Big beauty looks are back, big time—if the spring 2025 runways have anything to say about it. Nothing broadcasted this clearer than Balmain boldly trumpeting its major partnership with the cosmetics and fragrance conglomerate Estée Lauder during the brand’s catwalk spectacle, with heels, bags, and clothing heavily heralding the Parisian house’s new luxury beauty and perfume range.
In regards to trends, the eyes have it: when it came to the beauty looks that we spotted on the catwalks, there were eye-popping lashes at Dries Van Noten and Harris; stretched-out wings at Loewe and McQueen; and cinematic brows at Marni and Khaite.
As for hair, coifs are being parted every which way (as seen at Missoni, Hermès, and Jil Sander) or are manipulated into nouveau waves, twists, knots, and plaits.
Below is a curated selection of the most notable spring 2025 hair, makeup, and nail trends that have caught our eye as they hit the catwalks of New York, London, Milan, and Paris.
Curtain Call
At Mugler, avant-garde coiffeur Zhou Xue Ming used half-wigs for long, pointy bangs, letting the sharp-angled veil split into two at the cheekbones.
Eugene Souleiman, the mane artist at Jil Sander, divided the forehead fringe down the middle and lacquered it into a sinuous shape on each side of the model’s head.
Over at Versace, a couple of the models rocked a wide-blunt shingle that skimmed their peepers, while others wore their locks—sans bangs—sleek, straight, and parted in the middle.
Chrome Effects
Nail artist Sylvie Macmillan’s manis at Rabanne were simply out of this world. The space-age press-ons with a small metal cuff at the cuticle were perfectly in sync with the atelier’s silver foil and gold leaf assemblages. Although the talons at the show were one-of-a-kind, you can don a similar look with a high-wattage metallic design.
Dame Pat McGrath gilded the nude pouts at Miu Miu with silver or gold eyeshadow on the Cupid’s bow and lower lip line. “We wanted the lips to look like they were adorned with jewels,” she tells W via email. And though McGrath used eye powder from her latest palette to rim the lips, you can achieve a similar effect with metallic eyeliner.
A golden celestial moon against a silvery backdrop was the look for manicurist Julie Kandalec’s metallic lunar creation at Libertine. Using a detailing tool, she crafted a crescent design using a radiant yellow gel polish from CND over a coat of silvery-gray pigment, which she applied with a sponge brush.
For a few of the girls at Loewe, McGrath adorned their eyes—from the lashline to the top of their brows—with a molten golden dome; for others, she emblazoned them with sparkly silver wings. To create the modern metallic looks, she applied the shades Golden Muse and Lunar Luxury from her line’s new holiday eyeshadow palette, then topped them off with glitter.
Swoops and Swirls
The artist Lee Krasner’s painting Night Watch, with its “acid-trip” of a maze, informed the snaking patterns that hairstylist Joey George created for the braided coifs at Ulla Johnson. Whether it was for the paisley-patterned, fish-plaited chignons or the winding map of cornrows, he used Oribe’s Foundation Mist to condition and detangle the hair before braiding. Makeup artist Romy Soleimani for Sisley Paris, on the other hand, was influenced by the painter’s lyrical celebration of color in Comet, so she emboldened the girls with a passionate fuchsia lip or a forest green waterline.
At Christian Siriano, the hair master Lacy Redway experimented with the darker side of fantasy by sprinkling a smoky quartz fairy dust onto smoldering marcel waves. She guided the chunky crystal mixture along the art nouveau shape using hair gel, natch.
Glossy spit curls were a subtle ode to Mexican urban culture at Casablanca.
The iconic British hair stylist Sam McKnight created the ‘dos at Vivienne Westwood with a regal flourish—which the show’s lead makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench deemed “very Princess Diana in St. Tropez.” He used the Dyson Supersonic R Professional Dryer and a volumizing spray from his own line to add undulating waves and flicks that nod back to ’80s royalty.
Fringe Elements
Tropical wisps framed the faces at Dries Van Noten thanks to makeup artist Lucy Bridge, who emblazoned the eyes with combos of fuchsia, yellow, or orange while keeping the rest of the face bare yet moisturized with Dr. Barbara Sturm skincare.
Makeup artist Sofia Tilbury—the niece of Charlotte—captivated showgoers with her alien paperdoll creations at Harris Reed, which flaunted wide-set eyes with hazes of powder blue or copper, and Cupid’s bow-shaped lips. She cribbed a pinched eyelash technique from her iconic aunt, and loaded the lashes with waxy coats of coal-black mascara, plus added falsies to the upper and lower lash lines to emphasize the theatrical look.
For Diotima’s NYFW presentation, Addiction Tokyo’s creative director Kanako Takase tapped into designer Rachel Scott’s Caribbean heritage by creating a vivid eye, featuring eyelashes that resembled coral reefs. To achieve the red look, she layered Addiction Tokyo’s The Mascara Color Nuance WP in Pure Scarlet over a black mascara and added a few falsie wisps for a dramatic ombré. For the blanched iteration, she opted for The Mascara Intense Lashed in Honey Brunette and added a few white fake lashes for an equally standout effect.
Parting Ways
The zig-zag motif that reigned at the Missoni show was also translated for the hair by Jawara. Use the end of a rat-tail hair tool to weave precise lines in forming the pattern.
For Hermès lead hairstylist Gary Gill’s chic takes on “bedhead” hair, he kept the manes slick in the front with an extra-wide part, curved and straight, or he imparted them with a double V while pulling the back into a low, fuzzy pony.
For a gloss-like finish, set the look with a high-shine hairspray.
Wet, wavy, siren hair—seductively parted to fall over one eye—ruled the Attico runway.
Building Blocks
A neutral palette is never boring when it is in the skillful hands of McGrath. For the house of Alaïa, the mother of all makeup artists used concealer two shades lighter or two shades darker than the model’s complexions to create wide, tonal colorblocks across their peepers.
In Full Bloom
At Issey Miyake, the maquillage master Hiromi Ueda worked with the accessories designer Maiko Takeda on a sublime garden variety of surreal creations, utilizing the art of Japanese washi and real flowers.
Choreographer Pina Bausch’s Nelken (Carnations) was the inspo behind makeup artist’s Thomas de Kluyver’s blush petal frameworks at Simone Rocha. The pretty floral arrangements made for a striking mask that blossomed across the visages of the models.
Blooming headpieces were a whimsical addition at Emilia Wickstead.
At Alice + Olivia, hair key Matthew Curtis for Sola Salons adorned the intricately braided buns with a colorful garden party of flowers and jewels. Briogeo Full Miracle Styling Foam added volume and hold, while the Sleek Stick was used to tame flyaways.
Bombshell Hair
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana paid tribute to the Material Girl herself, Madonna, by highlighting her Blond Ambition tour’s Marilyn Monroe vibe—alongside, of course, Italian pin-up star style. Madge watched from the front row as models of varying complexions sashayed past her in bullet-bra ensembles and platinum-blonde wigs, which were kept secure with thick black headbands. A crisp cat-eye completed the glamour transformation.
Bold Brows
High arched, cinematic brows—the kind favored by Marlene Dietrich or, say, Cruella de Vil—were on full display at Marni. Makeup pro Yadim Carranza camouflaged the models’ brows with concealer, so he could have a blank slate before he drew in the dramatic peaks and curves.
Design your own angular permutation with the help of a waxy pencil from Anastasia Beverly Hills.
At JW Anderson, the makeup artist Lynsey Alexander designed a masculine brow to relay a sense of elegant, handsome beauty. “There is a toughness in the eyebrow, which we’re bushing up,” she tells W. Alexander used a super-thin brow pencil to replicate natural hair strokes, then overlaid it with a swipe of volumizing brow pomade.
A Comme des Garçons image from the early ’90s shot by Peter Lindbergh inspired the dramatic dark brows at Khaite, says Diane Kendal, the mastermind behind the makeup look of the show. Using an ebony-colored shadow, she filled in the eyebrows, squaring them off at the inner corners, then extended them outward. Then she defined the arched block frames with an inky line.
“Drag, punk, counter culture” is how makeup artist Yadim Carranza described the exaggerated beauty affair he crafted for the Luar runway show. He fashioned the subversive structures from python-print leather he found at the designer’s studio. Spidery lashes and a black glossy lip, made by topping MAC’s Clear Lipgloss over a black gel liner, completed the look.
Bare Patrol
Makeup pro Dick Page usually favors a fun, minimal approach when it comes to color. He decided to ditch that ethos altogether at Collina Strada, and played with the texture of the skin instead. He used Dieux’s Deliverance serum as a base to give the face a nice, healthy glow. Then, he contrasted it with a wet slick, using the skincare line’s “fancy grease”—a rich barrier cream—over the lids, across the eyebrows, and on the lips. He touched up their knees and legs with dirt and grass as a finishing touch to the raw, earthy feel.
At Prabal Gurung, the lead makeup artist Sil Bruinsma fashioned an ultra-glass skin finish using only skincare, no makeup. The multistep process involved moisture pads, an essence, and a glass skin-refining serum—all by Peach & Lily—for a plump, even base. Two secret products, a lighter and heavier balm from the Korean skincare brand, were buffed into the skin where the light naturally hits. Lastly, a glass skin spray married all the layers, and a peachy-tone lip balm was applied to the lips and cheeks.
Static Control
Frizz and flyaways at the hairline and crown suggested a busy, modern woman on the go at Fendi. Like the clothes, the beauty was a studied reflection on the embrace of polish and the liberation of mobility.
At Chanel, the actress Riley Keough sang Prince’s “When Doves Cry,” while swinging from a giant birdcage as the models sauntered across the catwalk in frothy, feathery confections. To complement the plumage, hair pro James Pecis sought to construct a coif that mimicked the lightness and movement of quills. To do so, he tells W, he created lift with Blu + Green Texture Powder (launching early 2025), then brushed the strands back into a ponytail, tying it off in the middle of the head. He then sprinkled more powder onto the loose ends of the tail to give it some grip before back-combing it and twisting it up into a loose French twist, leaving the ends free. As a finishing touch, he pulled out some strays in the front so that it resembled the nap of a wind-swept pinion.
Blushing Beauties
Kendal sculpted the cheekbones at Jason Wu with a bright-pink flush and pearlescent highlight.
At Monse, the celebrity makeup artist Patrick Ta added a bit of “tomboy flush,” blending cream blush onto the apples of the cheeks, the center of the face, and out toward the under-eye.
All Wrapped Up
“I wanted to create [a look] of an active and dynamic woman, on the move, who has just completed some physical activity. Her skin is bright and dewy, and her gaze is intense, highlighted by the remnants of a stroke of kohl liner,” explained Dior Makeup’s creative and image director Peter Philips. For designer Maria Grazia Chiuri’s vision of a modern-day Amazonian, Philips dabbed a flush of blush onto dewy skin, then applied a naturally messy, runny smudge around the eyes, formed by blinking. As for the models’ hair, the mane maestro Guido Palau designed a sporty affair with a double-ribbon headband and a looped-through ponytail.
Drawing on the theme of global tribalism at Off-White, the brilliant coiffeur Jawara expanded the idea by transforming wrapped braids of Indigenous peoples into a coiled structure at the back of the head. He parted the hair into two large sections, then slicked each back with Bumble and bumble gel into a double ponytail. Next, he snatched the top pony and wrapped it with a tonal cord along its lengths until he reached the intersection at which the two meet, leaving the ends free.
Flights of Fancy
Coperni’s show at Disneyland Paris featured runway princesses, villains, and Kylie Jenner. For the subversive miscreants, McGrath ordered a maleficent makeover that played with graphic shapes and sizes of raven liner that fanned out into a devilish pair of upturned wings that resembled small horns, with a rapscallion splash of glitter. Mother’s trick for perfecting the fierce silhouette? She outlined it with her PermaGel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil, cleaned up the edges with a cotton bud, and then went back in with a liquid eyeliner to enhance the intensity.
Western female folk heroes, rhythmic gymnasts, and face painting all melded together at Chopova Lowena, where the makeup lead Lauren Reynolds collaborated with the eclectic design duo on a multitude of looks. Our favorite from the dizzying array were the rainbow-colored floral-crystal cat-eye, paired with the curlicues of old-timey pioneers.
Designer Seán McGirr looked back at McQueen’s second collection, Banshee, for his own sophomore outing for the brand. Makeup artist Daniel Sallstrom translated the essence of the mythical Celtic spirits by zeroing in on the eyes with a minimal yet punky, linear silhouette that started from the inner corner and wailed out past the ears.
At Simone Rocha, de Kluyver topped off the ebony winged eyes with a bit of sparkly onyx shadow for a twinkly air. A swipe of glittery silver-black shadow from Byredo’s Sciomancer eyeshadow palette over obsidian liner will give a similar, non-sinister gaze.
Truman Capote would definitely cosign the modern Holly Golightly maquillage at Carolina Herrera. Makeup pro Sam Visser elongated each model’s eye shape with a softly feminine flick that lent an elegant yet playful, swan-like air. He boosted the lips with a light plum gloss but kept the rest of the skin understated.
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