Think extreme bangs, retro glam, and “unserious” beauty.
Another fashion month is behind us, and the Fall 2024 beauty trends we can expect to see later this year have made their runway debuts. On the forecast: hair and makeup that feels nostalgic, a tad avant-garde and slightly unhinged.
On the heels of Pat McGrath’s viral glassy glamour at Maison Margiela’s couture show in January, the expectations for Fall 2024 beauty looks were set high — but this season’s designers, with the aid of their trusty glam squads, did not disappoint.
Runways from New York to London and Milan to Paris ushered in the divisive return of deep-cut side parts, severe bangs and undone hair. The industry’s obsession with the colour red continued in the form of crimson fingertips, and “sad girl” beauty turned crybaby glam as models shed glitter tears on the catwalk. In short, it’s been a beautiful mess of a month.
Here, we unpack seven of the best Fall 2024 fashion month beauty trends for you to pin to your autumnal mood board in advance.
Undone hair
Prepare to abandon perfectionism and throw caution to the wind this autumn. With Fall 2024 hairstyles embracing post-slumber frizz and mussed manes, this trend finds beauty in the undone. At Ann Demeulemeester in Paris, KNWLS in London and Maxivive and MSGM in Milan, models debuted unkempt hair in a refreshing departure from the usual prim and proper nature of high fashion shows.
It’s not quite about zhuzh-ing your tresses up to chaotic extremes, rather, this trend requires taking more of a carefree approach to your hairstyling regime — and making your existing “mess” work to your advantage.
The notion of “unserious” beauty is a trend celebrity hairstylist Lacy Redway predicted ahead of fashion month at a pre-NYFW presentation with TreSemmé earlier this year in New York. “[This trend is for] the person that likes the unconventional finish,” she shared with an intimate group of press. “I feel like they’re someone that is very put together on the bottom, but they’re a little bit more free with their hair.”
Return to retro glam
Where fashion and beauty are concerned, we’re constantly witnessing history repeat itself — but this season’s hair and makeup feels particularly nostalgic. Here, swipes of baby blue eyeshadow, exaggerated lashes and larger-than-life hair hint at a retro renaissance.
At the New York Fashion Week Fall 2024 shows, the structured bouffants at Christian Cowan were an ode to 1950s Upper East Side hair, while mega mullets that channelled the ’70s accompanied each look at Frederick Anderson. Over in Milan, Giorgio Armani transported us back to the flower-power era with doll-like lashes à la Twiggy. And in London, Conner Ives opted for frosted-blue eyelids and bouncy manes complete with flipped-out ends held back by thick black headbands.
Not-your-average bangs
Bangs are back (again) — but not in the ways that you’d expect. Both Balenciaga and Dries Van Noten presented vision-obscuring, frayed fringes that hung below the eye line, Marni’s bangs were micro in length and deliberately choppy, while Loewe’s peek-a-boo bangs exposed hints of neon colour.
This extreme bang boom is another trend Redway forecasted as part of her vision of “extraterrestrial indulgence,” the otherworldly beauty look she expected we’d see on runways this fashion month. For her take on out-of-this-world hair, Redway styled models with V-cut and ultra-long ink black bangs inspired by Zendaya‘s Dune: Part Two press tour looks and Star Trek‘s Spock.
To sculpt the models’ hair at the pre-NYFW presentation, Redway used TreSemmé’s Weightless Keratin Smooth Silky Shine Spray from their newly launched Keratin Smooth Weightless Collection. “Whether you choose to use a full bang [clip on] or your own natural bang, this Weightless collection was able to give me the shine and the hold that I need,” she explained. “The Weightless Anti-Frizz Finishing Spray has also really helped me keep the flyaways away, and it’s also very moveable and wearable.”
Red nails reign
Fashion’s recent fixation on the colour red shows no signs of slowing, as models with crimson-coated fingertips of all lengths were seen everywhere from New York (Retrofête) and Milan (Jason Wu) to London (Dilara Findikoglu) and Paris (Leonard Paris).
For Prabal Gurung’s Fall 2024 presentation in New York, celebrity manicurist Gina Edwards designed custom press-on nails using imPRESS’ Color Press-On Manicure in the style “Red Velvet,” as the base of the models’ stiletto-sharp cherry red nails.
Artful braids
How many ways can you reinvent the braid? According to this season’s shows, the limit does not exist. Take Schiaparelli for example, who used faux blonde and brunette plaits for neckties as an extension of their exquisitely tailored ensembles. Borrowing hair extensions to make literal hair ties? Pure genius.
Further elevating the classic style, Thom Browne’s wind-swept braids defied gravity while Labrum London, Lapointe, and Luar presented more wearable braid art via intricate cornrows along the hairline and down the centre part, and plaits twisted into whimsical loops.
Cry babies
The “sad girl” makeup trend of 2022 takes on a new form when iterated in chrome-coloured teardrops. Following the age of Euphoria-esque glitter tears and TikTok’s “crying makeup” phase, it appears we’ve arrived at the next stage of this trend cycle.
First, The Blonds sent models down their NYC Fall 2024 runway parading bijoux tears that caught the light with every step. Then, across the pond, Chet Lo and Di Petsa followed suit with streams of silver glitter and singular 3D tear drops respectively. Consider this melancholic makeup trend your reminder that it’s OK to cry. It’s fashionable, even. The runways say so!
Super sleek side parts
Move over, middle parts. Once off-limits to some, deep side parts have been declared stylish again. According to fashion houses like Fendi, Max Mara, Mugler, Emilia Wickstead and Tory Burch, that is. For the Fall 2024 season, these off-centre parts are best served slicked to maximum capacity.
In contrast to the aforementioned “undone” hair trend, these super-smooth side parts counter the “unserious” beauty look with a level of polish that’s so sleek, it looks soaked. A hybrid of the wet-look hair and last summer’s viral slicked-back bun, this 2010s-era hairdo is on the rise. Go grab your gel.
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