The biggest AW24 beauty trends, from ‘crying blush’ to teddy bear braids
From New York to London, Milan and Paris, the catwalks are a tantalising barometer of the next big thing. Hair and makeup-wise, this means AW24 beauty looks that will headline next season and segue onto the red carpet between now and then.
Granted, not every catwalk beauty look is designed with IRL wearability in mind (case in point: the sky-high hair pom at The Blonds). Even so, we love an architectural and artistic beauty moment, alongside inspiration we can realistically weave into our routine.
The good news is, there is something to suit every aesthetic – from simple and polished to grungy and playful. Ahead, the best AW24 beauty looks to add to your mood board…
Colour pop eyes
Eyeshadow purists, look away now. For AW24, the placement has shifted from an all-over wash to a more concentrated flash of colour in the inner corners of the eyes.
At Dior, rose petals served as inspiration, but rather than lean into a pretty, dainty iteration, makeup artist Peter Philips opted for a cool, editorial vibe. Models revealed floating splashes of hot pink – created with Mehron Paradise Paint – concentrated on the inner corner of the eyes, glossy mouths courtesy of Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil in Clear and little else (including a noticeable absence of mascara).
At Chanel, the pastel wide-brimmed sun hats weren't the only talking point. On some models, a flash of soft pink or the light gold Or Antique hue, courtesy of Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof eyeliners, hugged the lash line and the inner corners of the eyes. Others sported half moons of colour, while mascara was applied with a light touch.
Victoria Beckham not only convinced us that tangerine orange eyeshadow was a good idea, but so too is white kajal eyeliner. Make-up artist Fara Homidi explained that she applied both the Victoria Beckham Beauty Satin Kajal Liner in Dove White (out in May) and the Eyewear Stick in Vivid Matte Orange (launching December) in the “inner corner, doing a wash that was a little more squared out.” The idea, she adds, is that the “colour is suspended on the eye”.
Teddy bear braids
One of our favourite looks, spotted at Lapointe, was the teddy bear braids created by hair stylist Joey George. He wound braids into little circles on either side of the models' temples to create a ‘teddy ear’ effect that still managed to look edgy and current.
Rainy day liner
Lived-in liner has enjoyed a moment in the spotlight for a while now, but these looks were standouts thanks in part to the models looking like they had just stepped in from a rain storm. Tom Ford served up what makeup artist Dick Page called “wet black” eyes, while Prabal Gurung steered smudgy eyeliner away from glam grunge predictability by pairing it with a pink ombre lip.
At Helmut Lang, the streaked eyeshadow and eyeliner looked as though they had been scribbled around the eyes. For added drama, smudged-out, exaggerated wings extended to the temples at Jason Wu and Roberto Cavalli.
Romantic rolls
The rose bun at Jason Wu's AW23 show gave hair an artfully feminine twist. Its wintery successor this year is the romantic-yet-sculptural twisted loops created by Guido Palau for Prada. Sitting somewhere between a pin curl and finger waves, the high-shine finish stops this look from looking too classic.
At Simon Rocha, models' brows were erased with concealer to make way for intricate rosebud stencils. The Gothic vibes extended to the hair, which was centre parted and worked into cheekbone-grazing Victorian-inspired rolls by hairstylist Eugene Souleiman.
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Dynasty hair
While we saw plenty of beautifully polished, minimalist hair looks at Tommy Hilfiger, Badgley Mischka, Jason Wu, 16 Arlington and David Koma, a trend for big, bold, pumped-up hair is undeniably coming through, too. Old-school voluminous bouffant hair got a modern makeover at Christian Cowan, where key hairstylist Justine Marjan spent the night before curling 35 wigs with her team. Meanwhile, Marc Jacobs pushed it to the extreme with OTT jumbo back-combed bouffants.
Statement red lips
At Khaite, makeup artist Diane Kendal joined forces with Nars to create two iterations of punchy, matte red lips that meant business against an otherwise, glossy bare face. She used the brand's Powermatte High-Intensity Lip Pencil in the shade Kiss Me Deadly to create a crisp outline before leaning on either the Powermatte Lip Pigment in Don't Stop, a vivid blue-red hue, or Light My Fire, an orange-red shade, depending on the models' skin tone.
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Bold lips, in varying shades of red, also ruled the runway in London, where the models’ mouths at JW Anderson and Richard Quinn were painted in pigment-rich red lipsticks. At JW Anderson, makeup artist Lynsey Alexander chose rust-red hues to conjure up “the idea of a strong, tough beauty.” Over at Richard Quinn, MAC’s global creative director Terry Barber paired severe, red velvet matte lips with “Victorian mannequin skin” to create a doll-like look. “The lip is this amazing, hard, almost YSL look from back in the day,” he said. His lipstick of choice? MAC’s Retro Matte Liquid Lipstick in Feels So Grand.
While at Molly Goddard, makeup artist Lisa Eldridge's brief was a “scandalously lived-in, kissed-on, blurred lip.” She applied her True Velvet Lip Colour in Velvet Jazz sparingly in the centre of the lip, before lightly buffing it out with the shade Velvet Ribbon for a diffused, blurry cloud of colour. “I created more of curved shape to the lip, rather than following the exact line,” Lisa explains. "For some of the models, I took the lip product left on the fluffy brush, adding further daubs of colour randomly across the face, near the lip, to further reinforce that smudged and well-kissed effect.”
Moody merlot pouts
Dark, moody burgundy-brown lipstick also proved popular, appearing on the Dreaming Eli and Anna Sui runways. For the Ana Sui show, Pat McGrath loaded the models' lips with her Pat McGrath Labs Mattetrance Lipstick in Guinevere – a trend that filtered down to the street style influencers. Some embraced a literal nod to the '90s with either a velvet or gloss finish, while others gave the shade a modern spin by creating an ombre effect using a lighter pink shade in the middle. Rare Kind Words Lipstick in Gifted also captures the feel.
Mesmerising metallics
In New York, models at Christian Siriano were seen with gold foil accents on buns and centre partings. Metallics also had a major moment for eyes. At Harris Reed, swathes of gold and silver shimmer eyeshadow lit up the models' lids. “We were inspired by Harris’ world of Victoriana and the playfulness of shadow and light,” says Sofia Tilbury, the mastermind behind the makeup. “At the heart of the look was the youthful innocence of paper dolls, captured in the wide silver and gold eyes.” Taking the trend for metallics a step further, trickling tears of silver pigment were applied under the models’ eyes at Chet Lo for a seriously striking effect.
Cool grunge hair
The grunge movement showed no signs of slowing down, as polished blow-dries were abandoned at Ludovic De Saint Sernin and Di Petsa in favour of limp, wet-look hair with ruffled edges and piecey fringes that leant into Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain's influence.
Punk revival
Few makeup looks are as synonymous with subcultures as thick black eyeliner and inky lips. Using her eponymous PermaGel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil and Perma Precision Liquid Eyeliner in XTREME BLACK, Dame Pat McGrath ensured every flick of dramatic winged liner at Versace had a latex-like sheen, ensuring the punk trend gained even more steam. She conjured up the same high-shine finish for the crisply outlined black lips at Valentino where, in lieu of a bold lip, some models even wore inverse cat-eye makeup.
Extreme cat-eye flicks also reigned supreme at The Blonds, where partially shaved-off brows, a single gelled kiss curl and subversive attitude completed the look. While at Hermès, lashes were heavily coated with Trait d’Hermès Revitalizing Care Mascara in Rouge H, a cherry-burgundy shade, to create an elevated iteration of biker chic.
Veil hair
There was a laser focus on clean, healthy strands at Ferragamo, 16 Arlington and Asia Fashion Collection. Unlike the maximalist blow-outs at Christian Cowan and Marc Jacobs, veil hair takes its cue from the natural texture and lustre of virgin hair – think panes of ultra-shiny hair, with fluffy mid-lengths and ends, cascading around the models' faces. At Chloe, hairstylist Gary Gill used the new Dyson Supersonic r Professional hair dryer to created soft, undone waves.
Crying blush
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At Kanika Goyal Label, makeup artist Romero Jennings coined the trend “crying blush”. Rather than sweeping blusher horizontally across the cheeks, his placement involves buffing MAC's Glow Play Blush in hot pink under the eyes and diagonally down the apple of the cheek.
Hazy terracotta eyes
When is a neutral shade of eyeshadow not boring? When a warm terracotta shade on the lids is paired with flash of green under-eye liner at Etro, that's when. On the cooler end of the spectrum was the eyeshadow at Saint Laurent, which was buffed all the way up to the brows. Sitting somewhere between stone and terracotta, the same shade was used to ring around the eyes, its haunting beauty made all the more obvious against bare lashes.
Hyper real skin
Models seemingly walking bare-faced or with the most minimal of ‘no-makeup’ makeup dominated the beauty conversation across all four fashion cities, proving that quiet luxury-inspired beauty is going nowhere. Leading the charge was the “super luminous skin” makeup supremo Diane Kendal created at Rabanne using the brand's makeup line. Eyes were adorned with gloss, lipstick was used as blush “on the apple of the cheek diffused up to the temples, with a bit on the nose," says Diane, who also highlighted the top of the cheekbone and the Cupid's Bow in a light-reflective golden pink.
At Chloé, French brand Orveda's skincare played a star role in creating polished-looking skin with only light-handed dabs of base, applied where needed, by makeup artist Aaron de Mey. At Prada, makeup artist Lynsey Alexander created softly diffused skin by brushing the Reveal Foundation over both skin and brows, before adding a swipe of Monochrome Lipstick in muted nude shades. Elsewhere at Bottega Veneta, Jason Wu and Max Mara, models walked the runway with soft matte skin, while at David Koma, Tommy Hilfiger and Cucculelli Shaheen skin was more on the glossy side.
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Witchy cat-eye flicks
Black eyeliner was a clear headliner at the shows. But one standout interpretation was the pin thin, witchy-leaning flicks we saw at Blumarine, where sharp strokes of eyeliner hugged the lash line and winged out towards the temple. It was a similar story at Erdem, where eyes were also tightlined while at Eckhaus Latta, red eyeliner circled the eyes and then extended out in a horizontal line into the hair line.
Spiky lashes
XXL doll lashes, saturated in mascara, were the defining look at Marc Jacobs and Melke. Strategic placement was key at Emilia Wickstead, where just two or three spidery lashes in the centre were extended. While at Giorgio Armani’s runway show, a soft smoky eye became immediately more interesting with a few bambi lashes drawn on the bottom lash line.
For more from Fiona Embleton, GLAMOUR's Associate Beauty Director, follow her on @fiembleton.
For more from GLAMOUR's Senior Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk.
