Saoirse Ronan’s Best Red Carpet Beauty Moments Come Down to These Tiny Details
For all Saoirse Ronan’s shape-shifting roles—from a baker with a birthmark in the shape of Mexico in Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel to a trained killer living in the woods in Hanna, her shockingly pale white hair, brows, and porcelain complexion belonging more to a fairy tale than an action movie—the 24-year-old actress has finally come into her own on the red carpet. And it couldn’t have arrived at a better time, given 2018 was easily the August Vogue cover girl’s best cinematic year to date, having acquired accolade after accolade for Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. Much like her star turn as the angsty teen with bright pink hair who boldly navigates adolescent woes in the face of disapproving adults and utterly typical (read: basic) high schoolers, Ronan has braved each awards show with an unapologetic knack for striking if not subtly off-kilter beauty notes.
A look back will take you to the 2017 Governors Awards, where Ronan’s penchant for beach waves, blown up and away from her face, then gathered at the nape of her neck, characterized her approach to early winter. But before long, her effortless mane took on a more directional shape, and at the 2018 Critics Choice Awards, where she was nominated for two Best Actress awards, she slicked her hair to the side and tucked it behind a single accessorized ear. The focus was left on her dark plum lips—a daring hue that stood in contrast to her clear complexion and promptly dubbed “Angel Human” by a longtime member of her glam squad.
In February, those moody lips took on star power in a bright crimson red, and hair was turned up a notch by way of a topknot wrapped in dazzling metallic fringe—a unique addition that made a punkish companion to her swooping black cat-eye. (The girl loves a boundary-pushing hair accessory.) The futuristic look found still more firm footing at the 2018 Oscars, where Ronan and her makeup artist Kara Yoshimoto Bua played out their love affair with pink—this time, in the form of a pastel eye shadow, cheek color, and lip balm, the trio of rosy hues perfectly heightening the effect of her blush strapless Calvin Klein gown. Offering a subversive counterpoint to the deeply romantic palette? A graphic bob defined by dark roots.
Here, in honor of her first Vogue cover, and upcoming on-screen transformation as the ill-fated Mary Stuart in Mary Queen of Scots, a gig that brings with it russet waves and waist-grazing plaits, a look back at Ronan’s best red carpet moments of the year.
Watch Saoirse Ronan on Doing Her Own Stunts, Hosting SNL, and Pronouncing Her Name:
