backstage beauty

Oh yes, there's more Australian fashion week news for you! While backstage covering the hair and makeup looks for shows including Ellery, Suboo and We Are Handsome, we also bailed up a hair and makeup artist or two and asked: What's your best beauty tip? We've narrowed it down to our five favourites, you know what to do.

Last week at POPSUGAR Beauty, we watched hundreds of models get primped and primed for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia runways. We spoke to countless hair and makeup artists and watched everything from intricate braiding to lip gloss being applied to eyelids! But a week on, it's time to dissect the beauty trends. Skin was a major player in the backstage beauty stakes, with many designers opting for a more natural makeup look, instead playing up bone structure and shape with contouring. Dewy is out and matte skin is in, but makeup artists still used highlighters to get that "pop" on the runway. There's also some interesting part lines, sexy hair and ethereal eyes. Let's go!

You've seen all the hair and makeup looks from Fashion Week but now it's time to check out the nails. And let us tell you, you won't be disappointed. Last year may have been about the nude nail but this year we saw just about anything but neutrals. There were hand-marbled nails, fun takes on the classic French manicure, reverse moons, gold-dipped tips, statement nails, pearlescent finishes and multi-coloured manicures. See 25 plus nail looks from the week now.

Fashion Week delivered just about everything you could wish for in terms of beauty looks: luminous skin, braids, pops of colour, glitter, wet-look hair, wild hair accessories and much, much more. If you missed our daily show reports or just like to have everything in one easy-to-reference guide, you've come to the right place. We've rounded up the beauty looks from every show starting from Romance Was Born right through to Fernando Frisoni. So if you're looking for a little runway-to-reality inspiration or want to check out the craziest catwalk looks read on!

"Nothing's too over the top," Jon Pulitano (Redken) said of the three different hairstyles he created for Akira. The first style — for the bridal look — was "ethereal, fluffy and twisted," and he used Redken Rootful 06 to bring it to life. The second — for the colour section — was a high ponytail "looped around and pinned down into a shell-like shape. It's almost a reverse chignon." Fashion Works 12 and Forceful 23 played a key role in creating that style. And lastly, for the print section, Pulitano created a low ponytail with a centre part, looped around on itself. They were teamed with three different makeup looks, too. Kate Squires (Napoleon Perdis) said the first was all about sheer skin and a sparkly eye that is "not too overpowering" and created using the brand's Disco Glitter. The second makeup look focused on a matte red lip and the third was about flushed skin and a lip stain "as though she's been sucking on berries." It was finished with a "poolside blue eye" that was slightly extended. Take a look at the different beauty looks now.

MBFWA has almost come to a close! But not before we saw some stunning hair and makeup inspiration from the likes of Suboo and Akira. We weren’t the only ones wowed by the colour from Suboo’s morning show, as it attracted some gorgeous ladies to the front row. Jesinta Campbell and Zoe Balbi played with pretty pink lip colour, while tousled, wavy locks were seen on the likes of Kate Waterhouse, Casey Burgess and Nikki Phillips. We’re almost at the end so check out some final celebrity beauty looks at Fashion Week, and don’t forget to catch up on all our MBFWA fashion and beauty reports.

Suboo kicked off the last day of Fashion Week in style this morning. Liz Kelsh (Max Factor) said that while she wanted to "pay homage to the [beach style] origins of the brand," she didn't want to just create a beachy makeup look. "I wanted it to be fashion forward." That meant a glossy chartreuse eye — a colour picked out from the collection itself — with the pigment being taken slightly underneath the eye too. As well as being used on the lids, Max Factor Vibrant Curve Effect Lip Gloss was also used to highlight the cheeks and make the catch the light. For the hair Robert Ham (MoroccanOil) created a sleek ponytail "that's woven at the sides" to create a macramé effect. "It's not too feminine," Ham said. He used the hero MoroccanOil Treatment, Hydrating Styling Cream and Glamorous Shine Spray to "create a shellac finish."

"She's the beautiful assassin," Kate Squires (Napoleon Perdis) said of the Christopher Esber woman this season. "Think Uma Thurman in Gattaca." Skin was fresh and natural but had a sheen to it. "It's as though she's just been working out," Squires said. She used Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Napoleon Complex Skin Renewal Serum, Auto Pilot Pre-Foundation Skin Primer and the new Off-Duty Tinted Moisturiser to "give skin that glow and hydration." Orange Sherbet Color Disc and Light Patrol Luminzer Palette Rose were used to create a "natural smoky eye" and then clear gloss was added over the top just before models hit the runway to create a glossy sheen "that's almost dripping." Renya Xydis (Wella Professionals) kept things "clean and tailored" at the front of the hair but knitted the back into a 12-braid plait. "It's a basket weave which we then rolled up into a bun" at the nape of the neck. Xydis used Wella SP Elegant Shape, the Cloud Nine Irons, Sebastian Professional Volupt Spray and Sebastian Professional Form Re-Shaper to create the look. Essie's Ballet Slippers was used on fingers and toes.

"It's a modern take on the classic '80s wedge," Alan White (ghd) told us of the Carl Kapp hair look. Citing a "modern Helmut Newton woman" and Rooney Mara in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo as references, White did lots of pre-show prep as there were 33 models who all needed to have wigs fitted and styled. As well as the ghd mini styler, he used Straight and Smooth Spray, Smooth and Finish Serum and Final Shine Spray right at the end to emulate Madonna's wet-look, high-shine strands in her "Rain" video. Bec Prior (Napoleon Perdis) also referred to "'80s and '90s Helmut Newton" as an influence saying of the makeup: "It's the element of contrast. There's a strong, androgynous feel. The hair's quite severe so this is the softer counterpart. It's still strong, but it's got a softer edge." She created an "eye stain" using Brown Sugar Eye Pencil applied with a synthetic brush, applied mascara on the top lashes "to balance the hair" and used Auto Pilot Lip Service on the lips and as a highlighter on the cheekbones. "We're keeping their natural lip colour but, as this has menthol in it, it stimulates the blood flow and really brings that colour to the surface." Here's your access-all-areas backstage pass.