From vampiric to vintage, this season’s shows gave us wide-ranging beauty trends to suit everyone, so it’s time to grab your brushes and try your hand at something a little different. Easily recreated and made wearable, these are the top beauty trends from the AW20 shows.
While the main focus might be on the clothes, fashion month is about head-to-toe artistry as designers work with the best of the best in hair and makeup to bring their collection to life. Just as essential as staging and sounds, the beauty of the show says a lot about the vibe of a collection, and the inspirations we should be buying into for the new season.
#1 RICH METALLICS
This season saw metallic eyes get an exaggerated makeover. Leaving behind a simple gold eye, AW20 beauty stepped into colour, opting for rich tones of red and green in a metallic, oil-slick finish. The Simone Rocha team graced the model’s eyes with fragmented gold leaf in red and black shades, creating a grungier take on the usually polished metallic finish. Meanwhile, Anna Sui saw disco-meet-Gothic as models wore metallic jewel tones blended out into a cat-eye with a dark cut-crease. Adapt the trend for day-to-day by blending one tone over your entire lid, and then adding some deeper shades and added glitter for the night.
#2 POPS OF COLOUR
While some designers prefer to keep their beauty looks simple and neutral, AW20 beauty trends saw an explosion of colour, bringing some sun to the darker months. For the beauty brave, look towards Richard Quinn and Rixo. Richard Quinn saw models gracing the runway with bold colourful liner along their lower lash line before merging into a classic cat-eye; adding a new splash of colour into a timeless look. Alternatively, Rixo created a rose-tinted doll-like look by blending pink blush tones across the entire lid and down onto the model’s cheeks.
Reminiscent of Lucy Boynton’s red carpet looks, this look is already wearable if you’re feeling more out-there, otherwise, keep the pink on your lids and add a little golden highlighter on top of a peachy shimmer. But for an instantly wearable look, Olivia Rubin’s feminine take on the beauty trend looks set to become a staple for us. Blue on the lids and pink on the lips; Olivia Rubin made our school disco looks chic, merging hyper-femininity with studio 54 cool.
#3 LATE-60’S INSPIRATION
If colour and glitter isn’t your thing, this more neutral, vintage-inspired AW20 beauty trend is the one for you. Always a favourite reference point, this season saw an influx of the late-60’s inspired beauty looks and collections, taking note from the end of the summer of love and start of a darker time for the hippie culture. Quintessential French brand Celine gave the classic Parisian cat-eye an update with a shadowed cut crease, reminiscent of Sharon Tate and Edie Sedgwick.
Similarly, Chloe models were fresh-faced with defined eyes, opting for a more subtle, smudged cat-eye over a graphic look. Paired with flowing hair in a centre parting, this lived-in beauty trend looks like it’s just stepped out of day 2 of Woodstock.
#4 EUPHORIC EMBELLISHMENTS
The impact of HBO’s Euphoria hit the FW20 runways hard as we saw added gems, stamps and embellishments. Taking notes from Doniella Davy’s makeup artistry on the show, the models in several shows had their faces and eyes adorned with gems much like Alexa Demie on the fan favourite show. Valentino created an eye look that was reminiscent of their iconic shoes, adding black gems to a graphic twiggy-inspired look for a contemporary impact. Similarly, Christopher John Rogers added silver gems into brushed up brows, giving us fresh inspiration for festivals or nights out. Even Rixo added some sparkling extra to the inner corner of their model’s eyes, helping to elevate any look into something powerful and party-ready. This beauty trend has been an Instagram sensation for a while now, but the AW20 runways provided us with new ways to wear the trend in a more refined manner, focusing on clever placement rather than simply adding lots of gems or glitter
#5 NONCHALANT BOLD LIPS
Is it possible for a red lip to feel modern and groundbreaking? The AW20 runways say yes as many brands chose to give their models fresh takes on the timeless beauty trend. How did they update it? By making a red lip appear casual, feeling nonchalant against a fresh face and barely-there eye makeup. A favourite technique of the french, AW20 beauty trends saw the red lip being relegated from formality into a key step in your 15-minute rushing out of the house routine.
We also saw a change-up in tone as classic, rich reds were swapped out for orange-toned shades for MSGM, or deep reds that almost border on purple for Rodarte and Fendi. For orange-tones, keep eyes simple with a slightly-grey toned shadow, and use a lip brush for defined application of the colour. Meanwhile, for purple-tones, artists opted for a more lived-in application, patting the colour into the lip for less harsh outlines, and pairing it with a subtle but warmer eye shadow. Whichever side you pick, set the colour with a little bit of pressed powder to avoid any shine, keeping it nice and matte while helping it last.
