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Paris Fashion Week Spring 2020 Best Hair and Makeup Trends

Paris Fashion Week Spring 2020: The Most Dramatic Hair and Makeup Looks From the Runways

Sep 30 2019

There has been a whole lot of bright! colourful! shiny! beauty looks this Fashion Month. New York was full of sporty neon makeup and pearl-bedecked hair. London leaned into glitter and gorgeous plaits, while hairstylists and makeup artists treated us to beauty looks inspired by fine art (think: Pablo Picasso) in Milan. But as Paris Fashion Week kicks off, the hair and makeup looks we're seeing come out of the City of Light have a bit of a dark side.

We've spotted black lipstick at Courrèges, ponytails made from chains at Mugler, and brush strokes of pigment across the eyes at Dries Van Noten — a look directly inspired by Darryl Hannah's character in Blade Runner. There certainly a more subversive quality to the beauty coming down the runways in Paris, although that hasn't made them any less exciting or luxurious. Hairstylist Sam McKnight attached black, blue, or fuchsia ostrich feathers into the hair at Dries to create opulent faux fringes, while for Christian Siriano's Paris Fashion Week debut, hairstylist Anthony Cole wrapped gorgeous chignons with strands of rainbow-coloured crystals, creating a decadent DIY hair accessory.

And that's not to say there hasn't been some lightness and sparkle on the PFW runways. We're obsessed with the seafoam shadow from Siriano's show, and makeup artist Pat McGrath's amazing golden eye looks at Valentino left us speechless. And we also can't wait to see what's in store at Chanel and Miu Miu at the end of the week. For now, keep reading to see the buzziest beauty moments from Paris Fashion Week thus far.

Face-Framing Plaits at Christian Dior Spring 2020

"You could call it a hairline braid, or a Dutch braid at the hairline, either way, it's a braid where everything is brought towards the hairline, technically," said Guido of the look he created on a majority of the models at Dior's Spring 2020 show. (Guido asked the models with natural-textured hair or protective styles how they prefer to wear their hair and he then styled it accordingly).

"Because it sits on the hairline and I'm bringing everything forward from a middle parting, you get a droop [along the forehead] and a softness that you wouldn't get with two simple braids," said Guido. "Bringing it all to the hairline also gives you a really beautiful profile." To help him create clean, precise plaits, Guido used a combination of Redken Texture Powder Grip 03 — which he squirted onto the hair before weaving the strands together — and Redken Triple Pure 32 Hairspray (the brand's new neutral fragrance, high-hold hairspray) — which kept all the various layers and bits from popping out of the braids.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Filippo Fortis

Face-Framing Plaits at Christian Dior Spring 2020

"We often have some type of hair adornment at Dior," said Guido. "But that doesn't mean we don't do anything with the hair." For Spring 2020, most girls wore straw hats, the two hairline Dutch braids peaking out and framing the face. "The hair is meant to complement the hats and to enhance the character that designer Maria Grazia is trying to portray with her collection," added Guido.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Filippo Fortis

Meteor Shower Sparkles at Off-White Spring 2020

We've seen glitter go a lot of places on the face, but in between the eyes is a first — and we're very into it. On her Instagram, makeup artist Fara Homidi explained that the sparkly makeup look was inspired by meteor showers, adding that the look included "almost bare skin, curled lashes, and glitter (different shapes and sizes) applied to the bridge of the nose and inner corners of the eyes. Excuse us while we break out our favourite biodegradable glitters and try this look, stat.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Gregory Scaffidi

Golden Eyes at Valentino Spring 2020

Like many of the shows on this list, there were multiple iterations of the makeup look that came down the runway. At Valentino, makeup artist Pat McGrath created four glittery gold eye looks, including this epic version on model Adut Akech that included textured gold wings and gold brows. On her Instagram stories, McGrath shared how this look came together: After laying down a base of gold shadow (from her new Blitz Astral Quad Eyeshadow in Nocturnal Nirvana, reports Vogue), makeup artists then added a layer of loose gold shimmer, followed by the addition of dozens of gold Swarovski crystals. The result was that from the runway, the eyes almost looked like brocade gold fabric.

Image Source: Getty

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Golden Eyes at Valentino Spring 2020

The second 24-karat eye look created by McGrath and her team at Valentino was this gilded lash look, which included gold-foil fake lashes adhered to both the top and bottom lash lines. "These are gold lashes I've collected since the '90s," McGrath told Vogue backstage at the show. "They're collector's edition and you can't get them anymore."

Image Source: Getty / Pascal Le Segretain

Golden Eyes at Valentino Spring 2020

Lastly at Valentino, McGrath and her team executed shimmering gold, negative space cat eyes (look closely and you'll see that the lids were actually kept bare).

Image Source: Getty / Pascal Le Segretain

Haute Couture Headpieces at Dries Van Noten Spring 2020

For Dries Van Noten's Spring 2020 show, the Belgian designer teamed up with legendary French couturier Christian Lacroix for a truly epic runway collection that's sure to be one for the fashion history books.

The beauty looks (there were many) created by makeup artist Peter Philips and hairstylist Sam McKnight for the show were just as mind-blowing. As luxurious and decorative as the clothes, Philips and McKnight pulled references both from the clothes and the designers' signature styles. Here, a model wears a gorgeous gold-beaded cap and crystal studs, which were inspired by one of the model's real-life piercings, according to Vogue.

Image Source: Getty / Estrop

Liquid-Gold Lips at Dries Van Noten Spring 2020

Philips gave several of the models walking the show a 24-karat-coloured lip. The finish was so opaque and shiny, it looked like like he had painted real liquid gold atop their mouths. Look closely and you'll see that black ostrich feathers have been woven into this model's real fringe (more on that in a second).

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Luca Cannonieri

Feathered Fringe at Dries Van Noten Spring 2020

The ostrich feather fringe is much more noticeable here, where McKnight added fuchsia feathers into the model's hair. "With feathers being a signature and a favourite of both [designers], an idea [was] to treat the ostrich feathers like hair and use them as fringes," McKnight wrote on his Instagram. To attach the delicate plumes, McKnight sprayed the hair with his Hair by Sam McKnight Easy Updo Texture Spray (£25). Then, clipping the front section of hair back, McKnight glued strips of the feathers along the forehead like a set of fake bangs, snipping into them with scissors to create face-framing layers.

As for the brushstrokes of paint across the eyes, that was inspired by Daryl Hannah's makeup in the movie Blade Runner, Philips told Vogue.

Image Source: cultbeauty.co.uk

Decadent Hair and Makeup at Dries Van Noten Spring 2020

McKnight also broke out cobalt blue feathers — in this instance paired with gold lipstick.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Gregory Scaffidi

Face Blooms at Giambattista Valli Spring 2020

We've seen lots of flowers in the hair this season, but flowers glued to the face was definitely a first. Makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench brought fresh blooms to the show, then picked the petals off and adhered them to the models' faces. Here, she placed them around the ocular bones to beautifully frame the eyes — using the flowers almost as you would use a highlighter.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Matteo Valle

Face Blooms at Giambattista Valli Spring 2020

So beautiful, we had to show you twice. For this iteration of the floral look, Ffrench kept the flowers intact and then placed them across the forehead, following the arches of the brows and letting the ends hang down the cheekbones.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Matteo Valle

Chrome Wings at Balmain Spring 2020

The day of the Balmain show was also the day that the Kylie x Balmain makeup collection hit virtual shelves — so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the products were used to execute the two makeup looks backstage. The first look created by makeup artist Samira Goyette was this one: chrome wings as sharp and shiny as kitchen knifes.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Filippo Fortis

Watercolour Lids at Balmain Spring 2020

The second look created by Paris-based makeup artist Samira Goyette not only mimicked the makeup Kylie Jenner wears in the campaign imagery for the Kylie x Balmain collection, but it also continues the watercolour trend we've seen all over the runways and red carpet the past couple months. Goyette dipped in to the new Kyshadow Palette for this one, blending four different shades all over the lids.

As for the side-swept hairstyle, Sam McKnight broke out his Modern Hairspray and his Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer to dry and set the hair up and away from the face.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Matteo Valle

Butterfly Lashes at Manish Arora Spring 2020

Makeup artist Kabuki created a myriad of looks at Manish Arora, many of them lash focused like this one. We saw metallic lashes, ostrich-feather lashes, and our favourite of the bunch: butterfly-wing lashes, which were actually two large appliqués adhered under the lower lashes and along brow bones, giving a whole new meaning to makeup wings.

Image Source: Getty / Richard Bord

Seafoam Shadow at Christian Siriano Spring 2020

"Seafoam lids and glossy lips," is how makeup artist Erin Parsons described the look on her Instagram post featuring models Coco ROcha and Cindy Bruna. We're obsessed with how the dreamy, pastel shade looks on the eyes with nothing else but a bit of mascara. A key tip here for recreating the look at home: don't forget to bring the shadow all the way to the inner corners and around the tear ducts. The pale shade, even though it's green, acts like a highlight — brightening the entire eye area.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Matteo Valle

Crystal-Wrapped Chignons at Christian Siriano Spring 2020

The hair was equally as pretty at Christian Siriano. Hairstylist Anthony Cole smoothed the hair into a low ballerina bun. Once that was secure, he then ran long strands of rainbow-coloured crystals around and throughout the chignon for a DIY hair accessory that didn't look the least bit DIY.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Matteo Valle

Glossy Black Lips at Courrèges Spring 2020

Pantent-leather black lipsstick looked striking on the models at Courrèges — one of the many subversive beauty looks dreamed up by makeup artist Lynsey Alexander for the show.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Matteo Scarpellini

Optical Illusion Brows at Mugler Spring 2020

No, you're not seeing things. That's Bella Hadid with two sets of eyebrows: her natural one and then thin, painted-on arches by makeup artist Inge Grognard. The small-yet-impactful element made the models look extra fierce as they came down the catwalk.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Gregory Scaffidi

Chaintails at Mugler Spring 2020

The multiple hairstyles by at Mugler (by hairstylist Jawara) were just as fierce, although we especially loved the chain-mail ponytail he created on Bella Hadid.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Gregory Scaffidi

Swatches and Hair Sculptures at Christian Wijnants Spring 2020

This is one of those beauty looks that truly takes our breath away. While makeup artist Inge Grognard applied thick swatches of makeup paint to the outer corners of the eyes, hairstylist Anthony Turner and his team painstakingly wrapped the lengths of the models' hair in leather and then twisted, looped, and moulded them into gravity-defying hair sculptures.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Alessandro Zeno

High-Seas Hair at Kaia Gerber Spring 2020

"McQueen hairstyles always have a touch of romance – always beautiful, always with a touch of British sensibility," hairstylist Guido said of the piece-y, fishtailed hair look (at the back of the head, he created skinny fishtail braids and pinned them messily in place).

"I was inspired by pirates and the high seas, with a small braid in the front based on [the lead singer of] English rock band Adam and the Ants, who often wore a similar look. I've finished off the braids with a gold ribbon wrapped around them, which gives a slightly Victorian vibe." To achieve that piece-y, slightly weathered effect, Guido doused each section of hair with Redken Guts 10, a volumising spray foam, before weaving them into small braids.

Image Source: Getty

Subversive Smoky Eyes a Guy Laroche Spring 2020

The smoky eyes at Rochas (dreamed up by makeup artist Kabuki) weren't smouldering or sexy. With a darker hue on the lids with a lighter hue blended out all around eyes — and by all
we mean up to the brows, along the bridge of the nose, and even as far down as the tops of the cheekbones — the eye makeup gave the models a haunted, subversive vibe.

Image Source: Getty / Stephane Cardinale - Corbis

Fresh Blooms at Etam Spring 2020

Fresh flowers have caught on as quite a trend this season, with hairstylists decorating the hair with them in London, Milan, and now Paris. And while the hairstyles at Ashish and Missoni were quite grunge-y and a touch subversive, the brightly-coloured blooms at Etam punctuated pretty, laissez-faire waves for a vibe that was très belle if you ask us.

Candy-Coated Red Lips at Calvin Luo Spring 2020

Even better than the high-shine, cherry-coloured lipstick at Calvin Luo was the fact it matched some the red-lacquered frames of a few of the models' sunglasses.

Squared Off Liner at Ann Demeulemeester Spring 2020

Even the cat eyes got a subversive spin in Paris. At Ann Demeulemeester, London-based makeup artist Hiromi Ueda used a black eyeliner to draw wings that jutted straight out from the corners of the eyes (versus ticking upwards to the tails of the brows), for some seriously fierce feline flicks.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Matteo Scarpellini

Glossy Black Shadow at Ann Demeulemeester Spring 2020

When she wasn't drawing cat eyes at Ann Demeulemeester, Ueda was tapping into her feelings with a pot of black cream shadow. "Freely painted emotional glossy eyes," is how she described the look on an Instagram post showing off the smudgy, purposely-messy shiny black shadow.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Matteo Scarpellini

Pearl Alice Bands at Paul & Joe Spring 2020

One of Autumn 2019's most popular hair accessories — the pearl headband — made an appearance on the Paul & Joe runway for Spring 2020, hinting that pearl hair accessories aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Image Source: Getty / Peter White

Punk Victoriana at Vivenne Westwood Spring 2020

"Historical punk" was how McKnight described the ponytails he dreamed up at Vivienne Westwood. With anywhere from one to four rolls of hair on either side of the head, the unique style was directly inspired by hairstyle trends from the 18th century. The texture of the mussed-up low ponytails, however, wouldn't feel out of place in 2019 — created by using a few blasts of McKnight's Easy Updo Texture Spray (£25).

Image Source: cultbeauty.co.uk

Gilded Wings at Altuzarra

At Altuzarra, small triangles of gold foil were glued to the outer corners of the eyes to create metallic, 3-D cat eyes.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Matteo Valle

Painted Lashes at Ralph & Russo

Makeup artist Val Garland created four different black liner looks for Ralph & Russo using either a felt tip liquid liner, a cream liner, a matte black shadow, or some combination of the three. Each look incorporated a black line that ran along the brow bones (referred to as la banane by most makeup artists) and faux, painted-on lashes underneath the lower lids, which brought to mind iconic images of Twiggy from the '60s.

Image Source: IMAXTREE / Matteo Valle

A Whisper of Black Liner at Lanvin Spring 2020

The makeup was all about fresh, highlighted skin at Lanvin, although makeup artist Diane Kendal added the faintest touch of black liner along the top lashes to add definition to the eyes. Using the Code8 Precision Liquid Eyeliner in Carbon Black (£28), Kendal traced the top lashes, extending the line every so slightly past the outer corners of the eyes, then taking a soft brush to then blend and blur the pigment. She finished by coating the lashes in the Code8 Lash Sophisticate High Definition Mascara in Classic Black (£25).

Image Source: codeeight.com

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