If Pat McGrath’s constantly sold out creations (glitter adorned lips, celestial-seeming highlighters) are any indication, the lines between runway beauty and DIY beauty are getting increasingly blurry.
It’s a bit of a chicken/egg scenario. Runways are finally, increasingly showing “real girls” (a confounding term commonly used to reference anyone who isn’t stick-thin and usually white), in “real” looks—minimal makeup, natural hair, etc.
Meanwhile “real” girls (or at least some of the ones you’ll find knee-deep in followers on YouTube) are experimenting with looks almost exclusively acceptable on the digital platform itself.
This season at NYFW, there was a beauty look for everyone, from the extreme beauty minimalist to the girl who never leaves the house without a red lip. So, with the New York leg of fashion month behind us—a trend roundup:
SUN DAMAGE
It was a bad season for SPF (or a good one depending on how you look at it) in that numerous shows mentioned a “has been out in the sun look.” At Alexander Wang, Diane Kendal used a simple mix of NARS’ famed multiples ($39), to create a sunburned look while Maybelline lead, Grace Lee created looks using the same blush on the cheeks and eyelids for a sun-kissed look at Band Of Outsiders.
BLONDE, BLEACH, AND BEACHY WAVES
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKYzQpbAGYj/?hl=en
It’s been reported that Alexander Wang (by way of Redken’s Global Creative Director Guido Palau) convinced 18 models to bleach their hair for this show. Some of those girls also got shaggy bobs to amplify those cool, boyish, surfer vibes.
GLOSSY EYES
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKQmK14Avh3/?hl=en
Shift the gloss north from the lips and you’ve got one of the most prevalent trends in beauty right now. Truly, the look was everywhere. At Baja East, another Diane Kendal-directed look was done with sharp black liner and glossy lids. At Altuzarra, Tom Pecheux created a variation on the trend with a look that mixed a sweaty aesthetic with glitter. Ditto at Opening Ceremony where this NARS gloss ($26) was used in place of eyeshadow. It’s one of the easiest looks a trendy girl could ask for, in terms of at-home replication. All it takes is a little moisturizer, or lip gloss. But if neither of those appeal, you could always glam it up via Kevyn Aucoin’s new Exotique Diamond Eye Gloss ($38) (when it’s back in stock that is, if you needed any more proof that this is an of-the-moment look).
WET, SLICKED BACK HAIR
Eyes aren’t the only things getting a glossy finish though. From Hood By Air’s X-rated take on the trend (the collection was a collaboration with PornHub, of all things) to Altuzarra’s far less-lurid take on the look, the just-stepped-out-of-a-porno the shower look remained popular. At Thakoon, it was classiest of all. Odile Gilbert used heaps of Kerastase Crème de la Crème Blowdry Cream ($37) and then fashioned knotted updos with a single strand kept loose, and slicked the models’ heads with gel, for added gloss.
FLUORO, TWO-TONE LIPS IN ORANGEY REDS
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKWLF2aBbBr/?hl=en
From Cushnie et Ochs’ red-on-top, pink-on-bottom lips to an almost-classic look at Creatures Of The Wind, makeup artists went all in on updating this classic beauty look this season. At Jason Wu, MUA Yadim created the look with a mix of two reds and a dab of neon orange theater paint smack in the middle.
VARIATIONS ON A CLASSIC SMOKEY EYE
The smoky eye is not going anywhere. Backstage at Libertine, MUA Katie Jane Hughes created smudgy, but sharp look using thick black liner (K-beauty brand, Too Cool For School’s Dinoplatz Highline Eyeliner) ($22) all around the eye with a feline flick, and added dimension with a midnight blue shadow layered atop. Again, Kendal (I hope this woman is now on vacation) created a more everyday version of the look with MAC at Prabal Gurung. The key to the smoky eye: NYFW edition seems to be extending it all the way around and into the waterline.
