Grammy night is the annual showcase for the makeup artists working at the highest end of red carpet beauty. The 2013 ceremony’s beauty trends, summarized.
Skin: a return to glow
The mattified, contoured red carpet skin of the past few years has given way to luminous, less-engineered finishes. Less powder, more highlighter. The skin reads like skin.
Eyes: definition over color
The dominant eye look was a precision liner with neutral shadow, not a heavy color story. The new sophisticated reads as restraint.
Lips: bold or bare
The middle-ground pinks of past years were absent. Either a strong red, a deep berry, or a polished nude. The middle was missing.
Hair: texture, not perfection
The blown-out perfection of the late-2000s gave way to intentional texture — waves with grit, ponytails with pieces falling, updos with intentional dishevelment.
The takeaway: imperfection, executed with intention, is the new red carpet polish.