Our Favourite Beauty Looks of the Met Gala 2021

After a year which saw almost every big event completely cancelled or dramatically changed, we are so excited for the Gala's triumphant return! The gala this year is the first part in a two-part exhibition celebrating American fashion through the years – this years gala is titled ‘In America: A Lexicon of Fashion’ and will be accompanied next year by ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion.’ Inspired by the social and political shifts America has seen over the recent years, curator Andrew Bolton told Vogue that “[he’s] been really impressed by American designers’ responses to the social and political climate, particularly around issues of body inclusivity and gender fluidity, and I’m just finding their work very, very self-reflective.”

In the beauty department, we saw a lot of throwbacks to the golden age of cinema and to Y2K pop icons like Aaliyah and Britney. While this year was tame in all departments, we have rounded up our favourite makeup looks of this year’s gala – and most of them are surprisingly wearable!

Amanda Gorman:

Joanna Simkin’s Statue of Liberty inspired celestial look for Amanda Gorman is out of this world. The combination of organic patterns and sparkles make this look on trend and flexible for those of us who want to give it a go!

Ben Platt, Julia Garner and Ella Emhoff are just a few of the other guests who are also on board the sparkle train – special mention to Julia Garner who managed a cat eye crafted out of rhinestones!

Barbie Ferreira:

Old school Hollywood meets new. We loved Barbie’s homages to old Hollywood with her blocked brows and classic lip shape that she combined with modern glam like blush sitting right against the eye and a pop of purple on the inner corners of her eyes.

Saweetie:

Who says the party has to stop at your makeup? We are obsessed with Saweetie’s bedazzled hair – it is a stunning combination of old school Hollywood and fun Y2K hair sparkles.

Grimes:

Wearing a mask doesn’t mean you can’t have fun! We love Grimes’s thick bold liner, and above the brow glam. Her Dune inspired look shows us that if masks are here to stay, then we can get creative with the rest of our face and re-think our old ideas about where makeup should sit.

Amandla Stenberg

Amandla’s Vernon Francois styled hair sums up what has truly made American fashion great, though has historically been ignored: black culture. Her braids are styled to look like a du-rag, and it is a bold commentary on how African hair has been forced into euro-centric styles throughout modern history.

Lupita Nyongo

Her deep blue eyeshadow provides a bit of spunk and interest in a classy and wearable way. Extending the shadow past her eyelids give the look a punk edge while still looking elegant.

Gigi Hadid

Gigi’s makeup look, crafted by Erin Parsons, is a stunning homage to THE American wedding – Priscilla and Elvis Presley. Her brown liner extending past her bottom lash line is a great hack to make your eyes look bigger and further apart.

Hunter Schaefer:

Ok, this one isn’t so wearable for day to day but we LOVE it. Sandy Ganzer created the look using only Shiseido products and combined with Evangeline AdaLioryn’s face piece and white contact lenses, Schaefer is serving up alien glam in a major way.

So, who has your favourite Met Gala beauty look this year? Has your favourite made the cut? Let us know on our socials who you thought killed their looks!