Aesthetically Ever After: aofm

Our mission here at AEA is to appreciate things that are aesthetically beautiful. So when I was chosen to go to the beautiful city of Paris to be a backstage makeup artist with the AOFM pro team for Men’s Fashion Week, my heart skipped a beat and my dreams and ambitions played out before me.

Let me give you a background story...
I studied at the Academy of Freelance Makeup (AOFM) in 2009, successfully completing a makeup artistry and session styling hair course. The academy prides itself on being the only premier makeup school that offers their graduates aftercare and work experience like no other. Upon graduation 2 years ago I have been able to secure myself numerous shows at London Fashion Week, a few editorial photo shoots, Graduate Fashion Week and now the breathtaking opportunity to go to Paris all on behalf of AOFM.

Paris excites me because of its mood, the romance, architecture, the literary institutions, and the cuisine. Culturally, architecturally, artistically it's an amazing place.

We were heading to Paris, 3 other graduates from the academy and I, to assist Head Makeup Artist and superb individual, Michelle Webb. This was a dream come true and being a lover of all things fashion and fabulous...FYI, Paris is the fashion capital of the world! Another element to digest in the whirlwind of matters was that we are being sent to do Men’s Fashion Week...PHEW! Eager to find out who the designer was for the show we were heading I did some quick research on Vogue.com and Style.com. My heart raced again when I saw the big designers featuring...John Galliano, Dior Homme, Roland Mouret, Givenchy, Lanvin...

Roland Mouret it was and how truly fabulous.

Mouret is a French fashion designer who began his career in 1979 when he enrolled in a Parisian fashion college. He quickly abandoned his studies to gain life experience. In Mouret’s early years of his career he developed an appreciation of simplicity, sensuality in design and a consciousness of the female figure. This is apparent in his form-enhancing pieces that juxtapose austerity and sensuality.

Mouret presented his first collection at London Fashion Week in 1998 and since then has gone on to have a successful and be well respected designer.

In September 2005, Roland Mouret introduced to the world the now ubiquitous Galaxy Dress. Shortly thereafter, Hollywood A-list starlets such as Cameron Diaz, Demi Moore, Rachel Weisz, Scarlett Johansson and Victoria Beckham embraced the brand and designer. The Daily Telegraph described the dress as the ‘dress of the season’, ‘the most recognizable dress of the last decade'. Mouret explained that the inspiration for the iconic dress were curvaceous celebrities Scarlett Johansson and Dita Von Teese.

In January 2010, Mouret presented, for the first time, a Menswear collection. Back to the present day, Mouret showcases Mr, his spring summer 12’ menswear collection in Paris.
A quick Eurostar ride and we are in Paris, the City of Light. The weather was stunning, hot with a cool careless breeze. The Parisians looked effortlessly stylish whilst lingering in the cafes or taking in the panoramic views, watching the horizons from any of the beautiful bridges.

A few Parisian hours later, including a crepe and a cocktail, we were seated in the flawless restaurant Kong by Kenzo in a trendy and decadent part of the City centre. After a delightful time of cocktails and dinner with the directors of the Academy, Jana and Jason, we all set off back to our hotels to get some beauty sleep in preparation of the show in the morning.

8am beautiful sunshine again and we arrived at the grand Westin Hotel for Fashion Week. This hotel was jaw-dropping in its architecture and presence. It was simply stunning inside and outside.

Backstage I peeped Roland Mouret getting a haircut, then surprisingly very cool and calm backstage. We had 20 male models to makeup, some of which had just flown from Milan Fashion Week or just finished the Prada or Givenchy show. The brief of the makeup was clean, flawless and matte.

Here’s what we used:
· Bioderma Cleanser
· Dermalogica Multi-Active Toner
· Moisturiser
· Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick
· MAC Studio Finish Concealor or Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealor
· MAC Blot Powder Pressed or MAC Translucent Finishing Powder
· Lip balm

This is how they looked:

My favourites models of the show Kim Dall’armi and Dylan Garner. Dylan is from Wales is relatively new to the scene but still has some big names under his belt. Check out their pictures from other shows and shoots at: http://models.com/models/kim-dall-armi http://www.elitemodellondon.co.uk/details.aspx?modelid=520620&nav=2&subid=5574&mainsubid=5574&indx=0&from=

Take a look at the shows press coverage at: http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2012MEN-MRRMOURET

Our time in Paris was almost up. We had a few hours left to sightsee and relax, so after some lunch we were off to the Eiffel tower. Well almost... take a look.
Saying goodbye to Paris was not hard because I know I be going back whether it for work matters or personal pleasure. I have now fallen in love with the City and it now has my heart. Many thanks go out to AOFM for the indescribable experience and opportunity.

For more information about AOFM, please see links below:
http://www.aofmakeup.com/
For more information about Michelle Webb, please see link below:
http://www.michellewebb.com/

Until next time
AEA x x

Graduate Fashion Week was launched in 1991 and is a forum to showcase the very best BA Graduate fashion design talent in the UK.

I was selected with 22 other graduates from the Academy of Freelance Makeup (AOFM) to work backstage at GFW. We were sponsored by Rimmel London and were making up the very best models in the industry from agencies such as Storm, Select, Premier, ING, Ford and lots more. I felt very privileged and was buzzing to get started on day 1.

The event was held at Earls Court, London and rest of the AOFM team and I had a 7.45am call time... This was going to be hard for someone like me who loves their bed. However, I literally leapt out of bed on Sunday morning, enthused for what the day may bring.

As I thought as it was going to be long and demanding few days I would keep my own make up clean and simple. MAC Prep and prime skin, MAC Studio Fix Fluid, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish, MAC Raisin Powder Blush, MAC Eyeliner in Boot Black, MAC Eye Kohl in Smoulder and two coats of YSL Mascara. As you can probably tell I love MAC ha! Well I work for them but that is another story and another blog...

So day 1 we had 3 shows for 3 different universities- East London, Edinburgh and Salford. The brief for all of them were pretty natural... see image below. So using Rimmel London Match Perfection Foundation and Rimmel London Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation, we were able to create a flawless finish that was either matte or dewy and creamy.

By day 2, some of the universities requested that the models for their show have a strong, sexy and defined red or berry statement-Bristol, Bath and Birmingham. I was thrilled to do this as two things I class myself to have OCD about being a makeup artist is creating a perfect red lip and defining eyebrows...Eeeeekkkkk I’m getting excited just thinking about it. Using the Rimmel Lasting Finish 1000 kisses stay on lip contouring pencil in 021 Red Dynamite, we created a super slick, defined and kissable mouth. I filled in my models lips with Red Diva lipstick or Berry Fever.

Bath University (below) opted for a spin off 60’s feel to their makeup. White eye kohl in the waterline, lashings of mascara- Rimmel Glam’ Eyes Day 2 Night.

Continuing into day 3 the adrenaline was pumping backstage and it was empowering to work with a team of dedicated, creative and passionate individuals. A massive shout out is to the amazing L’oreal Session Styling Team who used Techni- Arts products. They created some absolutely fabulous high fashion hair styles. Not to mention they were all lovely and just as keen as us makeup artists to showcase their art.

I definitely underestimated the talent I was going to see and be working with at Graduate Fashion Week. These graduates are outstanding and deserve the recognition they gained at the glamorous event. They are definitely the future and I actually cannot wait to do next year.

I have two designers which have stuck in my head and I was blown away by. Now they may not be every ones cup of tea but equally you have to applaud their creativity and out-the-box thinking.

Paris Hawkins-Carr- Birmingham University

Isla Skelton- Birmingham University

I’m going to track down these two designers and get some more information about the inspiration behind the designs, favourite designers and life after graduate fashion week... Please stay tuned.