London Fashion Week Spring 2020: The Best Hair and Makeup Looks From the Runways

You can easily nab that Code8 Matte Velour Lipstick, which was custom mixed for the show by makeup artist Lucy Bridge a couple weeks ago. The limited edition hue (which costs £45) launched on Net-a-Porter.com as the models came down the runway at Emilia Wickstead.

The hair, however, was the opposite of easy. Hairstylist Benjamin Muller crafted this gorgeous updo (as well as another version where the chignon sat at the nape of the neck), by securing the into a high ponytail, blow-drying the tail with a round-brush, wrapping the tail around a hair doughnut that he cut in half, and then moulding the chignon into a wide fan-like shape. "The angle created by the high chignon is what makes this style so elegant and beautiful," said Muller. "So the profile of this look is very important." Also important when creating this look was lots of cans of Aveda Hair Control Hairspray (£21) as well as another set of hands.

Halpern's nod to the disco era continued for another season. The collection featured lots of twinkly sequins, sexy high slits, and slinky lamé — and of course the beauty look was equally as decadent. Makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench decorated the eyes holographic black wings in an exaggerated oval shape, while hairstylist Sam McKnight slicked the hair back away from the face to best show off the over-the-top metallic ear cuffs many of the models wore. McKnight did manage to slip in his own touch of disco fever, however, which came in the form of crimping at the very ends of the hair.

"Glitter that's been lived in and loved in," is how makeup artist Dominic Skinner described the makeup at House of Holland. Models wore either purple, lime green, or lilac-coloured glitter, which Skinner applied all around the eyes and all the way up towards the temples. A straight and strict middle part was the perfect way to frame the sparkly statement.

"There's not a single hair out of place with this braid," hairstylist Anthony Turner said of the simple three-strand plaits he created at Erdem. The hairstyle — which featured a centre part, the hair over the ears, and a black bow tied around the bottom — was loosely inspired by an Italian photographer and silent-film actress from the 1930s named Tina Modotti, who wore her hair similarly. It also fit nicely underneath all of the impressive feathered hats that came down the runway.

Backstage, Turner prepped damp hair with L'Oréal Professionnel Mythic Oil (£13) and Pli Thermo-Modelling Spray (£16) before blow-drying it straight and flat against the head with his Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer (£300) — adding more Mythic Oil once the hair was completely dry. Then, to create the cleanest braid we've ever seen, before Turner would weave a section of hair into the braid, he would spray that strand with hairspray and blast it with the hair-dryer first. This "spray and bake" method, as he called it, not only kept flyaways slicked down, but it also kept the plait completely locked in place.

Just 24 hours before her Spring 2020 show, Victoria Beckham finally dropped the first 11 products from her Victoria Beckham Beauty line. Inspired by the designer's signature smoky eyes, Victoria's Smoky Eye Wardrobe consists of shadows, palettes, and pencils in a variety of sophisticated, easy-to-wear shades.

It's no surprise, then, that Beckham's new products were used backstage to create the makeup look for the show. Using either the Victoria Beckham Beauty Satin Kajal Liner in Bordeaux, or the bright blue shade from the Smoky Eye Brick in Royal applied with a damp eyeliner brush, makeup artist Pat McGrath drew a crisp, thin line right above the creases of the models' eyes. "We wanted it to be clean, gorgeous, yet minimal, as always," McGrath said backstage. "So there's just these little touches of colour on about 16 of the models."

At Ports 1961, hairstylist Guido went with a very deep-side part on models with long hair and short bobs, tucking the hair behind the ears and pulling a few pieces in front of the ear to both frame the face and balance out the oversized sunglasses that some of them wore down the runway.

Watercolour eye makeup (some may call it tie dye), is becoming a favourite amongst makeup artists looking to find fun ways to experiment with lots of colour at once. And that's exactly what Lottie did at Paula Knorr. Using two different palettes from California-based makeup brand RealHear, the makeup artist applied purples, pinks, peaches, and oranges all over the lids and then blended them together to create a seamless, watercolour-like effect. Before the models went out on the runway, she topped everything with clear gloss to mimic the shine in the clothes.

While the makeup was kept minimal for Roland Mouret, the manicures were decidedly major. Nail artist Marian Newman matched the nail art to the necklaces in the collection, which were designed by New York City-based jewellery designer Marla Aaron.

Braided pigtails looked sweet at Bora Asku. And while not every model wore flowers atop their heads — some wore headbands, some wore nothing at all — every one of them wore a bold, cherry-red lip courtesy of makeup artist Janeen Witerspoon, who broke out Lisa Eldridge's Velvet Ribbon lipstick for the occasion.

The updos at Ashish were a mishmash of braids and twists, as well as beads, feathers, flowers (freshly picked from hairstylist Sam McKnight's personal garden), and even some keys, which were haphazardly strewn throughout the back of the head. And yes, the texture of the hair was supposed to look a little dusty and earthy, which McKnight achieved by blasting the hair with both his Hair by Sam McKnight Easy Updo Thickening Spray (£25) and the Mane Thickening Spray (£17), a product meant to create the illusion thicker, fuller hair for those experiencing hair loss.

Using tones like pink, lilac, and mint green on the eyes and cheeks, makeup artist Neil Young was inspired by sorbet tones — and all of the gorgeous colours featured in the collection. "The collection is so beautiful and feminine, and there were so many colours and textures, I felt why not echo that in the makeup," said Young, who dipped into eye shadow palettes from Suqqu Beauty to create the look.

With a rainbow of pastel colours featured both in the clothes and in the set of Olivia Rubin's presentation, makeup artist Sofia Schwartzkopf-Tilbury wanted to "create a makeup look that really popped with the collection." To do that, she kept the skin really fresh and dewy looking, draped blush along the cheeks and up to the temples, and used two different-coloured pink lipsticks (Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips in Bosworth's Beauty and Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips in Electric Poppy) to add dashes of colour around the eyes.

The collection's very romantic and girly, so using pinks [on the eyes] felt natural to us," said makeup artist Celia Burton. "But there is a slight edge to it, both with the pink shadow underneath the eyes and with the long false lashes at the corners, which are a little off-kilter and inspired by old Chinese movie stars from the '20s and '30s." Burton custom-mixed the pink hue by blending three Glossier Cloud Paints (£15) together — Haze, Puff, and Storm — and buffing the rosy blend onto the lids with a soft, fluffy brush. Right before the show, a thin layer of Glossier's Haloscope highlighter (£18) also went on top to give the lids a dewy finish.

Also, that gorgeous glow comes courtesy of some diligent skin prep using MZ Skin Hydra-Bright Golden Eye Treatment Masks (£65) and MZ Skin Lift & Lustre Golden Elixir Serum (£210), and a layer of the Glossier Skin Tint (£20). "It's the closest thing to skin that I've ever worked with and leaves the skin looking exactly like its original form," said Burton.

"'90s Jungle rave" was the inspiration behind the neon extravaganza at Mark Fast's show. Makeup artist Pablo Rodriguez created two different looks for the show: The first included neon pink-and-purple eye shadow that went all over the lids and extended out to the temples with honey-orange blush. The second featured vibrant, slime-green eye shadow also extending to the temples, but paired with bubblegum-pink cheeks. Both looks were created using the new Illamasqua Electrify Artistry Eyeshadow Palette, launching in October.

The hair was equally loud and vibrant. Similar to the makeup, there were two main looks dreamed up by Maria Kovacs For the models with long hair, 30-inch extensions were added to create a bum-grazing braided ponytail, which was then accessorised with a wide, neon-coloured stretchy material wrapped around the elastic. This style — which was inspired by snakes in the jungle — was finished off with a generous amount of Tigi Catwalk Firm Hold Hairspray (£11) to keep everything in place. For the models with shorter hair, a stripe of neon gel was applied to a small section of the hair, adding a subtle-yet-striking element to the overall look.