Australian Fashion Week is a busy time for the Gritty Pretty team and having recently joined the brand, this resort 2022 season also happened to be my first time on the circuit as a beauty editor. From the outside looking in, attending Fashion Week is glamorous and lots of fun, which is true, but it’s also a job. The week is full of back-to-back shows, early call times and late nights waiting around in the cold suites of Carriageworks, ensuring our audience has all the up-to-the-minute coverage from the runways. It’s fast-paced and full of long days, some more stressful than others. At the same time, I feel so fortunate I get to be part of this magical world and cover all the news and trends for a magazine I love so much. All in all, it’s a balancing act. Here’s how I survived the week. 

I attended the shows this week with our editor-in-chief, Eleanor Pendleton, and our beauty writer, Rose Garnett. Call time for day one was 8am, (worth it to see the Jordan Dalah show—the hair was insane) but with the last show finishing close to 9pm, we were staring down a 13-hour day. The team at Redken invited me in for a Redken Color Refresh using their Shades EQ hair gloss, which was a dream come Monday morning, when I only had to run my hands through my hair before a quick dash out the door. I’ll often get a blow dry the day before an important event, rather than on the day, for a stress-free approach. 

A 7am call time at Tamarama Beach for the Commas show meant we were on-the-go early for day two. As a beauty editor, I’m invited backstage before each show to meet and greet the hair and makeup directors, who take me through each look. I get to see the models having their skin prepped, their makeup applied and their hair groomed, which is a true privilege, particularly seeing the talented hair and makeup teams working under intense pressure and still letting their creativity shine. Often, a model will walk in the previous show, meaning it’s all hands on deck to get her ready for the next one—it’s not uncommon to see a model getting a pedicure, manicure and their makeup done as someone styles their hair. Day two of Fashion Week is almost always back-to-back, so my Apple Watch is a saviour for time management and receiving notifications on the go. 

In case you didn’t hear, the Gritty Team now has TikTok! We decided Fashion Week was a great time to launch our TikTok—you can follow us here. A fully-charged phone is the unsung hero of Fashion Week, particularly when creating video content for Instagram Stories and our new TikTok channel, so by day three, I’m extremely grateful for the battery life of my iPhone 12. (A portable charger hidden inside my Chanel bag helps to give my battery a boost toward the evening).  

While I’m often watching models get their touch-ups, there’s little time for my own, so all week I’ve reached for Dior Lip Glow as my go-to lip product. It’s a hydrating balm that offers the perfect natural flush of pink on the lips, meaning I don’t need to reapply my lipstick in the back of an Uber. By day four I’m ready to name my favourite show: I can’t go past the incredible beauty moment at the Bondi Born show, created by the Clarins team. Anne Salem, Head of Makeup Artistry at Clarins created a brief of “bold lips and fresh face” using the Everlasting Youth Fluid Foundation and different shades of Joli Rogue Velvet applied to the lip which were as vibrant as the colourways in the collection. Bravo. 

I’ve managed to keep my blow dry intact with a strategic use of dry shampoo, but by Friday morning I’m ready for a touch up at the GHD Styling Suite. There, the expert team gives my hair a perfect wave, and introduces my curtain bangs to the GHD Rise Hot Brush, which lifts the roots and gives my fringe that perfect sweep. 

1. Redken Shades EQ Hair Gloss Treatment
2. Apple iPhone 12
3. Apple Watch
4. Dior Lip Glow
5. GHD Rise Hot Brush