I have always wondered if carnival make-up means anything. The make-up is often so intricate, but is it supposed to be a part of the costume, or is it just what the wearer thought would look good on the day? "The make-up is an extension of the costume and as such it's just as important," says Clary Falandy, designer and artistic director with Mahogany carnival band, who are taking part in this weekend's events in Notting Hill. To the untrained eye, the make-up looks like an optional extra, but the artistic directors of the carnival bands spend hours on the day making up the participants. On a typical band, it will take six people around three hours to do the make-up.

"When I design carnival make-up, I usually emphasise the eyes," Falandy explains. "The person wearing the costume has to engage with the audience, encourage them to dance and so on, and the eyes play a big part in that."

Carnival make-up should help you see beyond the person. "The face should almost recede into the costume. The person is not the most important thing - they are the vehicle for telling the story of their character."

The most common misconception about carnival make-up is that it has to be loud. "It just has to be appropriate to the character - and the costume," Falandy says. "Sometimes we use normal make-up; to have something simple can be more important than having a bright face. Making someone's face disappear under their make-up is not always the best thing. Other times, we'll try to repeat a motif on a costume on the face in some way - pick up aspects of it and continue that theme in the make-up."

Carnival make-up differs from character to character, rather than from carnival to carnival. If it's a Japanese band, expect full face make-up, perhaps with pink eyes and a white face. If it's an African band, you'll see face and body paints rather than make-up.

"This year, our theme is A Touch Of Africa," Falandy says. "It will have an imaginative feel, rather than a literal one. We've got a rainbow section and a black and white section. The black and white section will have very strong make-up, but the rainbow section's will be more subtle."