The Beauty Trends We’ve Spotted Backstage at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week 2022

Afterpay Australian Fashion Week is back for 2022, bringing us the resort and holiday collections we’ll be wearing this summer. Hair and makeup are, of course, essential for a cohesive look, so while you plan your summer wardrobe, you can also start envisioning your warmer-weather-makeup routine.

Natural Hair and Matte Nails at Gary Bigeni

Known for gender-neutral clothing and size-inclusive styles, it’s no surprise that Gary Bigeni‘s beauty brief was all about celebrating individuality, and diversity.

Rebecca Snow of O&M directed hair looks that worked with the model’s natural hair texture rather than against it — whether that was long flowing waves or tight curls. The hero product of the show was O&M Know Knott Detangling Spray ($36).

Meanwhile, So Pretty Nails press-on were applied in matte, fluorescent shades to compliment the Bigeni colour story.

Underwater Beauty at Romance Was Born

Romance Was Born collaborated with Australian artist Ken Done for the Resort ’23 collection. Backstage Deanna Parker Attwood for Schwarzkopf Professional and Nicole “Pinkie” Thompson for Mecca Max brought the spirit of the collection to life with hair and beauty looks that evoked a surreal, underwater seascape.

Di Parker Atwood said the wet look hair was created by layering multiple Schwarzkopf products for long hold, sculptural hair looks. “The hair is meant to look wet that’s the texture,” she said of the brief. “The garments and jewellery are so beautiful, so we wanted something understated and polished to let them do the talking.”

The team used Schwarzkopf Silhouette Super Hold Setting Lotion (currently unavailable in Australia), OSiS Sparkler Shine Spray, ($20), OSIS+ Session Lable Miracle 15 Styling Balm With Heat Protection ($32) and Silhouette Lacquer Super Hold Hairspray ($13) to wet and set the looks.

For the makeup, Nicole Thompson was inspired by an underwater world, and designed 18 different looks, drawing inspiration from the Australiana of the 1990s and the shapes and colours of tropical fish. “We have unexpected colour clashes you see in tropical fish,” Thompson said. “It’s fun to get out of my box, and remember that contrasting colours can work so well together.”

If Thompson has anything to do with it, these clashing shades will be making a comeback this summer. “Recently, it’s been all about tonal and monochrome, now it’s nice to have a moment of contrast.” Mecca Max Single Shadows ($8) were used to create the joyful, clashing colours and even dabbed on lips for a metallic finish.

To pull off a colourful look, a natural base is essential. “The fastest way to make a colourful makeup look uncool is with a heavy foundation. It just becomes stagey,” Thompson says. Instead, backstage artists reached for the Mecca Max Off Duty BB Cream With SPF15 ($20) and sparingly applied with the Mecca Max Life Proof Cream Concealer ($22) added as needed.

The Nightlife is Back at Beare Park

The beauty at Beare Park was all about celebrating a return to the nightlife. Hair director Mary Alamine said the story was about a girl coming home from a night out, and the models’ hair was lived-in and slightly greasy, and their makeup well-worn.

“She’s just gone out, she’s had the time of her life,” explains Alamine. “She’s a little bit greasy and flat on the roots, but still has the beautiful texture of a blow-dry that’s just dropping out on the ends.”

To achieve the end-of-the-night look, stylists applied Project Sukuroi Oil Rich Repairing Salve ($50) to the roots, rather than the ends, and used the lightweight styler O&M Style Guru Styling Cream ($34) through the rest of the hair — which was alternately curled, diffused, or braided depending on the model.

The beauty look was similarly raw — giving a just out rolled out of bed to brunch in Surry Hills energy with barely-there skin and the residue of last night’s liner hanging on.

“It’s lived in eyeliner,” says Isabella Schimid. “Depending on the girl, they’re wearing black, brown, or grey, and have been out all night. They haven’t washed their makeup off, so it’s a smudgy sort of sexy eye that you get after waking up in the morning. No mascara and a little bit of gloss.”

The make-up artists used The Ordinary Serum Foundation ($13), which Schimid loves for its skin-like finish, with Elizabeth Arden 8-Hour Cream ($30), and Egyptian Magic ($42) for that slightly sweaty, morning after dew.

’90s Grunge at Bec + Bridge

For the Bec + Bridge show, makeup director Lara Skrowski served big Eurphoria energy with glossy skin and a ’90s grunge, punk rock chic look, “like an adult’s take on sleeping in your makeup”.

Similar to the Beare Park looks, it was all about the lived-in look at Bec + Bridge. “Imagine that you’ve woken up wearing a smoky eye,” said Skrowski. “Then, before the models hit the runway we’ll gloss the eye using the Lancôme L’absolue Rouge Lipstick in 00.”

The models were all partied out — which matched perfectly with the Bec + Bridge glam grunge collection on the runway.

“We’ve been highly inspired by the glamour of Euphoria,” Diane Gorgievski says. “We’re bringing back the blowdry and adding an elevated elegance to a really sweaty look. After smoothing out the hair to create a beautiful blowdry using the Redken Big Blowout Cream ($39), we’ve gone back and put Redken Oil For All ($55) into the roots and ends, then used Redken Shine Flash ($39) to create the sheen that gives that stringy, beautiful lived-in feel — while still maintaining the glamorous structure of the blowdry.”

Gorgievski explains that when creating the elevated wet look, they used Redken Guts ($39) to achieve the desired deconstructed feel and pieceiness through the ends, rather than just being wet.

The vibe? “Someone who’s been out partying for a couple of days.”

The beauty look followed the same theme, with smudged grunge eye makeup created with the dark blue hues in the Lancôme Hypnôse Eyeshadow Palette ($90). The base was kept natural, with make-up artists layering the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation ($65) with the Teint Idole Ultra Wear Concealer ($59), and Teint Idole Ultra Wear Highlighter Stick ($56).

Wet Look Hair at St Agni and Matteau

Wet look hair has been trending in a major way for months — but it’s an intimidating style to pull off. Use the wrong product and your hair will be hard as a chip. The wet look was seen at both St Agni and Matteau. In the slicked back bun and soft, opulent sheen to models waves.

Satin Opulence at Matteau

At Matteau Paloma Rose Garcia of Paloma Salon said the look was inspired by the quintessential Matteau woman, eternally effortless. For the soft wet look, a 10 cent piece of the R+Co Waterfall + Moisture and Shine Lotion ($45) was applied. The hydrating balm was concentrated on mid-lengths and ends only. Next, one pump of R+Co Two Way Mirror Smoothing Oil ($49) was added for extra shine, before a medium hair tong at the midpoint of the hair and down to the ends.

To finish the look use R+Co Outer Space Flexible Hair Spray ($49) so there are no flyaways.

Slicked Back at St Agni

Hair Director for St Agni Brad Rixon says the wet look is one of his favourites, and more wearable and flattering than most people think.

He says, “one of my favourite looks is the raked back, wet look. It’s a great style to do yourself as it accentuates the individual face shape, and gives your style more edge.” Were hair was loose, the team focused on “healthy, luxe and polished hair.”

Rixon prepped towel-dried hair with R+Co BLEAU Super Style Crème ($86) before raking through a 20 cent piece worth of R+Co BLEU Highest Volumizing Mousse ($74) through the roots. He then used a wide-tooth comb, scraping the side of the hair close to the scalp as possible before pushing the hair back or leaving it loose.

“Pre-Makeup” Makeup at One Mile and Aje

Beauty director Isabella Schimid oversaw backstage complexion boot-camp at One Mile — much needed for makeup weary models on their fourth day of Fashion Week. Schimid referred to the Sunday Riley skincare facials models received as “pre-makeup makeup.” That is skincare that works as hard as a bottle of foundation, in a little time.

Sunday Riley’s Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment ($183) was the hero product backstage. Like an F45 session for your complexion, Good Genes gets blood flow pumping with tingling lactic acid, while gently exfoliating, hydrating and soothing for a post-run glow with a porcelain smooth finish. Schimid explained, “it’s perfect for backstage prep as it’s also the most gentle of all acids, and has arnica.” The best insurance for those worried about pre-runway skin reactions.

Auto Correct, Brightening and De-Puffing Eye Contour Cream ($97) was dotted under the eyes. With natural vasoconstrictors caffeine, horse chestnut and Brazilian ginseng root AutoCorrect is like a pair of Spanx for the under-eye area.

Models stumbled in clutching coffees at 6 am for the One Mile backstage — to sculpt puffy morning complexions with cryotherapy, LED and microcurrent devices from Angela Caglia, Joanna Vargas and Cloud Nine wielded as needed.

The beauty story was all terracotta tones – with the orange blush we’ve seen popping up everywhere this season.

Samy Robinson‘s One Mile collection featured desert tones, apt for a brand inspired by the beach. Carol Mackie, Global Senior Artist for MAC Cosmetics, directed a look rich in saffron tones and earthy shades that she described as “Shades you would see in the rocks and the desert.” The artistry team achieved a flawless but skin-like base by mixing full-coverage studio fix foundation with MAC Studio Radiance Moisturizing + Illuminating Silky Primer ($56).

The team layered MAC Cream Blush in “Juicy Tangelo” from their Pro Face Palette ($67), bright orange with MAC, Glow Play Blush in “So Natural” ($50) — a warm golden beige for a peachy bronze finish.

“It’s really about the delicate layering of product,” explained the MUA, “it creates beauty, healthy-looking skin, and it’s easy to recreate at home.”

At Aje, the beauty look was even more minimal — the hero makeup product being Sunday Riley, C.E.O Glow Vitamin C + Turmeric Oil ($120) which gave models their raw, wet-look complexions. These were topped up with Flavedo & Albedo Dew Tint blush ($44) and High Glow Highlighter ($44) for a fresh from the beach beauty.

Quicksilver Beauty at Afterpay Future of Fashion

We usually associate summer and resort with gold and bronze J.Lo highlights, but backstage at Afterpay’s Future of Fashion runway, Fenty makeup artist, Penny Antuar, directed a look that was all about a cool-toned glow.

Designing a makeup look that would work with over 13 designer collections, and fit the futuristic brief was challenging.

In the end, Antuar ran with a classic, glossy eye. “It was a play on texture,” she told POPSUGAR Australia, “as opposed to any colour or specific makeup feature that might clash with a certain designer’s collection.”

Fenty artists applied Fenty Beauty Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil in “How Many Carats?” ($62) to create the glistening eye and cheeks seen on the runway. For the second look, the team ramped up the silver tones, applying Diamond Bomb wet, to the inner corners.

The rest of the look was kept fresh and summery. Fenty Sun Stalk’r Face and Eye Bronzer & Highlighter Palette (launching in Australia in June) was used liberally, while Fenty Beauty Eaze Drop Blurring Skin Tint ($49) was used to create a photoshop-filter-esque base. Two nude lipsticks from the Icon Semi-Matte Refillable Collection ($34) in “Pose Queen” and “Major Magnate” tied the bronze and silver tones together.

Penny Antuar said she’s excited to see cool tones coming back into the mainstream. “Silver is really up-and-coming this season in beauty — so I wanted to create a look that’s wearable and achievable for those watching the show,” she explained. By incorporating silvers and greys into a bronzed, summer makeup routine, Antuar has created a wearable, achievable and on-trend look for summer.

Moody Nails at All is a Gentle Spring

All is a Gentle Spring made its debut at AAFW. Isabella Hellyer, the label’s designer is making waves in the Australian fashion industry with her on-trend boned corsets, cut from Savile Row wool suits. Hellyer blends sexed-up grunge aesthetics with couture finishes when creating corsets loved by Charlie XCX, Grimes and Halsey.

For their AAFW debut, Redken’s Diane Gorgievski created “Wuthering Heights” tendrils to complement the evocatively historic looks. Gorgievski said it was all about, “windswept, thrown-together updos and escaping wisps of hair,” adding whimsy to the structured and sexy collection.

Beauty director Katie Angus worked with MAC Cosmetics products a makeup look that played on the erotic and devil-may care elements of the collection. This included a “euphoric sheen of sweat” on cheekbones, stained lips and smudgy eyes. Hellyer described the beauty look as “deliciously botched” and advised recreating it in a “mirrorless pitch black room.”

It was the nails at the show, created by Sydney based artist Victoria Houllis aka Mannequin Hands pulled the grungy, cinematic and historic threads of the show together. Victoria Houllis drew inspiration from 1950s actress Tippi Hedren, specifically in the Alfred Hitcocks “The Birds.” According to Houllis the round shape and deep red popularised by Hedren is “iconic and timeless” (and from our POV very sexy) option.

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GellyFit shades in deep red (C86) and light grey (MP08) also picked up on the tonal palette of the collection. Houllis said she was mindful of letting “the fabric and details of the collection shine” while staying in keeping with the “offhand elegance” of the show.

While brights are always on-trend for summer, Victoria Houllis said that doesn’t mean you should rule out other colours and finishes — particularly when working with a more sophisticated look. “Moody colour palettes, pearls, chromes and gradients are lending a touch of luxury to the fingertips,” she tells POPSUGAR Australia.