Every major SS25 beauty trend, from '90s greige to sea siren skin
At this time of year, one of two things happens. You either embrace latte makeup, or you make like the fashion pack and start mood boarding your SS25 beauty looks.
It you're of the latter persuasion, then you'll be spoilt for choice – as New York, London, Paris and Milan are serving up the hottest trends for the season ahead, from fresh updates on classic hair and makeup codes to the type of unadulterated, jaw-dropping theatre that only the catwalk can muster.
Whether you sit on the super-wearable (look no further than Sandy Liang's bubblegum pink lip or 3.1 Phillip Lim's lilac under eyes) or the edgy end of the beauty spectrum, there's something to satisfy everyone.
Ahead, the best SS25 beauty looks to start leaning into now…
'90s greige
Our love affair with the ‘90s shows no signs of slowing down. But next season we’ll be stepping away from the usual culprits – brick-brown lipstick and matte skin – to embrace what will, no doubt, be a divisive makeup trend: ‘greige’.
Not for the faint-hearted, this a more graphic, edgy way to do nude – using cool-toned hues with a grey undertone. An ashy lip was the talking point at Kim Shui, while lids were painted greige at Palomo Spain and at Area, where lead makeup artist Yadim Carranza paired smokey eyes with chestnut lips for an alluring punk moment.
You can always rely on Dame Pat McGrath to create her own unique trend within a trend. At Alaïa's first NYFW show, she debuted concealer as eyeshadow, leaning into putty and clay hues. Borrowing from the colour-blocking technique, she painted the models' eyes with her Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Concealer in shades lighter or darker than their skin tone.
Likewise, at Marni in Milan, makeup artist Yadim Carranza tapped up a sheer greige colour palette, washed over models' eyes and lips to counter spring's customary pastels.
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Sea siren skin and hair
Mermaidcore has been building momentum over several seasons, and SS25 remains devoted. At Dreaming Eli, lead hair stylist, Aaron Firmstone, took inspiration from the collection's name: Mother of Pearl, Daughter of Flesh. Aaron worked closely with designer, Elisa Trombatore, to bring to life a renaissance wave that embodied “sirens and mermaids who have stepped out of the ocean, daydreaming on rocks.” Hair floated like waves thanks to Bumble & Bumble's Thickening Spray which gave memory to the hair, while the Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Long Last Styling Cream helped to smooth and hydrate. To give a stepped out of the ocean, editorial edge to the look, Aaron finished by misting the Thickening Spray on the root area, then used a flat brush to flatten and compress the root.
As for complexions, makeup artist Carly Utting, was inspired by underwater ship wrecked sirens with glistening, glowing, romantic skin. She tapped up creamy pigments to create opalescent mother of pearl skin, blending MAC's Hyper Real Serumizer, Studio Radiance Serum Powered Foundation and Extra Dimension Skin Finish in Double Gleam and Show Gold. For the body, glitter was mixed with Shine Mixing Medium then applied over skin. “It's about making the girls look as sensual and aspirational as they can be," Carly said. She finished things off with a lady like pout. “There's a lot of contouring and structure to the lip,” she explained.
There was some definite mermaidcore infiltrating the look at Roberto Cavalli also, where long mermaid waves created by Damien Boissinot, were paired with rope and shell embellished mini dresses and bikini tops.
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Banged bob
Just when you thought we'd exhausted every bob trend – including the perennial favourite, the flicked-out bob – along comes the banged bob to steal its fashionable crown.
Backstage at Christian Cowan, hairstylist Lacy Redway created razor-sharp black micro-bobs that barely covered the ears, paired with a blunt fringe that hit just above the models' thinly-pencilled brows. For reference, think Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction or a punk Cleopatra.
For a softer spin on the banged bob, look to L’AGENCE, where lead hairstylist Liz Rim tapped into the French Girl bob with a less graphic fringe and a soft wave throughout the lengths.
We saw a repeat of the trend on the Marni runway, where hair stylist, Paul Hanlon, gave the models ultra cropped micro-fringes paired with neat rounded bobs and Versace saw classic blunt bobs paired with full fringes, created by Guido Palau.
Punchy pastels
Pastels for spring? Not exactly revolutionary – except in the hands of backstage pros.
In New York, Y2K's frosted lipstick made a cool comeback at Sandy Liang's runway show. Makeup artist Romy Soleimani combined Estée Lauder’s Pure Color Whipped Matte Lip Color in shades Social Whirl and Air Kiss with a bit of white pigment to create a stark bubblegum pink lip that she then topped with a dusting of metallic eyeshadow on top.
Similarly, models at 3.1 Phillip Lim walked the catwalk with ethereal swathes of iridescent lavender, swatched for a halo effect around their eyes and on the tops of their dewy cheeks in lieu of blush. Meanwhile at Chet Lo, blue brows were set against bare skin.
Pinched doll lashes
Harris Reed's SS25 runway show was an ode to 19th century French silhouettes with corsets and hip panniers galore. Lead makeup artist, Sofia Tilbury, picked up the theme with heart-shaped lips and a shimmering blue or orange eyeshadow circling the models' eyes.
For a startling wide-eyed effect, Sofia applied the new Charlotte Tilbury Exagger-Eyes Volume Mascara to real and false lashes, and then pinched them for a semi-spidery finish. Think a Bridgerton ball on acid – you get the picture.
At Bottega Veneta in Milan, lashes were also centre stage. Makeup artist, Pat McGrath draped the models lashes in futuristic silver, added falsies for length and pinched clumps together for extra drama.
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Attention-grabbing hair accessories
Hair accessories fall into two camps: pretty and theatrical. LaQuan Smith's SS25 show straddled both with jumbo floral accessories pinned to neat updos and ultra teased voluminous hair created by Lurissa Ingrid using Camille Rose Naturals. Likewise, the Alice + Olivia SS25 show featured braided buns embellished with everything a haberdashery has to offer – mini flowers, jumbo scrunchies and lace. Put simply, it's not unlike the hair version of bag charms.
At Carolina Herrera, updos were topped with XXL flowers, while sharp flicks of black eyeliner stopped the look from straying into saccharine territory. And at Simone Rocha, hair stylist, Cydnia Harvey, added delicate crystal flower clips either side of centre partings.
Hairstylist Sam McKnight served up a modern-day Marlene Dietrich at the Richard Quinn show. The look incorporated “sculpted shapes and silhouettes, French twists, chignons, always with soft brushed-out finger waves in the front." Dreamy, whimsical and dramatic, some models even sported architectural, upside-down conical veils to complete the look.
On the purely theatrical end of the spectrum, Prada and Bottega Veneta both leaned into statement fringy headpieces. Hair at Prada (led by Guido Palau) was finished off with black, shiny-metallic tasselled visors, while at Bottega, where hair wasn't gently styled by Duffy, it was obscured by giant multi-colour pom-pom hats. Not for the shy and retiring.
Lips not eyes
You may have noticed that lips have been stealing the attention, lately. No mascara makeup is already a favourite on TikTok and no mascara with a bold lip is headlining in the autumn beauty trends. But the look appears to have longevity as we've seen plenty of shows majoring on a statement lip look, while keeping eyes minimal. At Versace, Pat McGrath, focused the drama on lips with deep garnet shades, but reserved only the teensiest swipe of mascara for lashes.
At Emporio Armani, makeup artist, Hiromi Ueda, draped models' lips in a stand-out glossy red. And at Prada, makeup artist, Lynsey Alexander, was given reign to amp up the individuality of the models, but one of the breakaway looks was the blackberry vinyl lip she created using the Prada Monochrome Hyper Matte Lipstick in P57 Ultraviolet with a gloss added on top.
Romantic chignons
Pretty chignons for spring are almost as synonymous as pastels, but that's only because they always add some beautiful sophistication.
At Max Mara Odile Gilbert created ultra neat, slick-back centre-parted chignons secured at the nape and it was a similar story at Missoni where hair stylist, Jawara Wauchope, used GHD to lay hair totally flat before scooping it up into an intricate low bun.
At Christian Dior, Guido Palau, remixed the chignon slightly, opting for a mid-height bun and adding logo Dior headbands for extra detail. At Saint Laurent, Duffy chose a more lived-in approach to a low chignon, leaving the ends out.
Supermodel hair
Recently, celebrities have been digging into the fashion archives for their red carpet looks – from Sabrina Carpenter, who re-wore Madonna's 1991 Oscars gown at the 2024 VMAs, to Halsey who revived the leopard print dress Gianni Versace designed for Elizabeth Hurley in 1996.
And it seems that hairstylist Sam McKnight has done the same at 16 Arlington, by paying homage to '90s Giselle to create what he describes as "bombshell blowouts inspired by the Brazilian supermodels of the noughties.”
Using his own Hair By Sam McKnight products to create the look, he says he: “misted Superlift into roots and Save The Do through the lengths, before blow-drying with a round brush for all over volume and movement. He then spritzed Modern Hairspray onto each section for hold before rolling on a medium velcro roller (55mm).” Leave to cool, remove the rollers and brush through.
At Khaite, hair legend Guido Palau took another '90s supermodel staple – wet-look hair – and artfully crafted it into low-slung ponytails secured with a gold hair cuff at the base.
Two-toned lips
The monotony of a single lip colour has finally been broken. At Simone Rocha, make-up artist Thomas de Kluyver gave a whole new meaning to red lipstick by not only using a retina-burning neon iteration, but then applying a dark burgundy to just the centre of the lips.
At Ahluwalia's LFW debut, red and orange shades of MAC lipstick were married together, with harsh lines buffed away to mimic a sunset.
But the trend we're trying is the two-toned, flower-like fuchsia lip, which debuted at Ulla Johnson. Lead makeup artist Romy Soleimani first applied Sisley Paris’ Phyto-Lip Twist Matte in Kiss on the centre of the lips, pressing it out towards the outer rim until it disappears. A second layer of Phyto-Lèvres Perfect Lip Liner in Fuchsia was then scribbled on to ensure the concentration of colour remained in the centre of the lip.
Or for a nude take, we love the ombre-lined lips created by Pat McGrath at Dolce & Gabbana.
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Nearly-naked tints
A ‘no makeup makeup’ trend is often greeted by beauty editors with a deflated sigh and slumped shoulders. But not this season. While a host of designers went down the ‘moisturiser, a hint of a brow and little else’ route (Tory Burch, Tommy Hilfiger, Prabal Gurung and Johanna Parv, where Facegym products were solely used), others adopted the merest whisper of colour for an enviably fresh-faced glow.
At Jason Wu, powder blusher was dusted over Kate Somerville’s Mega-A SkinTransforming Serum for a healthy glow. At Monse, lead makeup artist Patrick Ta added warmth to dewy cheeks with his Major Headlines Double-Take Crème & Powder Blush Duo.
Move over, pumpkin spice.
Backstage at Richard Quinn was the playground for a new MAC launch, a new clear lipstick, which was dabbed onto cheeks and lips for a polished, balmy effect. Meanwhile at Carolina Herrera, makeup artist Sam Visser drizzled the sheer Good Girl Gloss onto the models' lips.
Rebellious eyeliner
A novel spin on eyeliner fuelled conversation on the front row at Coach. Dame Pat McGrath, who created the look she describes as “slightly rebellious”, swept her PermaGel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil along the lash line before using it to draw hearts on the inner corners of the eyes.
The makeup at Christian Siriano was giving dark fairy with moody rings of eyeliner, accented with a pop of silver in the inner corners. It was the perfect complement to the glitter on the heavily gelled, Maleficent-style wave that trailed across the forehead and curled around the models' ears.
At Gucci, the statement spiked eyeliner, created by Lucia Pieroni, somehow managed to look soft in earthy shades of grey and hazel brown. Meanwhile, at Bottega Veneta, Pat McGrath, created a double-spiked wing for twice as much drama.
