1. Colour Block Eyes
(l-r) Ports 1961 and Versus
If you weren’t working serious colour backstage, then what were you doing?! Seen everywhere at Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui, Victoria Beckham and Max Mara, colour block eyeshadow and paint-like swatches were THE makeup look du jour. Don’t even get us started on Gucci’s pastel brows.
As Andrew Gallimore puts it, ‘It’s a big colourful eye in a blocky shape but without too much structure. I’d recreate the look by using NARS velvet eyeliner in Curacao to draw all over the eyelid then set the pencil with a swipe of the Duo Eyeshadow in Chiang Mai. The key is to keep your skin scrubbed and really fresh.’
How It’s Done
1. Use an eye or lip makeup brush and literally paint your eyelid. Extend the colour out to the side of your eye to form a rectangle shape.
We Used… 3INA The Cream Eyeshadow in 304, £8.95
Watch below…
2. Bling Cupid’s Bow
(l-r) Each x Other and DKNY
You know how all those makeup tutorials you stalk on Instagram are obsessed with highlighting your cupid’s bow for extra lip plumping, glowy goodness? Well this is that, but on a whole other level.
How to wear it without looking like you’re off to a sci-fi-meets-disco do? Go for a matte lip, Andrew Gallimore style. ‘I love a bold, matte lip. Use a NARS lip liner in Costa Smeralda pencil to create a precise, sharp lip line, then fill with NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Let’s Go Crazy (new for SS17) which is an amazing raspberry shade and its flawless matte finish becomes a real exclamation mark on the face.’
How It’s Done
1. After doing your matte lip, take a gold liquid liner and draw across your cupid’s bow.
We Used… Topshop Glitter Line (discontinued but Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Midnight Cowboy, £15 is a classic as well).
Watch below…
3. OTT 80’s Blusher
(l-r) Chanel and Kenzo
You saw it here first people, slightly scary, high blusher is back. With the 80s making a major comeback this season, almost every look you saw your mum rock in old photos and thought. ‘Thank god I missed that perm vibe’ is back, but this time it’s had a seriously chic overhaul.
From Kenzo’s ‘modern Studio 54 party girls’ and Jeremy Scotts’ ‘edgy new 80s club kids’, to Blumarine’s ‘sun-kissed girl’ where Petros Petrohilios mixed lipstick with a copper base to highlight models’ cheekbones, it was one long high fashion throwback for SS17.
And that means blusher. A surprisingly sneaky way to fake major cheekbones, do as Paul Smith did and use the same blusher on cheeks and eyelids to create a soft finish and the best faux facelift ever.
How It’s Done
1. Take a fluffy blusher brush and sweep a red-toned blusher from the top of your cheekbone up to your temple.
2. Apply on the outer corner of your eyes and in the crease and blend into your temple.
We Used… Chanel Coco Code Blush Harmony, £49 (just the red shade).
Watch below…
4. Uber Glowy Skin
(l-r) Bottega Veneta and Prada
While uber fabulous makeup artist Val Garland went all out backstage at Anya Hindmarch, ‘I’ve thrown everything at this look – lip gloss, Egyptian Magic and 8 Hour Cream to give the girls the super slick, glossy skin’, Lynsey Alexander covered model's faces in MAC Strobe Cream at Mary Katrantzou, and models at Emilia Wickstead were treated to Sisley serum instead of highlighter in a half moon down their temples for a majorly luminous finish.
All good, but if your skin needs an extra bit of makeup loving it’s time to put the foundation down and go concealer only. At Mother Of Pearl, instead of covering models faces in foundation, makeup pro Ciara O’Shea spot concealed in only the places that needed an extra bit of oomph. Finish with highlighter or blusher in rose gold, violet and pink Marques’Almeida style and you’ve got seriously glow skin.
How It’s Done
1. Spot conceal on eye bags, spots and red areas.
We Used… NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer, £23
2. Apply serum in a half moon shape from your cheekbone up to your temple.
We Used… Elizabeth Arden Advanced Ceramide Capsules, £66
3. Finish with a pearlised highlighter or blusher and blend up your cheekbones.
We Used… Revlon Insta-Fix Highlighting Stick in Pink Light, £9.99
Watch below…
5. Nu Rave Knots
(l-r) Burani and Diesel
80s makeup and 90s hair? Yup, it’s happening. From Marc Jacobs’ pastel dreadlocks to Gucci’s trustafarian plaits and Marques’Almeida’s ‘PJ Harvey meets Gwen Stefani meets Shirley Manson from Garbage’ girl, 90s hair references were everywhere. The easiest way to work it? Nu rave knots. Seen at Diesel and Burani, the TLC-esque knots are so hot right now.
How It’s Done
1. Section your hair. Take a central section and two side sections.
2. Split the central section in two. Twist each section then wrap around itself and secure with a clear elastic hair tie.
3. Split the side section horizontally, then split those two sections in half vertically so you have four sections on each side.
4. Repeat the twisting process.
Watch below…
6. Smudged Red Lippy
(l-r) Molly Goddard and VFiles
Finally, a valid reason to do our red lipstick badly. Yup, no more worrying about lip liner, and getting the perfect cupid’s bow, SS17 just gave you the go ahead to do the messiest red lippy ever. Seen at Mother Of Pearl where make-up pro Ciara O'Shea imagined a girl who’s ‘put her red lipstick on before eating spaghetti and kissing her boyfriend with a beard for too long, but she’s so cool she can style anything out’ and at Molly Goddard where Thomas De Kluyver created a ‘techno smeared lip’, deliberately smudged lipstick just made your going out out routine way quicker.
How It’s Done
1. Apply your favourite red lipstick as usual.
2. Use your finger to blend out the edges.
We Used… MAC x James Kaliardos Lipstick In Bloodstone, £16.50
Watch below…
7. Super Skinny Braids
(l-r) Emporio Armani and A Detacher
Gone are the romantic boho braids of AW16 and in their place are super skinny, badass braids. No more nice girl, this time braids are embracing their dark side. Take Preen By Thornton Bregazzi where Eugene Souleiman ‘imagined the models as a coven of dark, ethereal women and gave them hair that was raw but also ornate’ or even Dior where Guido Palau contradicted super pretty ballerina tulle dresses by braiding the underside of models’ buns to fake an edgy undercut. Add in Simone Rocha, Emilia Wickstead and Emporia Armani and you’ve got a skinny braid revolution.
How It’s Done
1. Create a centre parting.
2. Start to braid from the front working your way back making sure you weave the strands of hair OUT not in so the plait sits on top (instead of a traditional french plait).
3. When you’ve plaited down to the nape of your neck split the strands into two sections.
4. Plait each section separately to form two skinny braids and tie using an elastic hair band.
5. Repeat on the other side.
Watch below…
Continued below…
See, easy! Which ones will you try?