From overlined ombré lips to sky-high, 80s-inspired bouffants, these scene-stealing beauty looks shined during music’s biggest night.
Leave it to the Grammy Awards to deliver a series of headline-worthy beauty looks that push the boundaries of possibility, an eclectic amalgam of time-honoured classics blended with of-the-moment beauty trends.
This year’s festivities, which took place in Los Angeles on Sunday, produced as many homages to Old Hollywood as they did TikTok trends, and while some red-carpet appearances fell short, we’ve committed others to memory as we reach for our makeup bags in the months to come.
Red, in its full spectrum of shades from cherry to crimson, reigned everywhere from hair to lips to nails, while hairstyles ran the gamut from sleek and polished updos to grungy mermaid waves with plenty of body and movement. Gracie Abrams made a strong case for the micro-bob, and elsewhere grown-out mullets and wolf cuts seen on Michael Le and Montaigne left us scrambling for the next available hair appointment.
Risk-taking looks included Doja Cat’s elaborate face tattoos (and Paris Jackson’s decision to cover hers up), alongside Miley Cyrus’ voluminous, 80s-inspired mullet which drew inspiration from her godmother, country singer Dolly Parton and her penchant for big hair. Lana Del Rey debuted choppy bangs and a coquettish black bow to match her glossy black locks.
Below, the most memorable beauty trends to emerge from the Grammys 2024 red carpet.
Get inked (or not)
Two artists sat firmly in opposite camps when it came to body art.
It took Paris Jackson’s makeup artist two hours to cover up her 80 tattoos, using a selection of Cover FX products to colour match and then conceal each inked image.
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Advertise with NZME.The hero? Cover FX Total Cover Cream in the shade F2, layered with pressed mineral foundation and a high-performance setting spray on top to ensure layers didn’t budge all night long.
Makeup artist Tyson Fountaine says: “I recommend using a full coverage foundation, like Cover FX Total Cover Cream. I used a shade with red/orange tones — not her direct match — to first cut the colour of the tattoos before using her exact match.”
Elsewhere on the red carpet, Doja Cat complemented her flesh-toned corset dress with a gallery’s worth of gothic tattoos — ranging from a byzantine cathedral across her chest to snarling gargoyles and statues.
A sharp clapback from the stock standard red carpet question, “Who are you wearing?”, Doja’s reply was emblazoned across her forehead in Old English font: Dilara Findikoglu.
Sky-high volume
Easily the most iconic beauty look of the night, Miley Cyrus brought the drama to the red carpet with a full-bodied, windswept bouffant that Dolly Parton herself would be proud of. The Barbarella-esque style was created by hairstylist Bob Recine, who sent Miley’s strands skyward using a mix of Nexxus products (and we’re assuming an entire can of Nexxus XXL Volume Hairspray).
“This last year l featured Miley’s wet look for hair,” Bob revealed in a press release. “For the Grammys, we decided we wanted something dry and bigger, more fuller hair, but sexy and tousled and touchable.
“The hair is teased out and big but still a little messy and touchable to feel sexy and help make Miley feel confident.”
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Bangs in every shape and form
Pop icon Kylie Minogue kept things fresh with low-commitment, piecey bangs which played peek-a-boo with her brows, while Lana Del Rey went all in with a heavy fringe paired with a voluminous black bow.
Lana’s were a masterclass in hair artistry, expertly blended into her hairline. While her bangs sat as long as her lashes while on the red carpet, later in the evening she swept them to the side for an updated take on the side fringes most millennials will recall from the 2010s.
Micro bob
Gracie Abrams made a strong case for the micro bob, which was freshly cut on the day by hairstylist Bobby Eliot. The boxy cut was made all the more chic with a spritz of John Freida Frizz Ease to lend shine and tame flyaways, the perfect accoutrement to help tuck strands in behind her ears.
Full-spectrum red
It was, quite literally, a red carpet this year with how much the shade permeated beauty looks. From cherry and carmine through to crimson and maroon, red was the shade on everyone’s lips (mostly) and hair. Sandra Powers and Billie Eilish opted for a bolt of bright, the latter of which returned to her contrast roots once more.
Dua Lipa wore her dark crimson tresses in mermaid waves (a nod to Barbie, perhaps?) and cemented the grungy vibe with smoky, lived-in liner and glossed pink lips.
Frosted eyeshadow
The laundry list of celebrities who donned Y2K-ready frosted eyeshadow was long, with the likes of Sommer Ray, Micaela Diamond, Jake Pedersen, Ayra Starr, Nicki Nicole and Paris Hilton keeping things frosty.
Powdery shades spanned every colour of the rainbow, from cornflower blue and mint green through to washed-out lavender and luminous white.
More impressive still was the creative placement, with some A-listers going bold with a frosted cut crease, others opting for a daub in the inner or outer corners of their eyes, and a handful keeping it subtle with a precise line.
Ombré lips
It’s one of the prevailing trends we predicted would explode in 2024, and it certainly rang true at this year’s Grammys.
Lana Del Rey, Olivia Rodrigo, Summer Walker and Bebe Rexha all sported a variation of ombré lips — some in rich coffee nudes and others in deep maroon — but all with a colour gradient starting at the outer border and gradually lightening toward the centre of the lips.
Olivia Rodrigo’s wine-coloured red lip was a swift 180-degree turn from her typically minimalist makeup look.
Wolf cuts
A hybrid of a vintage 70s shag and an 80s mullet, the hallmarks of a wolf cut is plenty of short, face-framing layers and often comes twinned with choppy bangs.
For Michael Le and Montaigne, a multi-layered wolf cut added another level of visual interest to a dynamic ensemble.
Glistening limbs
We’re in peak summer in Aotearoa, meaning limbs have been, and will remain, on display for some time. Until the temperature dips, we’ll be taking our cues from Coco Jones, Victoria Monet and Laverne Cox, all of whom let limbs shimmer as much as their gowns.
It’s a grown-up version of body glitter’s return on TikTok, instead using a glow-giving cream-based product over the decolletage and arms to impart radiance.
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