These are the best beauty looks from London Fashion Week AW19

Vivienne Westwood

Longtime activist and anarchist Vivienne Westwood used her AW19 show as a vehicle for political protest. Taking place a mere stone’s throw away from the Houses of Parliament, the collection touched on topics ranging from global warming and sustainability to austerity and Brexit. During the show models such as Sara Stockbridge and Lara McGrath and activists, including Rose McGowan and members of Greenpeace, walked the runway giving speeches and reading poems. Models with exaggerated prosthetic noses shouted messages including “tax the poor and give to the rich, that’s the lie with the long nose” and “Brexit is a crime.” The beauty looks were the creative vision of Dazed Beauty creative director Isamaya Ffrench who created a smorgasbord of weird and wonderful make-up. Along with the Pinocchio noses, were models plastered with brightly coloured balloons and faces covered in gold spray paint. Meanwhile, hair courtesy of Gary Gill was wild and untamed.    

Matty Bovan

Matty Bovan’s AW19 collection entitled “In Uncertain Times, This Is A Sure Thing” was inspired by folklore and medieval witchcraft. Models walked the runway with glossy lids and glossy ombre lips by make-up artist Miranda Joyce. The Joan of Arc meets Sally Bowles wigs were courtesy of Syd Hayes, while Bovan's on-going collaboration with Coach provided the Stephen Jones-created giant hats in Coach's signature print.

Halpern

This season Halpern offered up a collection that called back to the glamorous times of Studio 54. Perfectly complementing the sequined looks were glittering eyes by Isamaya Ffrench created by overlaying gold foil onto bold creamy colours. Skin was left clean and dewy while lips were nude. Hair by Sam McKnight, meanwhile, ranged from meticulously tousled and wavy for some to short and natural for others.

Simone Rocha

This season Simone Rocha sent a collection down the runway that was a study of female eroticism and intimacy. A star-studded show, models including Chloë Sevigny, Lily Cole and Lindsey Wixson walked with grungy goth lips painted deep berry by Sam Bryant. Meanwhile, hair courtesy of James Pecis was enhanced by sparkling gems and pearl headpieces.

Ashley Williams

“The power of the penis is a magical thing,” read the notes at Ashley Williams’ AW19 show which featured an array of sperm, as well as cat, prints. Bows – including Pixie Geldof's Pebbles Flintstone updo – and the brand’s signature hair pins were in abundance and styled by Alex Brownsell, while make-up by Janell Geason was kept natural and minimal.

Kiko Kostadinov

Hair and make-up at Kiko Kostadinov this season, which took inspiration from 19th century female bandits, was as wild as we’ve come to expect from the designer. With Kostadinov regulars Kiyoko Odo and Nami Yoshida at the helm, faces were painted with an assortment of abstract, often sooty, designs while hair was voluminous and painterly.

Fashion East

This season Fashion East brought together three burgeoning and bold designers who delivered strong designs and even stronger beauty looks. With MAC covering make-up across the shows, looks ranged from bold bursts of colour at Gareth Wrighton to pink flushed cherub cheeks at Yuhan Wang and delicate doll lashes at Charlotte Knowles.

At Gareth Wrighton, where his debut collection entitled "In the Pines: The Ballad of Meredith Hunter" explored themes of dystopia and our troubled future, hair by Virginie P Moreira was tease high into Trollz-esque styles. Tightly-wound curls by Kiyoko Odo at Yuhan Wang perfectly complemented the delicate silk and lace designs ( “Softness is power – we don’t need to dress like men” said Wang of her second collection), while the tough femininity at Charlotte Knowles saw hair slicked back by Tina Outen and fastened by hand-made burnt combs. 

Asai

Asai presented a neutral, well-tailored collection for AW19 full of brown and nude tones. This earthy colour palette was complemented by muddy paws courtesy of Sylvie Macmillan, horned and insect-wing eyes from Thomas de Kluyver and loose, natural hair by Cyndia Harvey.

Molly Goddard

At Molly Goddard this season the designer's signature giant tulle dresses were accompanied by minimalistic but striking kohl eyes which were paired with rosy cheeks and nude lips courtesy of make-up artist Hiromi Ueda. Hair meanwhile was either slicked back, left wavy, or tucked under sweet knitted balaclavas, thanks to Luke Hersheson.

Burberry

Riccardo Tisci second collection for Burberry was dedicated to the “the youth of today.” Taking place at the Tate Modern, the show saw star models including Gigi Hadid, Stella Tenant and Natalia Vodianova take to the runway, however, it was the beauty looks that stole the spotlight. With Pat McGrath in charge of make-up skin was creamy and glowing, while Guido Palau crafted incredible, intricate curls from the models' hair.  

Ashish

The motto at Ashish this season was the bigger the better. Hair was served super-sized courtesy of Sam McKnight who created the XL bouffants by piling three wigs on top of each other and then accented the look with rhinestone barrettes. Finishing off the disco-fever look – or as make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench put it "Dolly Parton dragged through a hedge backwards" – was Ffrench's make-up which involved boatloads of glitter on the eyes and high points of the face.

Ryan Lo

Sam McKnight was back at it again for Ryan Lo's hyper-girly AW19 collection where he created beautiful romantic waves. These curls were accompanied by gigantic puff-ball earmuffs and a bright pink power lip courtesy of make-up artist Pablo Rodriguez.  

Richard Quinn

Slicked back curtains was the hair look at Richard Quinn this season, where the designer sent a collection with supersized yet sculpted silhouettes down the runway. Accompanying these gelled bangs by James Pecis was make-up by Miranda Joyce who kept the face clean and bleached the eyebrows, adding to the intense look of the models.