London Fashion Week

I have no idea how to even begin to explain how utterly incredible London Fashion Week was. I'm actually still buzzing about it nearly 3 months later! I could not be more grateful to Lynne and Girl Meets Brush for picking me to be a part of the team. When Lynne shared the makeup look that had been agreed on I fell totally in love with it:

The brief was:

A natural but flawless base.

Wash of gold pigment on the eyes with soft blending.

Simple black/brown liner with subtle flick, nude pencil in waterline underneath. 

Defined mascara on top & bottom lashes (no false eyelashes).

A natural brushed brow.

Cheeks neutral in colour with subtle contour, no high colour on cheeks & SOFT powder contour only.

A nude lip with natural gloss. 

The finishing touch is the gold leaf/foil & is just subtle, with only a few pieces placed at the inner corners but will stand out really well on the runway. 

The models were walking for several designers over the 3 segments of the show so it had to be a look that would work across the board - it was perfect for this and that little splash of gold foil just caught the runway lights so beautifully. I was keen to have a practice (or 3) before the actual show, mainly for time purposes. It was advised that we'd have 25-30 minutes per model, and I wanted to make sure I could do this comfortably - especially having heard that things can quite quickly get a bit chaotic at LFW, leaving you with less time than you thought. 

The lovely Mia volunteered her gorgeous face for me to practice on (and provided me with a cheeky glass of wine) so it was lovely to go into the weekend knowing I could do it. 

We could work from our own kit but there were a couple of specific bits that the lovely Girl Meets Brush provided for us so once these arrived I was obsessively packing, unpacking & repacking my kit until the weekend actually arrived! The HMUA team were sponsored by ISOCLEAN so we also all received a lovely selection of their essential cosmetic hygiene products. I'm now an absolute ISOCLEAN convert - the brush cleaner in particular is amazing. We didn't have much time at all between models but this spray cleaner was so quick drying and cleaned the brushes thoroughly and beautifully. I can't recommend it enough!

So - equipment assembled, outfit chosen, train booked etc, etc, it was time to head to London. The show itself was in the beautiful Leonardo Royal London St Paul's Hotel and we all gathered there at 6:30pm on the Friday evening expecting to go and set up our HMUA stations. We were swiftly told to come back in 2 hours - the room was busy...lots of designers, lots of dresses, lots of very loud voices.... Well, 8:30 came and went and it became very clear very quickly that we would not be getting in to set up that night. With 22 designers and many many more outfits there was a lot going on so we chose to set up in the morning. We did manage to have a peek though to see where we'd be working and watched a bit of the runway set up. After a cheeky glass of wine in the hotel bar it was off to bed. 

When we got in to the room the next morning set up went really smoothly and everything was really organised! We were soon ready to go and had our model allocations..it felt very much like the calm before the storm at this point! The models were next door having their runway practice and were to come through to us afterwards. 


It very quickly became clear that actually the model allocations weren't going to be stuck to and was more a case of "You're free? Take this model!" Once we got started it was all stations go - it was busy, fast paced and so exciting! It definitely wasn't the chaotic atmosphere that it could've been. So much organisation and prep had gone into it that actually it felt remarkably slick considering the level of activity. 

All hair and makeup, plus final touch ups, was to be completed by 2pm with the models walking for the first of 3 segments (each with several designers) at 3pm. 

We were on hand for touch ups in between designers/segments but were able to slip in and watch a fair amount of the show which was amazing. The atmosphere really was amazing. When I saw the first of my models walk I got a bit teary!

It was a gorgeous look that Lynne had put together and looked beautiful backstage but seeing it on the runway with the lights catching the gold leaf...it was something else! Simply stunning. 

Obviously it was non stop backstage so I didn't take many pictures of my work before the runway but here are a few I did manage to snap.

I'll pop a few of my faves from the runway at the end too!

It was during the (very little) lulls between touch ups that we could try to grab some food/water...hilariously though we realised halfway through the day that a huge rack of the most beautiful wedding dresses had be parked right in front of the water machine...we didn't dare try to get to it! I also realised at 6pm that I hadn't had a wee since we arrived at 7:45. Ooops! We barely stopped and I loved every second!

I feel so so grateful that I was able to be a part of such an incredible day, and an incredible team. Considering lots of us had never met each other before we all muddled in and worked really well together. Everyone was incredibly supportive of each other and plenty of tips and tricks of the trade were shared throughout the day!

Once the segments were all finished and the show was over we got to packing up and left the hotel around 10pm. The plan was to go out for drinks but actually we were all so knackered we only managed 1 or 2 in the hotel bar then collapsed into our beds. 

As my first real glimpse into working in runway/fashion makeup, I can safely say I loved it. The atmosphere was buzzing and there was so much adrenaline and excitement. While I still love wedding/event makeup it's nice to know there are more options that I thoroughly enjoy. 

Right. Ramble over. If you've made it all the way to the end then well done 🤣

Here are a few of my favourite pictures of my models on the runway. Enjoy...

Lots of love, 

Clare x