IT'S A MANISH WORLD

Feb 19 2006 Craig Alexander Wilson

Make-up guru CRAIG ALEXANDER WILSON takes a privileged peek behind the scenes at London Fashion Week - mixing with the hippest designer in town, Manish Arora, and picking up tips from Scots cosmetics queen Lynsey Alexander

AGED 19 model girl Kate is all porcelain-perfect skin, doe eyes and full luscious lashes.

Yet amazingly one Scots genius manages to improve on perfection.

I sneaked backstage to join the Mac Pro make-up team behind the scenes at Manish Arora's launch of his latest collection at London Fashion Week.

And I was blown away by the work of fellow Scot Lynsey Alexander, whose celebrity clients include Kelly Osbourne, Sadie Frost, Saffron Burrows and supermodel Erin O'Connor.

Delhi-born Manish may be the flavour of-the-month designer with his colourful Indian-punk creations but it was 22-year-old Lynsey, from Dumfries, who really inspired me.

After making sure I bagged my front row seat - and the all-important goody bag - I dived behind the red rope at the Natural History Museum and entered the world of the 6ft supermodel.

Positioned between fridges of Evian, buckets of Moet and enough lippy to keep Pete Burns going for at least a fortnight, I found Lynsey hard at work on teenage Czech model Kate.

The Indian inspiration was clear with symmetrical spots of colour applied to the brow bone complementing Manish's exuberant fashions perfectly.

With a pink flush of colour on her cheeks, natural eyes and intricate face painting Kate was transformed.

This was a make-up masterclass - although not a look I'd advise trying out for a trolley-dash around Tesco.

This was high fashion at its best and I was loving it. I had to keep one hand on my mini Moet and the other in my pocket to stop me having a shot myself.

With countless catwalk shows under her belt, in London, Milan and New York, Lynsey has a passion for the job she does.

She left Dumfries aged 17 and headed south, training at London College of Fashion and Make-Up and working in a shop in Soho to fund her studies.

After qualifying she joined top brand Mac working in their stores in Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

After two years of proving herself she joined the Mac Pro team where she is now the senior make-up artist.

With the make-up for Manish's show complete, all that was needed was a final touch up before the girls teetered down the runway in high heels or the designer's ultra-cool Swarovski crystal sneakers.

I gave Lynsey peace for a bit and mingled and soon bumped into the man of the moment, 33-year-old Manish.

Within minutes we were chatting like old school pals.

To my joy he even commented on how he liked the charms I had round my neck, - and to be fair I did have a bit of a David Beckham vibe going on when I got ready that morning, although my brother announced I reminded him more of David Dickinson with my self tan.

Regardless, I was pleased with this fashion authority's comments and before I realised it I had told him how it only cost a few quid. Cheap as chips indeed!

In no time it was time to venture out and take my seat, grabbing the one I had my eye on earlier.

Then all too soon with a massive round of applause and a final strut from the models the show was over.

And with a few farewells and air kisses to those I had met I headed for the Tube, letting Lynsey and her brushes head off for her next glamorous engagement... at the Brit Awards.