What you would have seen on the catwalk was supposed to be all about Autumn trends. But why shouldn't you just adopt them now? Especially when they're things you can do from your local Boots store. And others for, get this, free. Here's the tricks to steal and start doing NOW:
Straight hair is okay again…
For a while there was touch-and-go approach to GHD’s: everyone thought that long hair should be tonged. But hairstylist Anthony Turner (the man who created straight hair at both Topshop Unique and Mary Katrantzou) was making shiny, long straight hair happen backstage this season. He told me that it was in response to what women were telling him they wanted most of our their hair.
Mascara is over
Mascara has never been so neglected as it has been this season. At Alexander McQueen in Paris make-up maestro Pat McGrath left lashes bare in one of her two looks and at Balmain Tom Pecheaux also bypassed the mascara. I couldn’t get on board with this at first – I like my lashes long, dark and spidery – but the more I see it the more I’m convinced that there’s really nothing more youthful. Worth a try? (PS: if you're worried about looking tired, here's a good tip to try.)
Centre partings can work
Here’s an AW14 trend that’s simply made for spring/summer. In one of my favourite styles of the season, hair stylist Guido Palau, at Valentino, parted hair down the centre and pulled it into a low pony at the nape of the neck. In a rather matronly, but still massively amazing, touch hair was allowed to cover the tops of the ears as well. He then took the ponytail and added more hair bands at intervals down the length of the hair. There’s two things I’ll be taking from this. From now until Guido dictates otherwise my hair will be in a centre parting. And on days where I need some more interest in my hair I’ll be using his hair bobble trick.
**Purple is the new nude **
There’s usually two things you can bet your life on during the shows - it will rain and Chloe will have nude, but beautifying, make-up. Well that shows how much I know because this season the show that normally leads in the way of nude opted for purple. Purple eye shadow might seem a little Jem and the Holograms but make-up artist Diane Kendal brought the colour throroughly up to date in two ways; the purple was kept just to the lid and not allowed to encroach anywhere near the brows, and no.2: a nude taupe colour (more traditionally Chloe) was buffed around the perimeter of the purple, into the socket and underneath the bottom lash line. And, unexpectedly, it worked.
Unearth a crimper
I honestly thought we left the days of crimped hair behind long ago but it’s back albeit in a more modern, and flattering way. We’re not talking the crisp zigzags of our youth; this crimp is wider, more substantial. Hair stylist Roberta Bellazzi brought the crimp back to life at Giorgio Armani in Milan. The kinks are bolder and more boho, with even a touch of the pre-Raphaelite about it - a touch that has me thinking it’s perfect for summer. It’s super easy to achieve too: use a three-barrel tong (Babyliss do one) over the whole hair. If you’re keeping true to Armani start the crimp quite close to the roots.
Double-up your lipstick as a blush
We saw this when we were backstage at Vivienne Westwood in London. Make-up artist Val Garland, armed with a trusty MAC Lipmix, stippled the same colour over lips and then onto the apples of the cheeks. Genius! The trick is to opt for a sheer but buildable colour - that way you can have more intensity on your lips and easily blend the colour out on your cheeks.
Follow Suzanne on Twitter @Suzanne_M_Scott
Pictures: Jason Lloyd-Evans
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.