All the best beauty looks that stood out on the 2019 MTV VMAs red carpet
If there’s any red carpet where the stars can break out the big guns, it’s the MTV Video Music Awards. Celebs might feel the need to keep things elegant (or even a bit expected) when at other awards shows, but on an MTV red carpet, anything goes when it comes to style and beauty. So, we can always count on the biggest acts in entertainment to bring out their most outrageously glam looks at the annual celebration of music and videos.
And at the 2019 VMAs, which was held on Monday, August 26th in Newark, New Jersey, the stars certainly delivered. They served up some seriously gorgeous beauty looks for all of us watching at home to be inspired by in our own glam routines. From the red carpet return of Taylor Swift’s classic red lip to Halsey’s rainbow hair part starting one of the coolest hair trends we’ve seen in a minute, the unofficial start of awards season beauty began with a bang, and we loved every second of it.
Here are our favorite beauty looks from the 2019 VMAs red carpet—in case there was any doubt, a bright red lip is always in style, and matching your makeup to your outfit is never a bad idea.
Lizzo
Lizzo has been slaying red carpets since the 2016 VMAs, but last night was truly her time to shine. She looked like an old Hollywood screen siren even donning a red Moschino gown that read “siren,” looking like Jessica Rabbit come to life.
Hair guru Shelby Swain gave Lizzo a beautiful bouffant beehive hair look with long, piece-y bangs thanks to Dove products, and makeup artist Alexx Mayo used Urban Decay cosmetics to give her a matching makeup look, using pink shadow and a thick cat eye with a pop of red on her lips.
Taylor Swift
We were a bit concerned when Taylor showed up at the 2019 Teen Choice Awards without her signature red lip, but she brought it back in full force at last night’s VMAs, where she snagged three awards.
She paired her colorful Versace blazer with thigh-high Louboutin black boots, wearing her hair in her signature blonde waves. Aside from her poppy red lip color, she wore shimmery champagne eye shadow and a black winged liner, because some beauty looks never go out of style.
Keke Palmer
Matching your eye makeup to your dress was the biggest beauty look of the night, and Keke looked like a total glamazon doing it.
She perfectly coordinated her sparkly yellow gown with a greenish-gold smoky eye, keeping the rest of her beauty look soft and neutral. She topped her look off with a super sleek top knot, letting her dress (and her bedazzled cell phone purse) stand out.
Hailee Steinfeld
The Edge of Seventeen star makes yet another case for matching your glam to your outfit, proving that all red everything is pure fire.
She paired neutral eye makeup with a vibrant red lip, which matched her sheer red gown, red satin sandals, and red nails flawlessly.
Halsey
Halsey brought out one of the most unique looks we saw all night: a rainbow hair part, which she wore with her long, brunette waves. Her stylist, Florido, told Allure, “The rainbow part was Halsey’s idea. She loves to stand out and switch things up,” revealing that he used Dove products on her hair.
She also matched her makeup to her gown, pairing her black bodysuit with a sheer orange overlay with sunset-hued makeup. Her makeup artist Denika Bedrossian used CoverGirl products to give her the all-over warm glow. She looked like a sun-kissed goddess.
Queen Latifah
Yet another celeb making the case for matchy-matchy beauty! The red carpet veteran paired her tangerine-colored Sergio Hudson suit with a shimmery neutral eye and a coral red lip, which coordinated with her coral-colored manicure.
She added super long, super sleek blonde strands, looking like a total beauty boss through and through.
Ebonee Davis
The America’s Next Top Model alum also tried a bold beauty look, inspired by Erykah Badu’s signature style. She served straight ’90s glam by matching her tie-dye green slip dress with a coordinated green head wrap. She added a pop of green to her eye makeup and a soft brown lip, proving that green eye shadow is not only wearable but insanely beautiful, too.
Normani
Making her solo debut at the show, Normani took the red carpet by storm in a stunning sparkly dress by Nicolas Jebran. She also coordinated her eye makeup to her overall look, wearing a lavender-hued smoky eye that popped against the red, orange, and purple tones in her gown. She also added a black winged liner and a neutral lip. She wore her soft waves in a side part ahead of her incredible performance during the show.
