Prada Beauty Had Space Buns and Beige Makeup

“Nothing is by chance,” said Lynsey Alexander, Prada Global Creative Director. Choice drives makeup and beauty, and at Prada’s Fall 2024 show, a lot of decisions went into the deceptively simple makeup look. During the brand’s initial tests, a lot of words were thrown out as inspiration: “30s, 40s, 60s, it was late 19th century, they said cyber aliens, space aliens, but modern. Hard, punky, graphic,” describes Alexander.

Hairstylist Guido Palau created a hardened, glossy, slick modern version of pin curls for the show, featuring hardened curlicues that looked almost Medusa-like, with large swirls pinned around the ears and in the back of the head—Princess Leia buns done the Prada way. With the strong hair look, Alexander was challenged to create a juxtaposing makeup look that would be “completely ageless,” and decided upon a creamy nude and beige-enhanced design. Without the obvious contouring that defined the 2010s, and the super dewy skin that’s been on-trend for this current decade, this no-makeup-makeup look purposefully didn’t reference any particular time period or era.

The key color for the show was from the brand’s newly launched makeup line, with Prada Monochrome Soft Matte Lipstick in P159 (not yet available), a beige-y pink. Alexander estimated that about 80 percent of the models got this patted onto their lips. Some models also received a soft diffusion of it across the cheeks, on top of Prada Reveal Skin Optimizing Foundation and Prada Augmented Skin The Serum. There was no eyeliner or mascara, but the brows got particular care. Because the hair part was severe, at almost right angles to the forehead, Alexander chose a lighter look for the brows, opting to lighten (but not completely bleach) them ever-so-slightly, to create a “summer, highlighted, soft eyebrow,” using the brand’s foundation.

Alexander said the best part of working with Mrs. Prada is “the shock element. You can think something is going in a direction and it turns upside down. She is afraid of nothing; anything is possible. It’s liberating and scary. It could be anything. It’s very exciting,”—even if it’s no-makeup-makeup.