As well as building a picture of how we’ll all dress come next summer, the spring/summer 19 shows also offered up a glut of fresh beauty looks. One half of the backstage beauty set presented us with practically make-up-less faces as a nod towards the collective urge for authenticity, while the other half were busy playing with Swarovski crystals or encapsulating human hair inside acrylic nails. Yes, really. Here’s the ten most stand-out beauty trends from the shows
1. Feathers at Dries Van Noten and Simone Rocha
Beauty’s obsession with hair accessories shows no signs of waning, but this season, feathers were the head-topper of choice. On some of Dries Van Noten’s models, Sam McKnight tied bright feathers into low buns, while others wore what can be best described as a feather-coated swimming cap. Feathers were used at Simone Rocha too, where James Pecis created soft feather fringes tucked under bejewelled hair bands.
2. Manicure memorials at Libertine
Back in the Victorian era, it was pretty common to carry a single lock of your beloved’s hair inside a locket as a sign of your affection. Nowadays, not so much. But that didn’t stop nail artist Heather Reynose from trapping curls of hair inside acrylic nail extensions as a nod to this bygone ritual. Creepy, but cool.
3. Watercolour eyeshadow at Erdem
Green is underrated as far as eyeshadow goes, especially when it’s applied in the painterly fashion Val Garland adopted backstage at Erdem. She wanted to give it a watercolour feel, which involved scribbling a base of green eye pencil to provide a waxy base, topped with loose powder to diffuse the edges and add a velvety texture.
4. Hair glitter at Giambattista Valli
Glitter roots may have had their moment, but hairstylist Paul Hanlon offered up a fresher and somewhat grungier take on sparkly hair at Giambattista Valli. The ends and lengths of the models’ pillow-crumpled hair was laced in pastel pink or silver glitter, giving off this otherworldly rave-nymph vibe.
5. Crystal-studded eyes at Valentino
No doubt it made eyes feel as though they were under the weight of one almighty hangover, but there was something pretty epic about the Swarovski crystal-coated eyelids Pat McGrath created at Valentino.
6. Real, raw skin at Stella McCartney
Rather than concealing dark circles, blemishes and redness, at many shows including Stella McCartney and Jil Sander, make-up artists ditched their kits and sent models down the catwalk with little more than a patting of lip balm. It was an empowering departure from the hyperreal perfection we’re used to seeing and speaks volumes about culture’s collective shift towards the authentic.
7. Pre-Raphaelite hair at Giorgio Armani
Instead of waging war on aerated strands, this season’s shows served as a welcome reminder that frizz isn’t a dirty word. From Alexa Chung to Giorgio Armani, many designers presented hair seemingly plucked from a pre-Raphaelite painting, fuzzy halo, fluffy lengths and all.
8. Dancing eyeliner at Dior
Make-up artist Peter Phillips drew grey and taupe graffiti-style swipes on each models’ temples, in reference to the fluid movement of the dancers that weren’t only the inspiration behind Maria Grazia Chiuri’s collection, but they appeared as part of the show too.
9. Bridesmaid hair at Rodarte
Flower crowns are well and truly over. That’s a fact. But that doesn’t mean we can’t admire Rodarte’s mega floral headdresses from afar. Bundles of roses in a spectrum of colours tumbled down the model’s hair, but the overt dreaminess was offset by punchy colour-clashing eye and lip combinations.
10. Colour coordination at Marc Jacobs
Not only did hair colourist Josh Wood custom dye wigs to match the exact shade of each models’ outfit, but make-up artist Diane Kendal took the coordination one step further by applying a wash of corresponding pastel eyeshadow to their eyelids.