The stars dazzled in Hollywood at the Academy Awards last night, giving us an exciting sneak peak into beauty trends we can expect to see this spring. Nude and red lips conquered the red carpet, but we were glad to see soft purple shadows, big wavy hair, and thick black liner make a big appearance as well. Sure, there were fashion mistakes – we’re actively trying to forget Nicole Kidman’s ensemble – but in terms of beauty, we have to say the women were spectacular!
Nude lips brought red carpet chic to a whole new level last night, with starlets like Halle Berry, Michelle Williams, and Gwyneth Paltrow, wearing light-colored glosses on their lips. The great thing about nude lips is that it helps draw attention to other parts of your glamorous look, like a sleek, silver Calvin Klein floor-length dress, which Paltrow wore elegantly; or Berry’s snug and sparkly Marchesa gown.
We love to see hair that moves, which seemed to be very popular among the leading ladies. Gentle blowouts, and wavy hair were spotted on Marisa Tomei, Scarlett Johansson, and Oscar nominee Amy Adams. We appreciated the perfectly straight hair on Penelope Cruz and Paltrow, but a natural looking wave is feminine and graceful, and we love the idea that not every strand has to be perfectly in place.
It wouldn’t be a beauty roundup without mentioning the spicy blood red and coral lips. Crimson lipstick, which is usually saved for simple black dresses (something we’re glad we didn’t see too many of last night), has recently become a flattering way to complement a matching red dress. Anne Hathaway may have completely botched her role as a host, but we can always count on her to be flawless on the red carpet. It was risky wearing bold red lips, with red nail polish to match her vintage Valentino red dress, but we think her simple updo really helped pull it off. Sandra Bullock also rocked the red-lipstick-red-dress combination in her scarlet Vera Wang gown, but really, when does Bullock ever look bad?
We did also spot a lot of crazy up-dos that we would not recommend repeating. As fabulous as the nominee Helena Bonham is on camera, her wild hair reminded us a little too much of her role as the evil Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter. Less offensive big hair was seen on Sharon Stone, who sported a five inch bouffant, and Reese Witherspoon, who decided to bring back a 60s-style ponytail. Truthfully, those two weren’t our favorites either.
Lastly, we have to give a shout out to the star of the night, Natalie Portman. Besides winning best actress for her role in Black Swan, she won us over with her gentle, mama-to-be red carpet look. Portman kept it simple in purple, really focusing on her wavy hair and fun accessories. We loved the rosy pink blush she applied just below her cheekbones, the pink and purple shadows she had from her lids all the way to her brow bone and her soft pink pout. The warming pregnant glow probably didn’t hurt either!
Images: WENN
