5 Beauty Trends We Saw Backstage At London Fashion Week AW25

You’d be forgiven for thinking that London Fashion Week was all about the clothes – it’s in the name, after all. But alongside influencing what we’ll all be wearing in the coming months, the long weekend of runway shows and presentations sets the tone for the season ahead (we see you, Ashish, championing us to stay out all night) – and, of course, outlines the beauty trends we’ll no doubt be jumping on.

Across London Fashion Week this past weekend, Team Service95 not only watched these trends at runway shows – we also went backstage beforehand, meeting the hair and makeup artists creating these beauty looks to discover the trends to note – and how to recreate them at home.

Indeed, we have months to wait until the clothes we’ve seen on the runways make their way into shops, and, hopefully, into our wardrobes. But beauty? That’s something we can channel right now. So with that in mind, here are the 5 most wearable trends we spotted, and how to make them work for you.

1. Embrace The Kink

The Trend: Mind out of the gutter, here. We’ve all experienced The Kink – when you’ve spent time straightening your hair and then, once you’re out, you realise you’ve left a chunk of strands unstraightened at the back, or that the damp/humid/windy (delete as applicable) weather has caused your hair to wind its way back to its natural texture. Fortunately for us all, fashion has now deemed that hair faux pas chic.

The Inspiration: At Chet Lo, models sported sleek, shiny hair, “incorporating high gloss crimped panels at the back and sides of the hair,” explains Anna Cofone, lead hair stylist for the show, who used Authentic Beauty Concept’s Pliable Paste to prep hair and Working Hairspray to fix it in place, mimicking “elements of the patterns and textures within Chet’s designs”. Over at S.S.Daley, Anna took a different approach, pulling models’ hair back off their faces and working with their hair’s natural kink to create a casually windswept look. Meanwhile, models at Simone Rocha sported artfully weather-worn hair, created by stylist Holli Smith using Bumble and bumble’s Thickening Spray and Surf Spray to add texture and movement – like they’d just been (beautifully) battling the elements.

How To Make It Wearable: The easiest way to wear this trend? (And no, it’s not running out in the rain to see what happens.) Embrace your hair’s natural texture. If it begins to form waves after you’ve straightened it, allow that to happen. Don’t worry about making every strand perfect. And encourage kinks and curls to form using texture sprays for a casual-yet-considered finish.

2. Bad Romance

The Trend: This season, the vamp made a return to the catwalk – but she’s a little softer than you might remember. She’ll still be rocking a smoky eye and dark lip until the end of time, but for AW25, she’s gone all romantic. Think flashes of colour (reds and plums, alongside classic black), soft, teased-out hair and sultry, plump lips.

The Inspiration: At the Dreaming Eli presentation, dresses began to feature increasing bloody hues, before a finale in which the model walked down the runway with her hands and arms dripping in a red... liquid. (It’s about as romantically gothic as you can get, really – loving someone quite literally to death, no?) This was mirrored in the makeup, where Carly Utting modernised the classic smoky eye by using vivid red hues (notably MAC’s Eyeshadow in Haute Sauce).

As for lips, the vamp’s bold pout got an update at Mark Fast, where makeup artist Sharon Dowsett upgraded classic red with a glossy top coat. And, if you’re really daring, Roksanda took an even darker turn as Aurore Gibrien applied black lipstick to models. Nothing says vamp quite like an extra dose of black.

How To Make It Wearable: We’re not suggesting you go full bloody chic for autumn here, but you can bring this vibe into your makeup – whether it’s switching out your black shadow for red, or slicking a clear gloss over your lipstick for maximum shine. The trick here is to keep the rest of your makeup as minimal as possible – conceal where you wish, but avoid heavy, matte bases and opt for emphasising just eyes or lips, for a look you can wear in the club as well as to the, um, crypt.

3. Actual No-Makeup-Makeup

The Trend: This won’t be the first time you’ve been told that ‘no-makeup-makeup’ is ‘in’ – before being given a long list of foundations, concealers, powders and more used to create this ‘natural’ look. Well, for once, we can actually say that minimal makeup was used backstage at London Fashion Week, with a real focus on skincare to work with models’ natural complexions, rather than concealing them.

The Inspiration: For all three collections presented at Fashion East (by Olly Shinder, Nuba and Louther), Romero Jennings created three very distinct looks, yet all prioritised a natural glow over a perfect finish. At most, there was a touch of Studio Radiance Luminous Lift Concealer dotted across under-eyes. Otherwise, skin was prepped with MAC’s Hyper Real Serumizer across the board – the glow-giving skincare Romero confirmed was the one product he’d use every day, if forced to choose – while brows were sculpted with Pro Locked Brow Gel and lips hydrated with M.A.Cximal Sleek Satin Lipstick in Into The Clear (though you could also use a balm for a similar, if less long-lasting, effect).

At Annie’s Ibiza, skin prep was central – even though models did wear makeup. But before that was applied, models each received a dedicated skincare regime using ARgENTUM products to hydrate, rebalance and create that lit-from-within finish. We spotted the hydrating le sérum infini and restorative moisturiser la potion infinie being used on them all, and the skin was glowing.  

How To Make It Wearable: Take your cue from backstage and prioritise your skin first, implementing a solid cleansing and moisturising regime and incorporating a few key products to boost that glow. You also don’t have to go completely makeup free to follow this trend. See: models at Kazna Asker’s presentation, where makeup artist Hila Karmand used light touches of makeup in natural hues, from copper eyeshadows to just enough base to even skin tone (all by Huda Beauty) to create a barely there finish.

4. The Longer, The Better

The Trend: When it comes to beauty add-ons, from nails to lashes, the pared-back, almost imperceptible look has been a favourite of late. Until now. It’s time to dig out your false lashes and learn how to type with long nails again, because statement length is well and truly back.

The Inspiration: Spiky, spidery, ultra-long lashes dominated at Harris Reed, in a dramatic look created by Charlotte Tilbury. After applying false lashes to both the top and bottom lash lines, makeup artist Sofia Tilbury added thick lashings of Charlotte’s Exagger-Eyes Volume Mascara on top to “dial up the drama,” she says.

XL lashes were also on show at Karina Bond, where Lan Nguyen-Grealis added feather-like lash extensions in a range of colours for a playful statement. And it wasn’t just lashes that were taken to (literal) new lengths: the eyes were mirrored with XL nails, as Giulia Oldani applied graphic stiletto extensions to mimic the brand’s sculptural, lace-like, 3D-printed designs. Though perhaps the longest of them all was seen at Chet Lo, where nails went into full talon mode, with hyper-long, pointed styles created by Angel My Linh for a full feline finish.

How To Make It Wearable: Are these looks practical? Not really. Do they look great? Absolutely. Can you wear them IRL? Well, you can do what you like, but to bring the XL trend firmly into everyday territory, it’s all about using these runway looks as inspiration – whether that’s piling on lengthening mascara until your lashes form clumps, like Tilbury at Harris Reed, or turning to slightly shorter nail extensions to create baby talons. Remember, making trends wearable is all about doing things, your way.

5. Morning-After Glamour

The Trend: The morning after the night before rarely (if ever) results in what you’d call a ‘look’. Until it’s given a fashionable spin, that is. From bed hair to smudged lipstick and mascara streaming down cheeks, if the runways are anything to go by, looking like you’ve pulled an all-nighter is now a very good thing.

The Inspiration: Ashish sent models down the runway with a very literal take on “night bus beauty” – makeup artist Terry Barber’s own words. This became the most unlikely beauty inspiration of the season, from the aforementioned smudged makeup to last night’s sparkle (MAC’s Holographic Glitter, no less) still sprinkled across lids and, well, knees.

Meanwhile, just-rolled-out-of-bed hair got a fashionable update across a host of other shows, from Dreaming Eli – where hair stylist Danilo Giangreco used Revlon Professional Modular Mousse to create “controlled chaos” via delicately dishevelled up-dos – to an uber-refined take on everyone’s favourite last-minute hairstyle: the slick back. The latter could be found at Roksanda, where Anna Cofone slicked hair back using Authentic Beauty Concept’s Cosmic Blowdry Jelly and sent them down the runway with half-pulled-through ponytails, making unfinished styles look very much finished.

How To Make It Wearable: Well, you could take this literally and just go out without adjusting your hair and makeup from the night before. But if you don’t want to face disciplinary action at work, you might want to lean in to the dishevelment without actually turning up anywhere hungover. So instead of carefully lining lips, blur the outer lines of your lipstick with your fingers for a softer finish. Allow your mascara to gently smudge under your eyes instead of bothering with eyeliner. And, when you wake up fully intending to wash your hair – then don’t – simply apply gel and slick it back instead, using Anna’s technique of setting the gel with a diffuser for a hold that will last all day long.