Beauty and The Beat

Finally the autumn collections are hitting the stores. I have been lusting over the images from the shows since February, with particular reference to Isabel Marant and Miu Miu's catwalk collections. And how I would love a pair of Marant's leather cropped skinny biker jeans or just any one of the floral appliqued or crocheted sixties tunics on offer from Miu Miu. Sadly, the winter shopping budget won't stretch to either of those items since each piece is priced at over a grand each. My challenge, this month will be to find similar, inspired garments from either trawling the vintage racks or down on the good ole' high street.So until I find those looks on the cheap I will start to channel the beauty look that I feel best compliments the sixties/beatnik style I am going for this winter. Firstly and most importantly the look starts with the eyes. A big sweeping cat's flick of eyeliner over a minky shade of eyeshadow should get the look going. Bobbi Brown's Long-wear gel eyeliner in Black Ink is certainly the best liquid eyeliner effect I have ever tried. The precision comes from using a brush and applying as little or as much as you dare to go. Keep the complexion fair with just a hint of pink blush on the cheeks. With so much focus on the eyes, leave lips pale and miminal . Tom Ford's Vanilla suede lipstick emulates the sixties lip or try a touch of concealer with a pale pink balm over the top like By Terry's Baume de Rose for lips. And dont forget the nails, this season give your fingertips a rest from all the strong, pigmented colours of seasons past and go for one of Chanel's new collection of Khaki Rose nail varnishes. Finally the hair. Think Bardot bouffants, Hepburn half up do's, bit messy, bit tousled just add a glam and expensive hair accessory from either Chanel or Marc Jacobs to keep the look modern. So, there you go, Sixties Sex Kittens, beauty sorted...now just to find the clothes.

Pictures: Top Left - Backstage at Giambattista Valli's Autumn/Winter 2010 catwalk show.
Top right - The much-hyped, long-awaited new nail colours from Chanel.
Bottom right - A glitzy glam barrette like this one from Chanel should keep a messy bouffant looking cool and modern.