‘Styled by nature’ was the buzz phrase doing the rounds backstage at Etro this morning, as weary models enveloped themselves in velvet wraps emblazoned with the label’s characteristic print – and immediately were transformed into a leonine pride of beauties.

Taking inspiration from the elements is something of a trademark for Wella stylist, Eugene Souleiman. Paired with divine decadence of Etro’s Autumn/Winter 2014 dream, the result was a powerful clan of travelling warriors who bore the imprint of a trek across the dunes.

‘This is chic, unfussy hair that comes with a rawness. There’s a wind-whipped, almost dusty texture that we drew back into a fishtail braid. As if this woman styled her hair in her tepee three days ago, then sailed across the desert on her trusty camel steed,’ said Souleiman.

So simple a concept, the fishtail braid needed only a light misting of Wella Ocean Spritz to lend it the slight grittiness of texture required. As has so often been the case this season, the texture of the hair was mirrored in the finish of the skin. So the dusty, rusty browns that have come to define this beauty season – what Terry Barber referred to as a ‘seventies colour palette' at Just Cavalli yesterday – appeared once more. But supercharged. Rows upon rows of sand, taupe, caramel and honey-toned powders lay in wait for Etro’s band of travellers – worked into skin with such infinitesimal precision that the finish was one of utter perfection, without ever straying into the realms of ‘cakey’.

Then for make-up artist Mark Carrasquillo’s ‘wicked contour’. A long, straight swoop of golden sand that began up by the ears and swooshed down towards the nose. Strong, angular – and wickedly effective in making cheekbones stand to attention. A baby ‘v’ shape at the outer corner of eyes using MAC’s Sketch Eye Shadow – painted on wet – added that narrow, feline elegance of the roaming lioness. 

As at Ports 1961 and Sportmax, the ubiquitous berry lips of an autumn season were eschewed in favour of 2014’s ‘bespoke natural’. Balming the lips, Carrasquillo brushed a lip pencil over models’ mouths in shades that matched precisely to their own skin tone. More subtle than a red, less gothic than a plum hue, this bespoke lip shading simply has the effect of turning up the volume on the natural skin tone to make women look like they were born beautiful.

As models slipped off those velvet wraps and into their catwalk looks for their new season voyage, Souleiman had one final thought on our nomads. ‘In reality, we are all styled by nature. This is an acceptance of that fact. A realisation that ultimately, we are submissive to the elements. Etro’s desert travellers are a celebration of a return to the natural order of things’. Bon voyage.