NYFW may be over, but the beauty lives on. The runway is a perfect opportunity to get ideas to update or switch up your makeup look. For FW 2023, Jason Wu’s runway beauty consisted of sheer skin, a shimmery smokey eye, and high gloss lips. “This look reflects this season’s outfits by combining sexy touches with a bit of edge,” shares Diane Kendal, Lead Makeup Artist for Jason Wu Beauty. The eyes have it, literally with this look—“Eyes are the punctuation of these looks with beautiful smoky eyes that give a nod to cinema,” explains Kendal.
Believe it or not, this runway-ready look is quite easy to attain on your own. I had the pleasure of having this makeup look replicated on my face (prior to the Jason Wu show at that) by Flynn, founder and CEO of Makeup by Flynn. You can check out the experience on ELLE’s TikTok.
Ahead, discover how to get (and shop) this high fashion beauty look at an affordable price (thank you Jason Wu beauty!) in 7 easy steps.
Step 1
Digital Beauty Director Danielle James before makeup application.
Start with clean skin. Flynn prepped and primed my eyelids and skin with Jason Wu Beauty Magic Spell Potion.
She explained, “This helps just to create a flawless base for the makeup.” If you are going for a glossy eye palette, you’ll want to prime the eyelids—this is a very important step to help your eyeshadow last all day long.
Step 2
Next, she used the Jason Wu Flora 25 Eyeshadow Earth Angel Palette to build a neutral base of eyeshadow. The Flora palette is a beautiful mix of neutral brown, pink, and gold matte and shimmery shadows that will help you create both daytime and nighttime looks. I love eyeshadow and I’ve started traveling with this palette, which has cut down on the beauty products in my carry-on (yes, I’ve been known to carry 5 different palettes on a long weekend trip). My favorite part is that I find this formula creates minimal fallout, so you barely have to clean up under your eyes after applying.
Step 3
Digital Beauty Director Danielle James wearing Jason Wu Beauty.
“This was one of my favorite parts of this incredibly beautiful look,” states Flynn, before she added gold eyeshadow from the Earth Angel Palette into the inner corner of my eye. “It really just accentuates your eyes and gives you that extra pop. It’s such a beautiful gold,” Flynn shares. I felt that it opened up my eyes and showed off its almond shape.
Flynn used the Kitty Dual Liner to tightline my eyes and then smoke them out a bit for a more dramatic effect. I love that this is both a liquid felt liner and an eyeliner pencil. This 2-in-1 is perfect for travel and to minimize the number of products you need (if your beauty cabinet is filled to the brim like mine).
She finished off the eye using the Jason Wu Hot Fluff Mascara. The formula didn’t clump or cake on my curly lashes and lasted all day. I wish it was a bit more dramatic looking but it’s the perfect mascara for an everyday look.
Step 4
One thing I personally loved about this look is that it shows off your skin. Wu’s Tinted Moisturizer Meets CC Cream was a perfect match for my skin tone and literally melted into my skin. It looked like my skin, but better—and didn’t seem like I was wearing makeup. “I can see skin without it feeling too cakey or heavy, it’s the perfect finish,” states Flynn before adding, “It just creates that beautiful, flawless, dewy, golden, hydrated, natural finish that we all know and love.”
Step 5
This looks was all about being dewy, glowy, hydrated, and not powdery. To achieve this, Flynn took the Jason Wu Beauty Sunlight Bronzer palette to highlight and contour. “Only define the cheekbones, a little bit on the cheekbones and a little around the face to bring out that light and contour,” instructs Flynn.
Step 6
“The brow pencils give such a wonderful definition,” raves Flynn. She used the Groomed by Jason Wu in shade medium for my brows.
Step 7
To finish off the look Flynn used Jason Wu Lip Oil in Shade Number 3. She explains, “It’s the perfect berry. It gives you a nice lip-plumping, soft, elegant pout without feeling sticky or glossy.” I agree. The formula feels so good on my lips. I also have it in clear and use it all the time.
Beauty Director
Danielle James is the Digital Beauty Director of ELLE.com. Previously, she was the Fashion and Beauty Director of HelloBeautiful.com and MadameNoire.com. She’s bylined for The Cut, InStyle, Allure, Business of Fashion, Nylon, Essence, Good Housekeeping, The Grio, and Huffington Post. Danielle enjoys sailing, thrifting, Japanese whiskey, Naomi Campbell’s runway walk, and Rihanna in the comment section.