A Backstage Pass to Graduate Fashion Week 2014 - Part #1

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to Graduate Fashion Week by Bourjois who were the official make up Sponsors. I adore catwalk make up, It always manages to look so effortless and flawless, and when offered the chance to go backstage and see the artists prepping the models and designing the looks, like any Beauty Blogger I jumped at the chance. 

As well as being given that sought after backstage pass, I also managed to catch the 'University of East London' Catwalk Show. There were so many beautiful looks on the catwalk, here are two that caught my eye.

Leanne Bell

What I loved about this outfit from Leanne Bell, were the colours and how It spurred me into thinking how I could take inspiration from the outfit and transfer it to an everyday make up look. I'm envisioning Gold foiled eyes, with a hint of pink smoked out and a baby pink lip, I'd pair it with glowing skin and a bright highlight on the cheek.

Krasimira Ivanova-Stoyneva

This coat from Krasimira Ivanova-Stoyneva really stood out to me as a striking use of colour. To transfer this to a make up look, I'd go for a yellow and blue eye teamed with  a bold flick and a bright red lip.

I loved being able to go back stage and watch the make up artists at work. The head make up artist for the show was the amazingly talented Lan Nguyen-Grealis. Her station totally made my jaw drop when I saw all the products she had to play with! 

I arrived at just the right time as I managed to catch Lan demonstrating one of the key looks for a show to one of her team. I adored this gorgeous black smokey eye she created on the models.

The black smokey eye looked gorgeous on the pale skin of the models. I've always been a little fearful of heavy dark eyes with my pale skin but the use of the bronzer to contour and a beautiful highlight stops this look from washing out the skin. Instead of looking sickly, Lan has managed to create something that works perfectly and totally compliments the skin tone. I may just give it a shot and try to recreate it myself!

For the eyes, Lan used:

Bourjois Smokey Effect Eyeliner in Intense - Smokey eyes trio (Gris Party) - Bourjois Little Round Pot: Noir Fusain and Gris.

I absolutely loved my time at Graduate Fashion Week and I managed to pick up a few tips from watching Lan and the other artists work. To top it all off, I also managed to meet two lovely bloggers 

Lorna from Studs and Dreams and  Jade from Fairytalekiss

We had such a giggle at the show and I've a special step by step Get the Look post coming soon that the three of us as a little blogging journo team managed to capture together. So do check back for that soon.

Stay tuned for more exclusive posts from backstage at Graduate Fashion Week. xxx