Blurred lips reign supreme: hadid’s silver screen revival signals next season’s makeup domination

The 2026 Breakthrough Prize ceremony wasn’t just about scientific accolades; it was a battlefield for Beauty trends, and Gigi Hadid decisively claimed victory with a strikingly vintage-inspired look centered around the ‘blurred lip’ – a silhouette poised to become the defining aesthetic of the coming year.

A return to the siren’s silhouette

Hadid, clad in a crystalline David Koma gown, commanded attention with a dramatic, elongated silhouette and a purposefully muted, almost ethereal makeup palette. Patrick Ta’s artistry leaned heavily into the era of Marlene Dietrich, achieving a subtle, luxurious depth with a lip shade four to five tones darker than Hadid’s natural pigment. Ta’s meticulous approach – starting with a precise lip liner mirroring the lip’s underlying tone and adjusting depth based on the desired finish – underscores a shift away from overtly glossy statements towards a more sophisticated, almost shadowy effect.

Beyond the surface: texture and technique

But the blurred lip isn’t just about color; it’s about the feeling it evokes. Giannetos’ masterful hair styling – painstakingly sculpted curls, achieved through a multi-stage process of setting and pinning – amplified the vintage allure, perfectly complementing Hadid’s sculpted, voluminous look. The key, he revealed, was a deliberate investment in preparation: “I set the hair in tiny curls and clipped them till they cooled down,” Giannetos explained, “Then, with a big paddle brush, I brushed through the hair and backcombed all the hair solid, for a more vintage effect.”

A collective statement

The trend isn’t confined to Hadid. Celebrities like Sarah Pidgeon, Mia Goth, Charli xcx, and even Amal Clooney have embraced the diffused lip, largely thanks to the pioneering work of makeup artist Nina Park. It's a testament to the enduring appeal of a polished, almost deliberately imperfect aesthetic – one that resonates with the current appetite for textural complexity and a return to the glamour of the 90s.

The formula for success

For those aiming to replicate Hadid’s signature look, the emphasis remains on establishing a strong foundation: sculpted brows, a smoky eye, and a strategically placed bronzed contour. But the defining element, the one thing that truly elevates the look, is that rich, deliberately blurred lip – a testament to the power of subtle artistry and the enduring influence of classic Beauty ideals.