A lot of the beauty inspiration we spotted during Fashion Month this season was also travel-friendly. These are five fashion-week inspired beauty looks that we can’t wait to try.
Fashion Week doesn’t just set the tone for what we’ll be wearing next season – it also offers a front-row seat to the beauty looks that will define the months ahead.
Including plane-proof hairstyles and single-product glam for both eyes and lips, this season’s beauty trends feel refreshingly travel-friendly: easy to recreate, light on baggage, and perfectly suited for life on the move.
Straight from the runways of New York, London, Milan and Paris, this is the beauty inspiration that stood out for frequent travellers.
1. PLANE-PROOF HAIR
Nothing disguises travel-worn hair faster than a slicked-back style, and this season the runways are inspiring all of us to lean into that when we step off a long-haul flight. The most important thing is to make sure your strands look shiny rather than lank and you can accomplish that with just the right amount of styling gel. At Edeline Lee, the hairstylist Philipp Haug pressed lengths flat with Schwarzkopf’s range, leading stylist Guido Palau doubled down on gel for Prada SS25, and wet-look strands were centre stage at Tod’s. For a softer finish, try pulling your hair back into a ponytail, à la Victoria Beckham, where a finishing touch of Wella’s Ultimate Smooth Miracle Oil Serum gave the models’ hair an expensive-looking gloss.
Another approach is to encourage a lived-in texture – perfect if your hair tends to look frizzy rather than greasy post-flight. Try a styling paste in place of gel for a matte finish, such as Authentic Beauty’s Pliable Styling Paste – that’s the product that was used at Erdem. Be inspired by the wind-swept looks at Roberto Cavalli and the voluminous, yet slightly separated out strands at Maison Margiela too.
2. SINGLE SWIPE SOFT RED
Few things feel more powerful than a red lip – especially with its ability to instantly upgrade an outfit from day to night. This season it’s become even more wearable (and travel-worthy) as part of a trend that is perfect for pared-back travel wardrobes. At Roksanda and Simone Rocha – shows that are always a source of effortless feminine fashion – models wore vivid crimsons against bare skin, proof that you only need one bold shade to elevate an outfit and can leave your heavy foundations at home. In a similar vein, Erdem paired scarlet lips with a softer, romantic complexion, letting the colour do the work, and at Pierre-Louis Mascia, make-up artist Michele Magnani for Mac played with nostalgia with the painterly pillar-box lips.
What makes the look even more wearable is that you don’t have to try too hard to make your colour perfect – sharp edges aren’t required. In fact, you can aim for a soft, diffused red that’s achievable in a single swipe. At Roksanda the shade worn by certain models was the iconic Ruby Woo by Mac, while the lip palette used at Erdem – Fara Homidi’s Essential Lip Compact in Red 1 – is our pick for a next-generation favourite. Simone Rocha’s models loved the shine of Byredo’s Liquid Vinyl over the top of their statement lips too.
3. HONEYMOON GLOW
You aren’t alone if you always want to bottle the glow you get from a relaxing two-week holiday. And this season, the makeup artists backstage at Fashion Month have found ways to help you replicate it with ease. Global senior artist Carly Utting ramped up the romance at Dreaming Eli, creating a “honeymoon glow” that included a trend we predict you’ll see everywhere this autumn: “love-drunk blush”. The trick is to give the cheeks a pinky blush but keep the complexion from being washed out with luminous highlights and skin-warming touches (otherwise blush can actually leave sun-missing skin looking even paler or washed out). Look to liquid formulas for the best finish, especially Utting’s favourite Mac Strobe Liquid Blushes and the new Skinfinish Lightstruck Highlighters.
At Mark Fast, makeup artist Sharon Dowsett coined the trend the “sunkissed siren”, with the models’ sun-warmed skin replicated through bronzed cheeks, softly smoky brown eyes, and glossed brows and lips. Again a slightly glossy finish is key to the look – this time Weleda Sunkissed Bronzing Serum Booster Drops – mimicking hours of sunshine, even if you’ve not stepped anywhere near a plane.
4. LONG LINER
Eyeliner used to be the beauty product most dropped from our tightly edited travel makeup bags – especially for anyone who struggled with the look. But the runways this season have been flooded with inspiration – and the products you need to create the looks with ease. Best of all, a sophisticated glam liner look no longer means needing to spend hours in front of the mirror. If you want your flicks sharp, look to Milan Fashion Week and the Dolce & Gabbana show, which saw makeup artist Pat McGrath pair her Permagel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil with ultra-luminous skin. McGrath was at it again with a more sultry take at Bottega Veneta, and there were classic flicks at Blumarine, Durazzi, and Fendi too.
For anyone still nervous about getting it ‘spot on’, there was pure Amy Winehouse energy at Marques’ Almeida which allowed it to look more like it had been applied by a less-skilled hand than the true brains behind it, global director of makeup artistry at Mac, Terry Barber. The main thing to remember is that the smaller the point the more control you are going to have, so choose great products like NYX Epic Ink Liner and L’Oréal Paris Superliner Perfect Slim Eyeliner. Use a dotting technique to mark up where you want your flick to go (one where it will start and one where it should finish) then swipe with confidence in one smooth motion.
5. CATCH THE SUN
Nothing captures the holiday spirit – or hides post-flight fatigue – quite like light-catching shimmer, and this season, the playful summer mood is perfectly brought into autumn and beyond through eye-catching eye makeup. At Ashish, eyes sparkled with liquid glitter swept across brows and cheekbones, evoking Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra and Biba’s disco heyday. The products to get your hands on: Mac’s Dazzleshadow Liquid Eyeshadow and Glitters.
Elsewhere, Harris Reed’s models wore the lilac and neutral shades from Charlotte Tilbury’s limited edition Palette Of Beautifying Eye Trends for a cinematic, otherworldly stare, while Moschino’s statement gold lashes delivered a playful jolt of glamour, against otherwise minimalist skin. Don’t be surprised if you see the liner and eyeshadow sparkle trends start to merge in time for the party season too. We’d suggest finding a packed eyeshadow palette (the more shades the better), such as Beauty Bay’s 25-Shade Palette, to help you experiment ahead of time.
Lead image credit: RIXO Backstage
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