'Fighter' - 1883 Magazine by Leigh Keates

I worked on this shoot with the lovely Holly (Ounstead) from 1883 and talented photographer Neil Francis Dawson.

The inspiration for the hair in this story came from the iconic Chanel 'Underwater' show.
I piled on the mousse and added Tigi Styling cream to prevent the mousse drying to crispy. Using a wide tooth comb I gathered the hair, leaving a side part, and tied at the back before loosely twisting into a wetlook chignon. Adding a touch of Tigi wet look gel to hairline to stop it from drying fluffy. A final douse of Tigi Weightless shine spray shine spray for extra sheen and the first look was ready.

For the second look we let the hair down, staying within the 'Chanel' theme I lightly spritzed with water and added a little more styling cream. We had fun playing around with this look, switching from having the hair, strategically placed over our models face to slicking it behind her ears.

We finished with the hair up and off the models face again, but this time went for a super sleek wet look top-knot, spraying almost point blank with shine spray to finish.

A last minute shoot that resulted in working with a great team, producing great results.

See the full story and credits here.
Follow Leigh on Twitter here. 

Institute Magazine - by Sophie Harris-Greenslade/The Illustrated Nail

For this beautiful editorial by Hollie and Grace Carlin in Institute Magazine I made sculptural 3D nails to look like pieces of nail jewellery. 

I filed the nails to a sharp point and covered in gold metallic Minx. I then cut folded and shaped gold foil to sharp points and attached to the nail. 

I think the nails make a great statement and I absolutely love these shots. It was a great team to work with and I had so much fun shooting that day.

See the full story here.

Autumn's Urban Uniform -Blog and Styling Sarah Clark & (Make-up) Eli Wakamatsu

Eli and Sarah worked on the make-up and styling respectively for the Autumn's Urban Uniform story in the September issue of Red Magazine with the photographer David Mandelberg.

Sarah: "I really loved the Topshop Unique show back February (in fact, it was one of my favourite London shows). I never thought a Topshop show would provide the inspiration for one of my shoots, but with Kate Phelan at the helm, it was a very different show. 

I loved the way she deconstructed the military looks to make them cooler and more wearable. I thought this was a great take on the (huge) trend for Red - not too young or gimmicky, but still stylish and cool. 

I wanted to style the clothes in a way that was really effortless and easy for every day (but without being boring). My favourite pieces were the Topshop coat (amazing, although not sure I'm tall enough to pull it off myself), the Margaret Howell navy wool cap, and the Joseph skirt. And I was also completely obsessed with the Pringle boots! 

I wanted to shoot the story in a really simple location, (and definitely didn't want any military references), and I just love Hyde Park. It's so beautiful, and so photogenic. So we shot one day there and one day around the streets in Shoreditch and Brick Lane (to balance out all the green!)."




Eli: "We had such a lovely location shoot, a day out in both Hyde park and  in the East end of London.

Our model Claudia Raba at Models 1 was well cast to do this shoot which needed someone cool, effortless and stylish.

She was all that before I started make-up!

The make up was totally aimed to do just that as well, nothing too 'statement', just beautiful skin and with her gorgeous smile just shined. And showing her independence and determination by filling her eyebrow well.

All colours were in the pallet of urban tones, well worked into the skin.

I used  Dior skin Nude as a base. 

Her eyebrow was defined and shaped with Becca  Cosmetics Brow Powder and Brow Shaping Gel.  

Her nails were painted in Nars polish in the 'Desperado' shade. 

See the full story here.

Follow Sarah on Twitter here.

Follow Eli on Twitter here.

Introducing Hair Stylist Leigh Keates

Leigh at work on the Firetrap Campaign

I am delighted to announce that award winning hair stylist Leigh Keates has joined the agency. He was crowned as Creative Head Magazines Fashionista’ and One to Watch’ 2011/12. He was also shortlisted as a finalist in several other national competitions for 2010/11.





Leigh started hairdressing in 2003 and this year joined the Josh Wood Atelier in Holland Park in order to pursue his session dreams whilst continuing to take care of his valued clientele. 



As well as working on teams during Paris and London fashion weeks, Leigh has worked for editorials including Tatler, Harpers Bazaar, L'Officiel, Dazed & Confused, Super Super, The Observer, NME, 125 Magazine and Creative Head and clients include Firetrap, Sunday Girl, BOY London, Victoria Beckham, Camilla Rutherford and Monsoon.

Follow Leigh on Twitter here.

See Leigh's step by step for Retro Waves in Grazia Magazine here.

By Sophie Harris-Greenslade Harpers Bazaar China Shoot

For the Harpers Bazaar shoot I woke up super early to catch the bus to Dover for the day. We all headed off about 6am to the beautiful St Margaret's Bay in Kent. 

I used Orly dazzle, a really beautiful silver foil effect colour and also an icy blue, Coat Azure by Essie to work with the "Cool Metal" story. I changed the blue however in the afternoon to a natural cream (Nigella by AFNB) as we thought it would work better in shot.

It was a freezing cold day and the sea winds on the beach really cut through you. I don't know how the models got through it! Unfortunately the weather turned from bad to worse and poured down in the afternoon but the pictures are so beautiful it was well worth braving the cold for. 


See the full story here.
Follow Sophie on Twitter here.

Sarah Clark's Little Spree

Sarah Clark has created Little Spree, a blog for children's clothes featuring cool, stylish bargains for little ones (from newborn upwards...) trawling online and the high street so you don't have to.

As a Fashion Editor for over 10 years, Sarah knows something stylish when she sees it, and she also has a keen eye for a bargain. She said, "When I had twins in January 2010, I found it harder than I thought to dress them well, without having to max out my credit card. There are great things out there that don't cost the earth, you just have to know where to look for them (and be prepared to hunt!). But that's my job. I score the high street for the best things out there (and trust me, if it's out there, I will find it!), so you don't have to. All you need to do is log on. Easy. Oh, and there are also loads of great gift ideas (so that's all your friends' kids/nieces/nephews/godchildren sorted too)."

Check it out here or follow on Twitter for updates here.

George Northwood with Alexa Chung in Paris

George worked with his favourite girl in Paris this week.  Alexa Chung is the face of super stylish French label Maje. A match made in heaven.