about made it to the third day. Her make-up is worn in and she's got a dewy sun-tinged haze to her skin (using Sunday Riley's Juno oil and tinted primer.) If only I looked this lovely after even a DAY of being at a festival. Le sigh.

hair

L'Oreal Professionnel's Malcolm Edwards mirrored the slept-in festival route. Using a multitude of textures (plaits, straight ends, mattifying powders) the end result was the ultimate in youthful languid bohemia. Sadly, you'll have to take my word for it as the backstage area was so busy that we were hustled out before I got my shot. -AB

on the catwalk

jenny longworth takes the stylist backstage beauty quiz

Jenny Longworth, Revlon's nail artist and manicurist of choice for Rihanna, Rita Ora and Jessie J (oh, and me when I'm very lucky!) took our quiz...

-SF

TODD LYNN

Todd Lynn was inspired by New York's girl gang culture. And that's where the inspiration came for today's hair, make-up and nails at his A/W 2013 show. The overall vibe is tough with a feminine edge making it ultra modern and wearable.

make-up

Legendary make-up artist (and Stylist fave) Sharon Dowsett created a softly-lit dewy finish using Maybelline BB Cream with - wait for it - FIVE COATS of mascara. "It's not a lot of make-up, but what is there really matters," she told me. Music to my ears, I can't get enough lashings of the glorious black joy. I used three coats a day, what's another two?

hair

Over to the nearby whirr of hairdryers as Toni & Guy Hair Meets Wardrobe Global Ambassador Mark Hampton ( and, equally as important, a fellow Welshie in London) created a suitably aggressive-chic do, complete with four layers of mousse finished with (the ozone layer should look away about now) "an entire can of hairspray."

nails

Maybelline's Nail Artist Michelle Humphries (who did our nails earlier this week, actually) used a shade called Latte for a natural nude. She told me it's been the most popular shade in the new Colourshow range. Which doesn't surprise us one bit, it's utterly divine. -AB

PS - New Toni & Guy wonder product Wave Memoriser out in October.

on the catwalk

punk couture at MOSCHINO CHEAP & CHIC

make-up

"The Cheap & Chic girl has more attitude than seasons past. She's cool, punky but still a little bit girly at heart,"explained Hannah Murray, who was administering either latex-like black lips or almond shaped eyes to the girls faces.

hair

Meanwhile, super-stylist Sam McKnight was applying two layers of Pantene mousse to hair and rough-drying it in for a voluminous texture that gives his "pulled-out-knotted-mess" hair 'do a bit of hold.

"I want it to look like they could have done it themselves," Sam explained.

nails

Continuing with the real girl theme, over on nails Marian Newman explained that the look was, "not too try hard, just effortless, like she's been playing with shades while watching TV," painting Mac shades Girl About Town (bright fuchsia) on two fingers and Nocturnelle (creamy black) on three:

-SF

on the catwalk

spotted backstage

Brightly coloured hair: all the models are doing it. -SF

JOHN ROCHA

Romantic goth nymphs Les Mis style. Whyever not. Taupes, pinks and beige shadows washed around the eye and matched to nails. Essie in Ladylike, in case you're wondering. How prettily clever. -SF

a bit of a touch-up

Whyever not? The lovely Sarah gave me a lip-over with MAC lipstick in Impassioned:

Like her style? She works at the MAC on Three counter, 3rd floor at Selfridges (London)

-SF

eyeliner icon!!

I chased this delightful young lady across the course of Somerset House like a rabid banshee just because I wanted to share her incredible eyeliner with you. It's such a small tweak, but changing your eyeliner shape into something more architectural and graphic totally updates a look. Inspired. -AB

JULIEN MACDONALD

nonchalant grooming...

We like the sound of that! A glistening slick of L'Oreal's Diamond Lurex topcoat is all that was required on nails. It's a brilliant way to look done without actually doing a great deal, which is quite the bonus, we feel.

make-up

Make-up artist Val Garland was inspired by the goth catwalk soundtrack for Julien's show which was some old-school Marilyn Manson. She used a L'Oreal BB Cream on the skin, with a smokey grey eyeliner on the lid, smudged up to the brow like a shadow. Definitely one to be trying at home, or, as I will be, at 6pm on a Friday at my desk before the evening's festivities commence. It's so easy post-work to keep applying more layers of make-up to feel more chic, when a simple, pared down look like this looks every bit as sophisticated.

hair

Martin Cullen's masterful approach to hair was a mix of elegance with a young rock 'n' roll girl. It's half up, half down and meant to look a little sweaty. "In a good way", he assures me.

on the catwalk

Ok. So no big deal, but, make-up maestro Val Garland like, totally rated my eye make-up skills today (I used Nars China Blue shadow). My life is pretty much complete. After I buy a sausage dog AND a blue great dane, that is. And an Acne biker jacket. And a house. Still, pretty ace stuff!

backstage

The alluring scent of beautiful Floris candles lit the way backstage, as we were greeted by this chap, bestowing chocolatey goodness on a passers by.

Julien takes a cheeky breather to have his make-up done and... just in case you didn't know who runs this show, it's VG.

-AB

top tips from sam bryant

It's not everyday one of the UK's leading make-up artists has enough time backstage to give you the low-down on a subject of your choice, but here at John Rocha...

Everyone knows I love a bit of a highlighter - Mac Cream Colour Base in Pearl and Smashbox Highlighter Pen are personal faves - but with my wedding coming up (yes, a bit of a selfish line in questioning) I wanted Sam's take...

-Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl is a beautiful ethereal shade. Pat onto the cheeks and over the lid with a finger.

-Screenface Illuminating Stick is one she's been using on shoots for over 15 years. It's a slightly more dramatic lunary silverness.

-For a really dramatic editorial look, Fardel White Powder mixed with Vaseline is the ultimate shimmer.

-Efediane is cheap as chips from the pharmacy in France and is the glossiest body moisturiser around. Perfect for summer skins.

-SF

a fine art

-AB

CLEMENTS RIBEIRO

Ok, I'm just going to put it out there. I am obsessed with these new shadows from Stila. Pure Metal Foil Finish in Vintage Black Gold, it looks like metallic bronze foil. I want it now.

Sara Lucero, Stila's head make-up artist, swiped this across the lid then patted an amber shade into the inner corner. LOVE. Finished off with an Essie half-moon glittered mani.

-SF

on the catwalk

trend on trial: ladylike glam

If you've been following me on my NYFW blog you'll know that ladylike glamour looks like a huge trend for AW13. With that in mind I headed straight to the Toni & Guy booth at Somerset House for an appointment with their head hair guy, Cos Sakkas, to see how wearable it really is. What do you think? -SF

lfw day 2

The big question of the day is: which fashionable fragrance shall I wear for day 2 of #LFW? Decisions decisions....

(I went with Tom Ford's Santal Blush.)

-AB

DAKS

Early morning call times all round this morning as bleary eyed models walked into Daks. Luckily Revlon's nail artist (and Rihannas right - and left - hand woman) was feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed as she painted nails a chic forest green shade - Revlon ColorStay in Jungle to be exact.

hair

Luke Hersheson was feeling equally chirpy. Maybe because the hair was, in his own words, "super easy". Well maintained, sleek and glossy looking with a centre parting, Luke blew the hair straight then sprayed tonnes of L'Oreal Proffessionel Crystal Gloss hairspray for a hi-shine effect.

make-up

In keeping with the hair, eyes were smudged with coffee coloured liner then slicked with a coat of Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream for a glossy sheen. Do we spy a trend? -SF

on the catwalk

ANTIPODIUM

Nineties Sci-Fi Mash Up

With a collection revolving around hi-shine leather, latex and plastic, there was only one thing for it: nails that looked like liquid metal and a plasticky textured eye.

Cue nail artist Katie Jane Hughes wielding forth Butter London in Bobby Dazzler, a mercury-like shade:

And Lucia Pica showcasing Mac Eye Gloss in Black Sea:

NEW PRODUCT ALERT - glossy, balmy and latex-like without being sticky, the only bad point about these is that they don't launch until September. -SF

on the catwalk

day one

power dressing at PPQ

Claudia Schiffer, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford. Nineties supermodel names were being thrown left, right and centre backstage at PPQ as ghd leading hairstylist Kenna painstakingly worked hair up into power-beehives.

Not forgetting that Super-staple, The Brow of course. Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Eye pen took care of that.

-SF

on the catwalk

FELDER FELDER

make-up

Over to make up, and Max Factor's Mel Arter echoed the street spirit of the clothing collection. The key influence was the Z-boys, a group of Californian skaters/surfers in the '70s who revolutionised skateboarding (check out the documentary Lords Of Dogtown if you're interested!) Naturally, the look is wind-worn, youthful and gently rebellious. The sheer base is their new CC Cream (out April, form an orderly queue) with a glossy beige eye and matte red lip stain. Skater-cool epitomised.

nails

PRAISE THE LORD. Though we love a nude nail, we saw so many last season SS13 that we're hankering for something else. Max Factor's Zarra Celik was on nail duty, and told me that it's all about nudes with a difference for AW13. The beautiful metallic shade in Midnight Bronze, below, takes nude nails to the next frontier. J'adore. -AB

on the catwalk

red and yellow and pink and green...

Best hair of #lfw so far...can you IMAGINE how long this takes to do? That's serious dedication to hair colour - we salute you. -AB

the juicy gossip

With 24 hours to recuperate before LFW hits (we have a mammoth 47 shows on our schedule!) we needed some help. There was only one person to call on. Kara Rosen and her Plenish juices. Kara knows only too well how I'm feeling after a decade dealing with jetlag, overindulging and exhaustion while working on various NY magazines. Teaming up with a nutritionist she launched Plenish - a range of organic juices laden with nutrients to keep energy levels up and toxins at bay.

My favourite? Spicy Lemonade.

PS: Fancy jumping on the juicing wagon? Well, you can. Literally.

Plenish will be out and about across London on Sunday - if you’re anywhere near Covent Garden, the Kings Road, or the Tate, look out for their wagon and your free juice!

-SF

the trusty stylist-mobile

We don't need to pimp our ride. For the lovely Hyundai Sante Fe in Serrano Red (which we are calling 'lipstick red') is already pimped out with Stylist logo and all kinds of awesomeness.

It's our home for the next few days. God bless driver Carl - he is our saviour!-AB

it's all in the prep

The lovely Maybelline nail expert Michelle Humphies dropped by to festoon our nails in all manner of delights pre #lfw. Mine are a triple threat: leopard print, glittery and a hot pink ombre. I'm ready. -AB.

One overnight flight from New York Fashion Week...

A couple of Americanos and a quick polish change - say hello to LFW.

It was straight from the airport to the office for me, so you can imagine how grateful I was when Michelle Humphries, Maybelline's new nail ambassador popped in to give me a seriously London-cool nail-over.

Judging by the responses on Twitter a lot of you are loving my spring-like half moon mani. If you want to recreate it yourself here's how:

You need Maybelline ColorShow Nail Polish in Latte and Mint Green, £2.99 each (boots.com)

-Paint two coats of the nude shade as a base. Leave to dry for a minute.

-Taking the mint shade, paint along the tip of each nail.

-Use a thin nail art brush (you could use a lip liner brush) to carefully paint the half moons.

-Seal with a high shine top coat.

Easy! '

-SF

Picture credit: Getty Images/Rex Features/Stylist/Butter London

Tags: London Fashion Week 2013, Beauty blog

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