8 Autumn/Winter 2025 Beauty Trends That Are Guaranteed to Infiltrate Our Routines Next Season

As a beauty director, thinking about autumn/winter 2025 beauty trends during fashion month in February never feels quite right. Unlike my fashion colleagues, who are always thinking at least one season ahead, the ever-changing nature of beauty trends requires being eternally present in the here and now. The trickle-down nature of fashion trends is set in stone from runway to wardrobe, but beauty is different. We beauty consumers find inspiration in our everyday lives. Beauty trends haven't fit into cookie-cutter seasons for a long, long time.

And it's for this reason that, around six years ago, I stopped paying so much attention to what runway beauty was telling me. In fact, I stopped writing fashion-led trend reports entirely. Instead, my seasonal trend reporting began focusing entirely on cultural zeitgeist and social media. But then, last year, something shifted. Social media beauty trends became almost impossible to keep up with. New hair trends, nail trends and makeup trends started springing up every day, and as anyone who knows anything about trend forecasting will tell you, this beauty bubble—being fuelled with short-lived microtrends at an aggressive rate—was always destined to burst.

And burst it has. Whilst I'm the first person to throw my hands up and say I revel in the joy of experimenting with seasonal nail looks and am currently whiling away hours every week scrolling through summer hair trends I will, inevitably, never adopt, the impact of these flash-in-the-pan beauty trends is playing an increasingly less important role in our everyday lives.

So, back in February, as the beauty world started showing evident signs of trend fatigue, I took a long, hard look at the state of our routines. Whilst I believe that there is no such thing as too much beauty inspiration (which is why we will always deliver every emerging beauty trend we spot, straight to your screens), I do also believe that we've lost sight of the beauty trends that really have an impact on our everyday—the trends that have, historically, come from the runways. So, I, along with the rest of the Who What Wear UK beauty team, dusted off my reporter pad and hit every fashion month backstage area my schedule would allow. From London and Paris to New York and Milan, we collected every detail of the autumn/winter 2025 beauty looks to know.

And now, after months of digesting it all, I have been able to pinpoint the eight A/W 25 beauty trends that are pretty much guaranteed to impact our day-to-day beauty routines throughout the upcoming season. Forget frivolities; these trends are wide-ranging and offer the sort of timeless appeal I know so many of us are craving right now.

So without any further ado, behold: the only autumn/winter 2025 beauty trends you really need to know about for the season ahead.

8 Autumn/Winter Beauty Trends Set to Dominate

1. Satin Sheen

It would be irresponsible of me to write that glow is in for A/W 25. We know glow is in. Glow is always in. But for the upcoming season, our glowing skin wants are set to shift slightly. Our complexion desires are sure to become less about the (frankly impossible to get right) dolphin skin shines of recent seasons, and instead about a soft, satin-like luminosity.

At Balmain, we saw skin that possesses a candle-lit sort of glow—a complexion that no doubt sports a unifying base layer of foundation or skin tint, but still does not diminish the skin's natural depth. At Emilia Wickstead, faces were prepped with Eve Lom facial massage, complete with rich moisturisers and facial oils, before light layers of makeup were applied over top.

It was, however, in my opinion, the Christian Dior beauty look that really put satin skin on the map. Peter Philips, creative and image director for Dior Makeup made luminous skin the crux of the whole vibe. "We went for a pure, but strong look. We wanted to glorify each model's individuality. Luminous skin was the starting point, without any highlighters or contours. It was easily achieved with Dior Forever Skin Perfect foundation stick," he told me.

And whilst the satin look does tend to be void of contour and blusher, at Simkhai, a light veil of creamy, satiny rouge was applied to the high points of the cheeks for a still-natural look.

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2. Laissez-Faire Hair

Don't get it twisted; this trend is not as basic as embracing your natural texture—it's so much more. Across runways far and wide, we saw a dramatic shift towards imperfect hair. I'm talking flyaways, frizz, irregular curl patterns and dishevelled lengths. At Jil Sander, twisted buns were sculpted and glossy, by half-fallen, with teased-out strands on top. Prada put on one of the most evident displays of this trend, sending models down the runway with notably teased out, imperfect lengths of varying degrees, all with natural hair types coming into their own.

A look that has lived rent-free in my head since first laying eyes on it back in February is Coach's hair tuck. Reminiscent of days spent dodging rain on the pavements of New York City, hair was tucked into jacket collars in an undeniably chic display.

And proving that this trend is beautifully versatile. Anna Cofone, global creative advocate for Authentic Beauty Concept, created a sculptural masterpiece of total imperfection at SS Daley. "In line with Stephen’s vision, we explored the interplay of masculinity and femininity in both the men's and women's hairstyles. The looks feature beautifully crafted shapes that emphasise movement and volume; textural, ethereal yet controlled. For the women's styles, we created structured shapes with rich texture, embodying both fragility and strength. Hair is swept back off the face for a contained, powerful look, whilst more feminine variations introduce ethereal moments by teasing out the hair," she explains.

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3. Winging It

I have a love-hate relationship with graphic eyeliner on the runways. Is it always fun and beautiful to look at? Sure. But are any of us truly re-creating the looks at home? Not always. For A/W 25, however, the eyeliner moment wasn't about show-stopping graphic structures, but instead it proved a beautiful ode to the wing in all of its wonderful forms. Ganni played artistically with pastel threads in a look I'm pretty certain many of us won't adopt, but its impact speaks volumes. Brushed-out angles were played with at Giorgio Armani, and reversed wings were debuted at Dior, with a smidge of black khôl added to the inner corners only.

The most showstopping display of winged liner was no doubt at Chanel, where heavily winged eyes looked smokey and retro from a distance, but when looking up close, you can spot that the entire look was created to mimic a bold, yet soft, feathered fake lash.

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4. Outdoorsy Skin

I'll admit that the aforementioned satin skin trend isn't one that is easy to achieve without professional assistance. Skin texture, blemishes and hyperpigmentation will inevitably always get in the way of the seemingly perfect satin finishes that get sent down the runways (after many hours of creation, might I add). This skin trend, however, is one I believe we can all get on board with.

Whilst the summer months see us slapping on bronzers to achieve a beachy, sun-kissed look, A/W 25 will champion complexions that look as though they have just come in from a long country walk in the cold. The outdoorsy skin of the upcoming season features a distinctive sheen (as seen at Brandon Maxwell and Etro), but also a hearty flush on the cheeks (Missoni) and lips (Roksanda). Instead of carefully positioned cream blushers, we're set to go heavy with stains and tints to achieve this look.

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5. Pre-Raphaelite Waves

"A little touch of Renaissance romance," is how hair stylist Sam McKnight referred to the hair look at Annie's Ibiza when we quizzed him about it backstage. Whilst some looks showcased chunky braids in a half-up-half-down style, some models walked with flowing, Pre-Raphaelite lengths that looked as though they had just removed their braids after a long night's sleep. "There's an element of youthful romance, but still a hard edge to the romance that isn't too fluffy. They're not fairy girls. Annie always has a touch of romance in her, which is probably the Ibiza thing," he added.

And it wasn't just Annie's Ibiza that showcased the beauty of these flowing, water-like waves; we saw similar joy with Chloé's ghost waves and at Max Mara, whilst Chet Lo experimented with statement crimping for a modern twist.

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6. Frosted Finishes

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think nude makeup might be making way for grey tones next season. Whilst some might see grey, frosted tones and immediately think of Y2K microtrends, I can assure you this 2025 adaptation is remarkably elegant and wearable. The most beautiful display at London Fashion Week saw Richard Quinn's models float through snowy scenes, complete with icy, frosted makeup.

"It’s almost a soft '60s vibe, referencing Jean Shrimpton, Julie Christie and Diana Ross in Mahogany. A whisper of contour, a sort of white pearl on all skin tones, and lots of mascara with an iridescent high cheekbone," revealed Terry Barber, the man behind the look and global creative director of artistry at MAC Cosmetics. And whilst it was the icy eyes at Richard Quinn that really put this trend on the map, Toga's grey lids, Brandon Maxwell's icy highlight and Giambattista Valli white liner also had their moments.

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7. Slicked Accents

I have seen this trend take on so many different forms over the years, whether it be wet-look hair or petrol hair. But for A/W 25, the texture isn't nearly as important as the direction. Whatever you want to call this trend, so long as the hair is slicked in some way, you're an adopter.

For example, at Lactose, lengths remained glossy and fluffy at the ends, whilst boyish middle partings were carefully slicked to the face without a hint of crunchy stiffness. At Acne Studios, strands were pulled back from the face and left free-flowing at the end, while Sportmax showcased a no doubt sportier look where a single hair did not fall out of place.

The way I'm most likely to wear this trend? In a ponytail à la Roksanda. "Drawing inspiration from sculptor Phyllida Barlow, the hair for the show was designed with a mix of textures to reflect both control and graphic structure whilst also embracing fragility and sensibility," explains Cofone.

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8. Full Glam

You can debate me if you like, but I'll win: no-makeup-makeup has been the single most dominating beauty trend of the past decade. And while there will always be a place for minimal makeup looks, next season we are also set to see a revival of all-out glam when it comes to evening soirées.

Gilded hues graced lids at both Bibhu Mohapatra and Tia Adeola, teamed with razor-sharp liquid liner, while the smokey eye came to remind us all of its beauty at Blumarine. The most glam runway of them all, of course, was Harris Reed, where Sofia Tilbury, global artistry director at Charlotte Tilbury created a full-coverage look that still glowed, teamed with impossible-to-ignore statement lashes. "Harris's collection is unapologetic and designed to make noise with its architectural structures, so we wanted the beauty look to reflect this. The makeup look is bold and statement-making, drawing inspiration from the collection's themes of rebellion, but we also created a nuanced contrast with a soft, fresh, glowing complexion and pared-back nude lips, mimicking a sense of vulnerability and inversion," she says.

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