A/W Beauty Trends

Forget the pastel, neon and rainbow hues in homage to the 1970s discos from spring/summer 2010, we’ve moved on to a more sophisticated palette in beauty this autumn/winter. There are several looks which define this autumn/winter from the dark and sultry vamp to the fresh faced neutral look, and the screen siren red lipstick to the dazzling golden girl.

Vamp

The vamp look as seen on the catwalks at Maxmara and Blumarine is a great look for the party season. Keep things light and fresh by avoiding heavy mascara and eyeliner.

Last A/W saw the rise of purple when creating the smoky eye, this year it is all about different shades of grey blended together.

Get the vamp look: MAC smoky eye shadow in carbon, Rituals dark grey eye shadow in Onyx Eyes, Topshop kohl eyeliner in metallic grey, Maybelline Volume Express mascara.

Golden Girl

The golden girl look has been a catwalk favourite with heavyweights such as Chloë and Kenzo. With this look you need to channel the sun kissed 70s look, think Charlie’s Angels.

It is a glossy and light look where the aim is to exude health. Start with an illuminating primer and then use a light layer of bronzer, with a similar hue on the eyes and lip.

Get the golden girl look: Rituals cheek and eye glow, MAC eye shadow in Crest the Wave, Topshop skin glow, No7 brow pencil.

Screen Siren

The screen siren signature red lipstick is big this season. This look was showcased at many shows for A/W 11 including Moschino, Karl Lagerfeld, Dior and Roksanda Ilincic to name but a few.

All you need to create this look is a classic slick of red lipstick, top with lip gloss for intensity, and lashings of mascara. Keep eyes soft and skin radiant to maximise the effect.

Get the red lipstick look: MAC in Ruby Woo, Rituals in Attention!, CoverGirl in Hot, No7 Tangerine Touch.

Neutral

Spring’s pink cheeks have faded into A/W’s neutral tones this autumn/winter as seen at Alberta Ferretti, Victor & Rolf and Halston.

The key to this look is keeping everything looking effortless and radiant. Start with a light foundation or tinted moisturiser on prepped skin, bright eyes with softly blended hues and a glow in the cheeks. Define eyes and brows lightly.

Get the neutral look: Cowshed exfoliator, Rituals foundation, Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser, MAC brow set, Pixi eye palette.

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A/W Shopping Wish List

The best thing about the change of season is creating a new wardrobe from existing favourites and carefully trawling through magazines, the net and shops and making notes on the perfect autumn/winter additions.

There seems to be a plethora of great pieces to be had this season, here is a much refined list of my absolute favourites:

1. Angel Jackson snakeskin lianto handbag - A beautiful classic handbag that will be such a great investment for years to come.
2. Fingerless gloves - The gloves that keep your hands warm as well as allowing you to apply lip gloss, text, and rummage in your bag for your keys/purse/oyster card. What more could you want?
   
3. Anything from Cos this season - I keep on raving to anyone who will listen at the moment about Cos' A/W collection; it is quite honestly amazing! So much so that I've blown my monthly food/socialising/clothing/emergency budget on Cos clothes last Thursday. Bring on next payday.
4. Silk shirt -I have been trawling for a beautiful silk shirt for about 18 months now with no luck. May the search continue.
   
5. The perfect skinny trousers from Gap - As seen in every fashion page in the past month. However I have trawled many Gap stores in the past few weeks only to find that they have been sold out. A shop assistant did helpfully suggest the other day that I ate solidly for a fortnight to fit into the last pair of larger skinny trousers if I really wanted a pair, I'm tempted...

Aviator Hat

I can't wait to wear my aviator hat this A/W. I bought it at the Recoleta market, Buenos Aires, in the sweltering heat this January. I'm not sure what possessed me to look at a winter hat in 40C but I'm pleased that I did!

Coat Frustration

I, like many others, am getting very exciting about the autumnal chill in the air for one reason. The change of season means a change in wardrobe.

I've found myself recently reading any fashion magazines, sites and blogs I can get my hands on for the best in A/W clothing, particularly the winter coat. Now, one thing that annoys me more than anything is when an item is featured, and for it to be out of stock when the article is published - what is the point of featuring it!?

I found this last week with the amazing long, camel, double breasted coat (as worn below by the stylish Natalie Hartley) which was featured in The Times fashion supplement showcasing the best in winter coats.

As soon as I saw this I scoured Asos.com to purchase the coat only to find that it was no longer in stock and nor would it be re-stocked.

What is the point of featuring a coat that your readers cannot buy? Surely it defeats the whole object of newspaper short-lead fashion features where the pieces are supposed to be instantly accessible to the reader and not restricted to the same time restraints that long-lead monthly magazines are?

My plea to short-leads is: please try and feature items currently in stock when your article is published, not a month before when you are brainstorming the piece!

Capes are the new coats

I hate the fact that I’m now looking forward to autumn/winter seeing as I hate the cold and love the heat, however I can’t help but be excited about the new clothing season. What I’m most excited about is the cape.

It is a look that I’ve never warmed to seeing that your arms are exposed in the cold months, but I’m willing to forgive them for this and put on a jumper and gloves as I have found myself falling for them in a big way. There are so many beautiful capes on sale at the moment, including the capes featured below from Asos, Burberry and Emilio Pucci respectively.

I really like minimalist clothing at the moment and perhaps this is why capes are now more appealing than ever because of their clean lines and easy style. Whatever it is a cape is on my shopping list come payday.

Patricia Nicolas Jewellery

Continuing on the jewellery theme - can you tell that I’m a little obsessed with the stuff - here is another young designer that is producing beautiful pieces: Patricia Nicolas. I love her new ‘The Boyfriends’ collection featuring skull pendants. My jewellery wish list seems to be getting bigger by the day...