Keeping up with all the beauty trends that flood the runways and social media can feel like a Sisyphean task—the world of beauty often moves at breakneck speed. However, the ELLE.com beauty team’s eagle eyes spotted a couple of beauty trends that you can expect to see throughout the rest of 2024. The hair, makeup, skin, and nail trends of the year offer up fresh takes on looks we’ve loved before, like balletcore (bows are everywhere) and the TikTok-viral mob wife aesthetic (hello, Sopranos!), making them feel new and exciting again.
With the help of various trusted makeup, hair, and nail experts, we’ve curated a list of our top six beauty trends in 2024. Ahead, find out which trends you’ll see on your Instagram and TikTok feeds and out in the wild, and the carefully chosen products you can shop for to practice them yourself.
Hair Wear
Balletcore exploded over the last year on the runways (remember Christian Siriano’s corset braid?) and on red carpets (like Elle Fanning’s sleek bun at the 2024 Golden Globes). Plus, with all the TikTok -core obsessives loving the coquette aesthetic on Instagram, it’s no surprise that hair accessories, like hair bows, ribbons, clips, and ties, will continue to be all the rage. “The bow accessories we saw in 2023 will only be amplified in the coming year with more headbands, clips, and playful feminine hair adornments,” says Justine Marjan, a celebrity hairstylist based in Los Angeles. Whether playing a starring role in a playful bun, high ponytail, or ultra-chic half-up half-down hairstyle like at Chanel’s spring/summer 2024 haute couture show, hair ornaments aren’t going anywhere.
Giambattista Valli
Christian Siriano
Giambattista Valli
Christian Dior
Oil Slick
The uber-popular clean girl aesthetic kickstarted a resurgence of slicked-back hairstyles, pared down “quiet luxury” looks, and minimalist nail styles. Sarah Tanno, celebrity makeup artist and the global artistry director of Haus Labs, foresees the hair trend influencing our makeup looks, too. “I see the face mimicking this with elevated natural glowing skin and oil-slicked lips that are high shine,” Tanno says. She recommends starting with a healthy-looking base and adding the gloss on top. “The great thing about the trend is that it’s easy to create and is versatile. I see it being worn alone and contoured underneath the lip oil for added dimension,” she adds. And recently, Pat McGrath worked the internet into a frenzy when she transformed models at Maison Margiela’s couture show into porcelain dolls with impossibly glossy skin and lips.
Ashi Studio
Maison Margiela
Short and Sweet
Julie Kandalec, a celebrity manicurist and educator in New York City, notes that she’s been seeing “less ultra-long and dramatic nails and more medium-length nails in a classic almond and short that [stops] just at the fingertip.” She crafted one of the much shorter nail looks seen at haute couture fashion week spring/summer 2024 herself; the models at Christian Siriano’s show walked the runway with short chrome nails featuring pink Essie polishes. “Enhancements like structured manicures, gel polish, and acrygel are still in—just on a more active length. This is because we are working digitally more and more, and it’s just faster to type,” she explains. It’s a style fit for busybodies and clean makeup devotees looking to enhance their look without doing too much.
Zimmermann
Christian Siriano
Lived-In Glamor
In case you missed it, ‘90s grunge is back, baby! With the mob wife aesthetic (à la Carmela Soprano) currently making its rounds on TikTok, it’s a no-brainer that glamorous, smokey looks are taking over, says Tanno. “It’s the on-the-go glam that looks a little glam but lived in. Think smokey liners and lined and glossed lips with fresh skin. The skin should be sculpted but simple,” she explains. All that’s missing is a plush fur coat and you’ve mastered the micro trend.
TLC for the Hands
Skin care has always focused primarily on the face, but signs of aging pop up other places, too. Hand care—think skin-loving ingredients in hand creams and balms—is on the rise.“As teens take over Sephora with their skincare regimen, I predict that we will see an uptick in people caring for the skin on their hands as well. Extending far beyond just cuticle care, this goes to wearing skincare on the hands as well,” Kandalec says. Our obsession with serums, moisturizers, and oils shows no signs of letting up, and parts of our body beyond our faces are getting a taste of that extra special treatment. “Using facial skincare on your hands and loading up on SPF will be talked about more, as the hands are a dead giveaway for someone’s real age,” Kandalec adds.
Eudon Choi
Eudon Choi
Eudon Choi
Meet the Experts
Justine Marjan is a celebrity hairstylist based in Los Angeles.
Sarah Tanno is a celebrity makeup artist and the global artistry director of Haus Labs.
Julie Kandalec is a celebrity manicurist and educator in New York City.
Carol is the Associate E-Commerce Writer at ELLE.com, where she covers all things beauty. Before joining ELLE.com, she was an editor at Food Network Magazine and HGTV Magazine. She’s always on the hunt for the perfect lipstick and watches the same few comfort sitcoms (Frasier, Cheers, Seinfeld, New Girl, etc.) over and over again.