The standout products we spotted during the backstage madness of fashion month.
We love fashion week, we love spotting our favourite models and discovering new trends but we really love to see what products the pros really use – they’re backstage essentials, if you will. Here are some of our favourites spots at Milan Fashion Week.
MAC Studio Eye Gloss in Lightly Tauped My God, if there was one thing to crop up over and over and over again at the shows it was this gorgeous silky eye gloss. It magically works with all skin tones and, while it’s an eye gloss, the make-up maestros tapped it over cheekbones, lips, temples, you name it. Make-up artist Tom Pecheux used it practically over the whole face with a duo fibre brush to give skin a sun kissed quality at Blumarine. Gordon Espinet is a fan too and employed it at DSquared to give some subtle depth to skin. This is a new product for MAC and won’t be launching for a little while yet but we can’t wait to get our hands on it.
L'Oréal Paris Elnett Satin Hairspray, £6.60 for 400ml It’s a classic for a reason and it’s used so much backstage that we’ve come to associate the smell of it with the craziness of fashion week. At Marni stylist Paul Hanlon and his team used it to keep their boyish 1950s style in place. It never gets old.
MAC Lipstick in Dangerous, £15.50 We’ve been wearing this a lot lately so we were very glad to see make-up artist Lucia Pieroni use it at Missoni. There was a lot of colour in that collection, and some pretty vibrant silk scarves wrapped around the hair to boot. Nothing but the punchiest of lip colours would be able to stand-up against such a cocophony of colour. Enter MAC Dangerous. If you’re a fan of Ruby Woo, or even Lady Danger, you’ll love this.
HairFX Hair ChalkIn Tong, £2.95 There’s no sign of the pastel hair trend abating and now it's easier than ever to craft. At Marco de Vincenzo, hair stylist Martin Cullen relied on these crafty chalk tongs to work slices of colour through the hair. It really couldn’t be any simpler; clamp the tong over the hair and drag it down the length. Follow with Cullen’s advise and seal the colour in with hairspray, it will stop it from transferring to your clothes.
St Tropez Instant Tan Lotion, £10, and Tan Enhancing Body Moisturiser, £15 This is the duo that tanning expert Nichola Joss employed at Emilio Pucci to give the likes of Kendal Jenner, Maria Carla and Natasha Poly a warm honeyed glow for the catwalk. We spotted the same duo in action at Mary Katrantzou in London and it’s a winner.
MAC Trend Forecast Spring 15 Lip and Cheek Palette, £35 We hearted this palette before we even saw it in action at the shows but we want it even more now. Terry Barber, Director of Makeup Artistry at MAC, used Go Guava lip colour from the palette at Marco de Vincenzo. It’s very subtle with just a hint of juice colour. Tom Pecheux couldn’t get enough of it either and used it at almost every one of his shows in Milan. One for the shopping list.
Redken Diamond Oil High Shine Mist (launching December) Fans of Redken Diamond Oil, you’re in a for a treat. The new Redken Diamond Oil High Shine Mist is set to launch in the UK in December (if you’re in America you can get your hands on it as soon as next month). It’s lighter than the oil and gives hair the most amazing reflective shine and is a God-send for both up and down dos. This was evidenced by hair stylist Guido’s determination to use it at every one of his shows in New York, London and Milan – FYI that’s a lot shows.
Moroccanoil Root Boost (relaunching) Hair stylist James Pecis used Root Boost at Just Cavalli and Blumarine. It does exactly what it says on the tin and really gives roots some substance. At Just Cavalli it helped to craft a precise side parting and at Blumarine it was the basis of a glossy, bouncy blow dry. It has been gone for a while in the UK but Pecis assures us it’s making a comeback.
MAC ‘Lightness of Being’ Face Powder Oh boy, we want this face powder too much. It doesn’t launch for a while, in fact, it’s so new it doesn’t even have a name yet. We’re told it will be part of a collection called ‘The Lightness of Being’ and we’re confident we’ll be first in line to buy it when it launches. It’s softly illuminating without being sparkly, and has a subtle tread of pinks and blues running through the powder which evens out the skin tone. To see it in action take a look at Ports 1961 where make-up artist Tom Pecheux used it to create softest, silkiest most perfect skin. Adore.