Let’s face it: aside from stellar sartorial looks on the red carpet, the Emmy Awards are also an unofficial display of the best in the business of make-up—and this year, beauty trends abounded.
Founded in 1949 by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to celebrate the preeminent talents of the television industry, the annual primetime Emmy Awards have become not only a prestigious Hollywood affair, but have also given way to spotlight those actors and actresses that, for once, are out of character, and mobilising the chance to showcase themselves anew.
Alongside the incredible display of high fashion on the red carpet (think Mandy Moore in Brandon Maxwell, or Sophie Turner who chose to sport a dress by Louis Vuitton), the intricate make-up looks devised to carefully pair with each attendee’s ensemble should be paid due attention.
A number of looks borrowed trends from the recent spring/summer 2020 runways, including Euphoria-inspired bursts of colour around the eyes, Prada’s deep-parted hair looks, and the ever-popular bold cat eye repeatedly worn by Helmut Lang models.
With celebrity make-up artists, including Hung Vanngo and Jillian Dempsey on duty, and their respective clients Julia Garner and Emilia Clarke attending the special affair, it’s only fair we lend the proverbial microphone to the best make-up looks of the night.
Our verdict? While Kristen Bell played up Prada’s runway hair trend, sporting a deep-parted updo that pleased the eye, Sandra Oh, Sophie Turner and Julia Garner also deployed the teen series-inspired and runway-supported look earlier mentioned, with each of these attendees, among others, establishing themselves as serious contenders for the gong.
Below, Vogue rounds up the best, brightest and boldest hair and make-up looks at the 71st annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Scroll on to take inspiration and apply accordingly.
Pictured above: Mandy Moore, who enlisted the help of celebrity make-up artist, Jenn Streicher, to create a tonally neutral look that paired perfectly with the bold colours represented in her Brandon Maxwell gown. The actress also wore a voluminous hair look courtesy of Ashley Streicher that her ‘80s based character, Rebecca Pearson, wouldn’t look out of place in.
Julie Garner
Working with Hung Vanngo, Garner’s beauty look for this year’s red carpet showcased Prada’s deep-parted hair look, and bronze tones in three ways: lined under the eyes, painted on her lips and lightly brushed on her cheeks.
Kerry Washington
The actress looked to take a number of beauty notes from ’60s style and screen icon, Brigitte Bardot, including shaggy curtain bangs, an imperfect updo and a bold cat eye.
Kristen Bell
Taking style notes from the recent Prada spring/summer 2020 runway, Bell wore a sleek, deep-parted hairstyle created by celebrity hairstylist Davy Newkirk, which wrapped neatly into a bun. Keeping her make-up look simple as to not distract from her technicolour gown, the actress wore a touch of pale pink on her eyelids.
Maisie Williams
In a unsurprising, but totally welcome move, Williams let her signature bold brows be the hero of her Emmys beauty look. But perhaps slightly more surprising was her hair colour, which made a return to a deep brunette from the evening after the actress had been sporting a bubblegum pink hue for many months.
Sandra Oh
When we first saw Oh’s red carpet beauty, the first thing that sprung to mind were the eclectic make-up looks worn by characters on the HBO series Euphoria, the monotone bursts of light pink on her lids and cheeks also mimicking the beauty worn on many a runway this season, which too looked to be inspired by the very same show.
Emilia Clarke
With the help of celebrity stylist, Jenny Cho, Clarke revisited the long lengths she ditched years ago for this year’s red carpet, wearing her pin straight locks smooth and in a middle part. Not unlike many of the attendees at this year’s Emmys, the actress wore a pink tonal make-up look created by Jillian Dempsey, which she topped with a bold black cat eye.
Gwendoline Christie
If Christie was going to wear an outfit with religious undertones, of course her make-up and hair look would contain the same contextual touchstones. The actress wore an oxblood red lip and wet-look waves in her hair.
Viola Davis
We love when Davis lets her natural texture shine, and her red carpet hair moment at this year’s Emmys is no exception. The actress let her curls hero her beauty look, pairing it with a glossy burgundy lip and frosted metallic lids.
Sophie Turner
Although it would have been hard to distract from the 945 diamond-strong Louis Vuitton necklace she wore around her neck, Turner’s make-up look created by Kate Young for the red carpet shone just as bright, wearing a pink glittery eye and a nude glossy lip to complement her blush-tone gown.
Patricia Arquette
We couldn’t get enough of Arquette’s bold bangs on this year’s red carpet, the blunt-cut fringe bringing a little edge to her beauty look.
Zendaya
Is it just us, or did Zendaya’s 2019 Emmys beauty look—which featured bombshell curls in an auburn red tone—also give you major Poison Ivy vibes with her emerald green gown also considered?
Michelle Williams
In attempt to allow her intricately embroidered Louis Vuitton gown to be the true scene-stealer of her Emmy’s outfit, the actress wore an understated but elegant beauty look, which featured what is possibly our favourite hair style of the red carpet in the form of a 1930s-style bob, topped with soft waves and a deep part, paired with barely-there make-up.
Maya Rudolph
Taking a page out of Michelle Williams’s beauty book, Rudolph heroed wavy cropped hair on this year’s red carpet, chopping a few extra centimeters off her ends for the event. With the help of her make-up artist, Molly R. Stern, the actress also kept her make-up extremely pared back as to not distract from her pattern-heavy Vampire’s Wife dress.
Rachel Brosnahan
actress tasked make-up artist Lisa Aharon to create a beauty look which flawlessly blended with her ultramarine sequined gown, and she did not disappoint, managing to match the exact colour of Brosnahan’s dress on her lids.
Anna Chlumsky
Chlumsky’s curly hair look for this year’s Emmys looked almost reminiscent of an early aughts Carrie Bradshaw, and honestly, there aren’t enough Carrie Bradshaw hair tributes out there today.
Kendall Jenner
While the model’s make-up look for the evening wasn’t exactly eye-catching, the one element of her beauty look which trapped our gaze was her hair. Making the transition back to her natural colour, Jenner reprised her signature dark brunette locks after dying her hair honey blonde just a week ago for Burberry’s spring/summer 2020 show.
Jameela Jamil
When it came to The Good Place actress’s make-up look for this year’s Emmys, she bypassed the celebrity make-up artist in favour of her own hand, creating her simple yet stunning beauty look herself, as reported by Us Weekly.
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