7 Mesmerizing Beauty Lessons That Dominated Paris Fashion Week
Nothing stokes the imagination quite like Paris Fashion Week. And through the lens of beauty, this season is already one for the books.
Designers served up boundary-pushing above-the-neck statements. There were the radical, double-take–catalyzing model colors and cuts, from Miu Miu’s flight of shocking redheads to Givenchy’s freshly shorn boyish crops. Similarly subversive were all of the prismatic makeup looks, including Maison Margiela’s richly pigmented, oil-slicked lips and the slew of graphic gazes on runways like Altuzarra and Louis Vuitton. And, as demonstrated at Chanel and John Galliano alike, hair flourishes are treading into fine jewelry territory like never before. The overarching attitude? Embrace the extreme and embellish outside the lines. Here, the seven best beauty lessons to take from the week.
A Bold Hair Transformation Will Give You a New Lease on Life
The close crop fixation reached a fever pitch backstage at Givenchy, where hairstylist Guido Palau tended to the newly boyish lengths of Simone Doreleijers and Monika Sawicka, their dramatic abbreviated cuts the brainchild of designer Clare Waight Keller herself. The models traded in their signature chest-grazing manes for directional bobs, and each metamorphosis instantaneously marked a new chapter in their careers. And speaking of game-changing switch-ups, redheads Lily Nova and Teddy Quinlivan each debuted new looks on the last day of fashion month, with the former sporting shocking neon, raspberry-tinged curls at Miu Miu, and the latter donning a dark fringed shag at Louis Vuitton.
Hair Accessories Are More High Impact Than Ever
Proving that with the right accoutrements, the hair has it, Sam McKnight dyed single ostrich feathers to match Dries Van Noten’s rich colorway for fall, placing the plume neatly along the models’ deep center part as a delicate accent. Then at John Galliano, pro Paul Hanlon layered long pearl-strand necklaces over soft, insouciant waves with romantic results. As for Chanel’s slapdash twists? They were finished with iconic interlocking double-C’s that were made to catch the light.
Holographic Makeup Is the New Red Lip
Taking a haphazard—and holographic—approach to glitter has become the new normal. And it doesn’t get more in-your-face dazzling than Giambattista Valli’s kaleidoscopic visages, which makeup artist Val Garland achieved by emptying pots of iridescent pigment onto a tray, then gently blowing the flecks across the face to create a soft-focus veil. Meanwhile, at Maison Margiela, Pat McGrath served up the face of the future, slicking model Alyssa Traoré’s ultraviolet pout with shimmering high-shine gloss.
You Don’t Need a Reason to Paint It Gold
Worn alone, Chanel’s whisper-light washes of golden shimmer—draped along the highs of the cheekbones, temples, and brow bones—were a celestial sight to behold, while at Akris, makeup artist Diane Kendal elevated deep purple smoky eyes by applying flecks of gold leaf to the lids, all the way up the brow bone. And it wasn’t just the eyes that received the 24-karat treatment at Thom Browne. From Anna Cleveland to Cindy Bruna, each model’s sculpted crop was brushed with gold for a gilded effect that recalled the French Renaissance.
There’s a Slick Hip-Grazing Braid in Your Future
Exuding pure seduction, this season’s Alexander McQueen girl upped the fetish factor with an ultra-slicked, serpentine braid that fell all the way to the hips. Swaying to and fro as each model slithered down the runway, the outcome was as powerful as it was seductive. The plaited style provided an edgy alternative to free-flowing Cher hair for those who have the natural length (or a surplus of extensions) and is primed to become a street style sensation.
Take Your Eyeliner Cues From a Paint Box
The final parade of geometric eyes cemented this season’s distinct painterly perspective. The trend kicked off at the Dior show, where makeup artist Peter Philips etched on thick, color-coordinated-to-their-sunglasses dashes of liner in powdery hues of pink, burgundy, and yellow on the upper and lower lash lines, then continued at H&M, where Isamaya Ffrench took a cue from Japanese minimalism to create the show’s petrol blue liner. Altuzarra also bolstered the Technicolor vibes with watercolor washes of aubergine, turquoise, and forest green punctuated by jet-black wings, as did Louis Vuitton, with individualized bolts of bright color on the lineup’s final 10 girls.
There Is Such a Thing as Good Frizz
There is big hair, and then there is Sonia Rykiel. Season after season, the French fashion house continues to pay tribute to the founding designer’s hallmark flamed-hued fuzz, inspiring showgoers to embrace their frizz instead of fighting it. For Fall, hairstylist Paul Hanlon whipped each model’s teased-to-there hair into an architectural, sideswept wonder that had no intention of obeying gravity.
