Elle Women in Hollywood Awards 2015: The Best Skin, Hair and Makeup on the Red Carpet
The Elle Women in Hollywood Awards are always one of the best red carpets of the year. So many boldface names, so many great beauty looks!
Here's the hair and makeup you need to see:
Miranda Kerr
Oh, man! This photo of Miranda will surely go down as one of my favourites of 2015. How much do I love this? Let me count the ways.... Her red lipstick makes her blue eyes pop, and the blush is matchy but not too bold, and so very well blended. The mascara and subtle shadow are seriously all she needs for eye makeup. (See, I just don't buy the argument that anyone "needs" false lashes!) Her hair is groomed back on the diagonal in a low ponytail, and I appreciate that she kept the tweezers away from her brows.
Zoë Kravitz
So, there are a lot of Zoës/Zoeys/Zooeys in Hollywood, and three on this red carpet alone! (Deutch, Kravitz, Saldana...) This Zoë is absolutely breathtaking in barely there, tone-on-tone makeup with goddess-like long braids. Love! The best parts are her freckles, brushed up brows, natural lashes and lips, and subtly shaded lids with a tiny inner corner highlight.
Zoey Deutch
Zoey is killing it this week with back-to-back great beauty looks! (Here are the first two we saw this week, FYI.) With her hair in a simple updo, the focus is on her gorgeous skin, eyes and brows. Her peachy blush is superb, and I actually don't mind her lashes here, as they're not too long. The over-lining isn't bothering me either, although it could be better blended.
Shailene Woodley
Shailene has been absent from the red carpet since April's MTV Movie Awards. It's good to have her back! Her hair has grown out a lot, and I like the new blonde highlights with her dark brows; they really wake up her skin tone. I also love her fresh skin and bronzey lipstick. And her lashes are just excellent!
Dakota Johnson
No complaints about Dakota's simple beauty look, featuring a soft berry lip stain and mascara'd lashes. Her skin finish is nice and clean, with a bit of highlighting action on top of the seamless, subtle blush. I always like that her hair never feels too "done".
Dakota is wearing: Blush in Amour • Contour in Light to Medium • Mascara in Black • Brow pencil in Medium Brown • Lipstick in 109 Rouge Noir
Zoë Saldana
Zoë went with her go-to hair and makeup here: soft, centre-parted waves with dewy skin and a great red lip. I'm happy to see natural lashes on her, and actually not much eye makeup in general. However, I do feel like she could experiment a LOT more with colour. Wouldn't you love to see her in a purplish lipstick or green eyeliner? (Not at the same time, obviously.)
Salma Hayek
Salma never makes a wrong beauty move. Once again, the first thing I notice is her incredibly good (49-year-old!!) skin. The red lipstick pairs beautifully with her subtle bronzey eyeshadow, and her lashes are so perfect—I think the black in the upper waterlines helps a lot. I might like her hair better with a deep side part, but overall? Stunning.
Nina Dobrev
Sometimes, I feel like Nina's face gets overshadowed by all her hair, so it's great to see it up for a change. The big bun gives her a total ballerina vibe; well, if ballerinas wore berry lipstick. She is so pretty, I just don't get the need for the false lashes, which kinda cheapen this. And I think the edges of her eyeshadow could be a bit softer.
Alicia Vikander
This is the kind of beauty look that flatters Alicia most—not the heavy eyeshadow and half-up waves from TIFF! I like when she keeps things very clean: hair all pulled back, warm matte skin, chunky lashes and a hint of shadow. She is such a natural beauty.
Julianne Hough
There is so much illumination going on here, it's kind of blinding, huh? I will always want Julianne to wear a bit less makeup, but technically, she looks really good! Better than usual, in fact. Her hair is a bit 2012, but somehow, the cool blonde hair, pink blush, jet-black lashes and gold shadow do work.
Ashley Madekwe
Ashley always looks great—the woman has crazy-good skin! She did classic makeup here: winged black eyeliner with "your lips, only better" lipstick and some fairly decent falsies. I love how muted everything is.
Sarah Hyland
Sarah did well! This is less makeup than usual (even though it is still quite a bit). The vintage curled bob is kind of adorable, and refreshing after always seeing her with roughed-up texture. I would like to see fresher skin, but at least the contour isn't obvious, and her eyes and lips are in great balance.
Sarah is wearing: Foundation • Concealer • Contour palette • Blush in Diffused Heat • Highlighting powder in Luminous Light • Eyeshadow quad in Enchanted • False lashes • Mascara in Black • Brow pencil in Warm Brunette • Lip liner in Matte Raspberry 10C • Lipstick in Be Dior 976
Angie Harmon
I love this! Angie gets major points for creativity, especially since you don't normally see this kind of thing on fortysomethings. The swipes of copper under her eyes look graphic, but not harsh, because the colour is still pale; they're also a nod to the deeper hue of her dress. She wore this exactly right, with loose hair, clean bare skin and a soft stain on the lips. I'm so impressed.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Oooh, I think this is the best beauty look I've seen on Mary so far. I absolutely love her hair, from the rich colour to the bob length to the touchable, brushed-out waves. Total perfection. Her reverse smoky eyes are quite unique as well, along with gorgeous peach blush and lipstick. Very, very nice.
America Ferrera
America looks super-pretty in this pale pink lipstick and matching blush. So great with her warm skin! I also like the black tightlined eyes, and her middle part. She looks dressed-up, but relaxed and comfortable—which is just the way it should be.
Jaime King
Jaime sure has a lot of fun with her beauty looks. This time, it is an impeccably applied red lipstick, matte skin, strong brows and wet roots with wavy lengths. Talk about a hard-to-wear hairstyle! She actually manages to make it look good, which is an impressive feat. I do think the lashes are a bit too cray.
Bella Heathcote
Well, I'm not crazy about Bella's lashes or her dark roots... but she is just so unique-looking, it's hard not to like this. Doesn't she look like a doll come to life? I love this deep red lipstick on her, and her fluffy lob.
Carey Mulligan
Carey's lashes are so much better here than last time! Technically, this is all good, but I have to admit: I'm just not feeling the same love for her as a long-haired brunette. To me, she will always be a short blonde hair, gamine type.
Kate Winslet
Kate's black eyeliner is making it look like she is wearing cheap strip lashes. No es bueno! Yet another reason to just go with your real lashes. Otherwise, her makeup is fine. I still feel she styles herself too "mature" for the red carpet.
Emmanuelle Chriqui
Emmanuelle looks good, but her hair is letting her down. I'm not sure if the updo was meant to fake the look of short hair, but I'm really not feeling the volume at the top. With such a dark, burgundy lip, I think it would be more flattering (and youthful!) to pull it all back, tight to the head. The lashes and eyeshadow are both fab, though!
Jenna Dewan-Tatum
Normally, it's the false lashes that bother me on Jenna, but this time, it's the eyeshadow. That is a lot of eyeshadow! Maybe it could work if her skin and lips were more bare. At least her hair is all pulled back, which was the right choice. And it is pretty cool that the shadow is bringing out her striking green eyes.
Leslie Mann
Leslie did well with her makeup—she is very much flattered by keeping her skin nice and fresh, with a bold colour on the mouth. Love the fringe of lashes, as well. The way she is posing, it's hard to say whether the ponytail is too casual or not.
Joey King
It's Joey's first time on the blog... she is 16, so that accounts for her ridiculously poreless, plump skin! This look is so stylish, yet still very age-appropriate. Basically, everything is matte and then her lashes are super-defined. I like the sweep of hair across her forehead, too.
Teresa Palmer
Teresa also has very nice skin, and I like what she's doing here with the glittery eyeshadow. No false lashes, just mascara and smudgey liner all the close to the lashlines to make her baby blues pop. It works great with the rest of her face bare and matte, and her hair smoothly parted on one side.
Jenna Elfman
I can't believe Jenna is 44 now; she definitely hasn't aged. The blonde bob is her Life Cut for sure, and still looks as adorable on her. Her skin is in very good condition, and the slightly smudgy navy liner on her lower lash lines enhances her sparkly eyes. I really like this!
Liana Liberato
Liana came to our attention at this same event last year. This time, she traded the metallic wine tones for a neon coral mouth—also gorge. Her skin looks more tanned, which I'm not sure was necessary (nor such obviously filled-in brows!). Her hair is an absolutely beautiful "bronde" colour.
Judy Greer
I was just admiring Judy's hair in the summer, and now she's changed it up with bangs and a lighter blonde colour. This is even more youthful on her, and throws the focus on her bluey-green eyes.
Nikki Reed
Haven't we seen this look a million times before on Nikki? I wish she would experiment more and not rely so heavily on the (terrible) false lashes and boring nude lips. It's almost criminal that the lashes are diverting attention away from those beautiful, thick, full brows!
Darby Stanchfield
We've talked about this before, but I'll say it again: Darby's blue contacts creep me out! Yes, even non-tinted contacts can look slightly blue in their case, but would never show up in photos like this! Now I'm not sure if I believe that her hair is naturally this red, either.
Madeleine Stowe
OMG, I just looked up Madeline Stowe and she is 57 years old. Fifty-seven?! Good Lord, she looks great. Her skin could easily belong to someone 10 or even 20 years younger. I do suspect some surgical intervention, and the usual Botox, filler, etc., but overall I think her work is pretty tasteful.
Molly Sims
Oh noes, what is going on with Molly?! First it was the heavy makeup at Power of Women. But this is even more shocking! Between the burgundy eyeshadow, oxblood lipstick, giant fake lashes and brassy hair, she looks downright ghoulish. Paging Molly: new hair and makeup team needed, ASAP!
Who had your favourite (and least favourite) beauty looks on this red carpet?