RAFW beauty report: chaos reigns

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RAFW beauty report: chaos reigns

Take inspiration, not instruction. That’s my mantra when it comes to most runway beauty looks anyway. Case in point: the smudgy-eyed aristobrats that stropped down the runway for Kate Sylvester.

Most of the look was a lesson in how not to wear your face, but backstage make-up director Liz Kelsh showed me how to pull some wearable ideas from the chaos on the catwalk. Starting with that stunningly “wrong” blue eye…

Kate Sylvester’s vision was of young, titled Brits taking the trust fund on a bender. She wanted over-spoilt aristocrats. She wanted anarchy. So Kelsh decided to do it with royal blue powder “messed up” with haphazard dots of aqua.

“It’s one-night-stand make-up,” Kelsh described. “She didn’t mean to go and get so messy, but her perfect look from last night is destroyed.” It was the ideal touch of theatre for the show, but off-runway? “It would look too messy, too wrong,” she said.

To adapt the look to real life, Kelsh says you need to keep these striking blues (Kelsh used MAC Eye Shadows in Nehru and Clarity) clean. “You can play with texture by pressing powder over cream and layering aqua over the royal blue, but keep it on your crease or lash lines and apply precisely,” she directs.

Can do.

I also think I can work with the imperfect ponytail that was crafted by Redken stylist Kenneth Stoddart. It’s a great option for those dirty hair moments when you’ve got day-before residue to deal with. I spied that Stoddart doused the models’ dry manes with salt spray, blasted in some messy volume with a dryer, swept lengths into a low pony and then called it deliberately dishevelled. Add a pretty ribbon or band and I think I could just about get away with it…

RAFW beauty: Kate Sylvester 

Photography by Kate Moffat from beautydirectory.com.au

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