Midlife Beauty at the Met
Put a pin in these red carpet hair and makeup looks from Monday night, for real-life reference.
Since the (not exactly) red carpet was rolled out on Monday night, the stars have been sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of their Met Gala makeovers on social media.
Likewise, their makeup artists and hair stylists have been posting their own videos, and shouting out the products used.
Starting with Meg.
Because, Meg Ryan.
How gorgeous was her choppy, layered look? Meg’s hair was the handiwork of her long-time Hollywood hair stylist, Sally Hershberger, who described the result as “undone boho”.
It’s a great example of a body-boosting style with texture - so, perfect for midlife hair that’s suddenly feeling a little less than full - and face-framing layers. You can imagine how a between-washes zhuzh with root lift spray, and tonging individual pieces, would make Meg’s do seem, well, doable in real life.
Sally used her own styling products on the night (right now, only available in the U.S. from what I can glean).
Going to great lengths
From Meg’s jaw-skimming layers to Sarah Jessica Parker’s fairytale lengths, her hair stylist Serge Norman shared this video to Instagram yesterday.
Makeup artist Elaine Offers Woulard did SJP’s makeup, using Charlotte Tilbury products. Among those she reached for were the Hollywood Flawless Filter (£39) in shade 2.5, “as a glowy primer,” and the Lip Cheat in Iconic Nude and Pillow Talk Collagen Lip Bath, both of which, handily, come in the mini Glossy Lip Duo set (£20), an online exclusive.
Other takeaways: the power of sparkle, from the hair accessories, to SJP’s rings and metallic mani (courtesy of Nails Inc. Check out Nails Inc.’s new Silver Served Mirror Chrome Nail Polish.)
Midlife makeup tricks
The J.Glow was in full force on Monday night (bring on the shimmering body oil), but Jennifer Lopez’s look, created by Scott Barnes, was also testimony to the power of a strong, well-defined brow (in case you missed it, on Monday I linked to a fab eyebrow makeup hack, from makeup artist Caroline Barnes).
To create Nicole Kidman’s glowing look on Monday evening, makeup artist Gucci Westman used products from her Westman Atelier range, including the serum-based Vital Skincare Complexion Drops.
See Gucci wielding her brushes, and a full breakdown of the products she used on Nicole, below.
Beachy waves
My personal favourite hair looks on the night were the naturally textured and wavy styles, like Meg’s, and Jessica Biel’s beachy waves. And I love the sun-kissed, balayage-style colour.
Trick of the lights
Speaking of colour, celebrity colourist Jacob Schwartz used Schwarzkopf Professional to create Brie Larson’s “Spun Gold” look.
The soft, incredibly natural-looking effect involves placing “micro-highlights” all throughout the hair, to create a balance of light and dark that enlivens the hair. The result is neither streaky or block-y - I love it.
A BIG welcome to all the new subscribers who’ve joined us this week — I’m so happy you’re here!
And thank you to all those who have so kindly recommended or shared The Midlife Beauty Edit, in some way.
See you on Friday! Hitting the Like ❤️ button at the foot of this post makes Substack more likely to spread the word, through its Explore and Search functions. Thank you so very much.
I wasn't really wowed by the overall vibes at this year's MET, but the midlife crowd totally outshone the younger ones as a collective. Maybe it's all that seasoned glam? I absolutely LOVED Sarah Jessica Parker's hair—her whole ensemble screamed classic Carrie from SATC. JLo was stunning as always, but for her debut as a host, I was hoping she'd bring something totally unique. Her dress was still a knockout, though. Nicole Kidman looked so fresh and vibrant! She should definitely wear her hair like that more often. Jessica Biel, meanwhile, seriously looks like she’s still in her late 20s or early 30s—I had to double-check her age on Google! They all just looked amazing and overall looked better than the younger set. My specific faves, though, were Zendaya, Elle Fanning and Gigi Hadid. They were gorgeous!
Okay: I'm loving the Meg Ryan style! Maybe I can pull that off? I go to the stylist on Friday! Also, have you done an Edit on how to create a dewy look without looking like a glazed donut/16 y/o? If you have, will you direct me? If you haven't, maybe a future Edit topic? LOVE you and LOVE your work here!