London Fashion Week 2013

NONE OF THE IMAGES ARE MY OWN. FROM VARIOUS INTERNET SOURCES.

London Fashion Week has just come and gone (Ma hometoooown!) and after browsing through the shows, I have collected my favourite hair and beauty looks, as I did with NYFW, for a little look at whats going on next year. In my very non-expert opinion, pink lips, BIG retro hair and things you used to do when you were 15 all seemed like stand out trends.

I had two favourite shows in terms of hair and makeup, the first being Tata Naka.

The prints! The garments! The set! THE HAIR!! I don't really know where to start with this show but I urge you go and look it up and see for yourself. I came across this on a very grey day in Manchester and it made me feel impossibly summery. Its like Lana del Rey, on holiday in Mexico, in the 50s. I love that the overall look is super-retro, I love that the hair is BIG, skin is flawless, very groomed with a little pop of colour on the lips.

 

My other favourite show was Holly Fulton, I think the two tone lip was original and very modern, especially when pared with fresh flawless skin. Again there's a retro 60s feel to the hair and makeup if not the whole collection, though I thought it looked very fresh and surprisingly wearable.

Colour pop lips were also used at Ashley Isham, a beautiful vibrant shade of pinkish coral, again with flawlwss skin.

This trend also continued at Giles, however here, a more magenta tone was used.

Tom Ford continued the 60s theme with sleek beehives. Paired with beautiful skin, groomed brows and nude lips, it looks elegant and classic, and somewhat restrained. Tom Ford's collection was inspired by chastity and perversion, and the chaste element certianly shines sthrough. 

From restraint to rebelllion, I loved the Amazonian warrior princess at Marios Schwab. The hair is sleek straight and sharp, and not to be messed with, much like the heroine herself. The makeup echoes this, with graphic black eyeliner making a fierce statement. 

Hair was impossibly sleek, precisely side parted and slicked down at J W Anderson, though I love how the hair catches the left ear in a little moment of quirkyness.

 

Aminaka Wilmont's styling was a sharp contrast to their collection, For me the hair and makeup evokes my inner teenage goth girl (I had a definite phase), all kohl eyeliner and experimental with her hair. Oh, the memories.

Nasir Muzhar's collection also utilised an old teenage favourite, slicking your baby hairs down with gel (hands up who did this one?). I love that for this collection, especially in the first picture, the effect is futuristic but still heavily influenced by street style.

Dominic's Favourites

Name: Dominic Baxter
From: UK
Age: Young Adult
Skin Type: Combination/Oily

As I mentioned before, I want this feature to include both male and female beauty/grooming products. My very lovely boyfriend Dom has kindly put together his top 3 products:

1) Fudge Salt Spray  http://www.fudgehair.co.uk/core-fudge-range/fudge-salt-spray.htm

'I like it because it gives volume and texture to my otherwise flat hair. Just a couple of sprays then dry through with hair dryer. It does a lot of the styling before the wax'

Salt sprays are great stlying products as they mattify the natural glossiness of hair, making it less 'slippery' and therefore easier to style. I often use this on my own hair and on longer hair types it gives a mussed up, just-been-at-the-beach effect. This product is also very reasonably priced at around £8.

2) Lush Cosmetic Lad Facial Moisturiser  https://www.lush.co.uk/product/98/Cosmetic-Lad-Moisturiser

' Use it daily, don't need much of it and its not greasy. Helps towards a good complexion'

This moisturiser is a bit of a beauty, especially designed for male skin but also lovely on girls with combination skin. Theres lots of aloe vera to soothe post-shave, wheatgrass, which being an antioxidant repairs the skin and also help prevent signs of aging, and tangerine to mattify oil. Combine that with lavender to balance oil production and honey, almond oil and cocoa butter to moisturise and you have a beautiful and effective moisturiser.

3)  Lush I Love Juicy Shampoo  https://www.lush.co.uk/product/210/I-Love-Juicy-Shampoo-100g

'Cuts through literally anything. Hair feels good and strong, and smells good too '

I Love Juicy is a fantastic shampoo for oily hair types or those who use a lot of product in their hair. It is packed full of fruit juices such as papaya, pineapple, mango and kiwi whose enzymatic qualities cut through oil and give shine. Theres also lots of carageen seaweed to soften and condition the hair.

Thank you very much Dom! Now excuse me, I'm off to steal your Cosmetic Lad while you're at work.

New York Fashion Week 2013

NONE OF THE IMAGES ARE MY OWN. FROM VARIOUS INTERNET SOURCES

Fashion week is almost as much about beauty trends as it is about the actual designs, or at least for me it is. (I know I may be a little biased) And so it is that time of year again when fashion month begins, commencing in New York, and coming to the close of NYFW, I am certainly feeling inspired for S/S 2013. For me, one of the stand out looks from the catwalk was Marc Jacob's hair and makeup.

I love the 60's mod-girl feel that the look has with the bouffant hair and the dark eye socket definition. I am a huge fan of heavy brows in general but I think here they are especially effective as they update the look. The overall eyeshape to me feels almost cartoonish in a Venus Angelic/Dakota Rose sense, yet still very feminine. 

I also loved the heavy brows at Thakoon, although here the look is much softer with warm contouring on the eyes and cheekbones.

Hair and makeup at Erin Featherston also had a 60s feel. Here I loved the hair especially, perfect waves are timeless (what girl doesn't want princess hair?!) and though I haven't thought an alice band was an essential accessory since I was about 7, I love how its been incorporated here.

The use of pink at Donna Karan was also one of my favourite looks, by the insanely talented Charlotte Tilbury using MAC. The lids were coloured with Magenta lip pencil and then a pink gel liner was used on the lashes. On the catwalk this looked beautiful pared with the flawless skin, and surprisingly wearable I think.

Colour was also injected into Oscar de la Renta, but into the hair. Coloured wefts were used to give flashes of bright pink, blue and yellow into the models' elegant up-dos, giving a classic style a younger fresher update.

Also in terms of hair, I LOVED the craziness of Libertine's coloured fringes. I actually considered bleaching my own after I saw this photo. My hair was henna-ed dark brown so it would bleach to a similar firey orange. I quickly decided against it, though I think it works incredibly well with their styling and vibrant collection of prints.

Hair at Rodarte was also inspired, sleek and wetlook, with half the front section of hair slicked over to give the impression of having a section shaved. If you don't fancy picking up some clippers and just going for it, this could be an excellent alternative.

Beachy summer style was also evident in Marc by Marc Jacobs knotted headscarves, with the hair either tucked up in a messy updo or left down and tousled.

Further use of accessories included hair at Mara Hoffman, which was pinned back on one side with a huge feather and left down. I also loved the prints at Mara Hoffman.