Our 2025 Beauty Trend Predictions Came True at Australian Fashion Week

From wine-stained lips to skincare-as-makeup, here are the top trends beauty editor Ashleigh Cometti spotted at AFW.

Sydney’s inner-city suburbs were bursting with energy last week as hundreds of editors, stylists, fashion buyers and content creators descended upon Gadigal land for Australian Fashion Week.

Now in its 29th year, Australian Fashion Week draws crowds from across the globe for a reason: it highlights the creative force of both icons and up-and-comers; an eclectic celebration of the many fashion voices present across the nation.

While most eyes were firmly fixed on the flurry of ensembles that levitated down runways, the hair and makeup looks were equally captivating. Especially considering many of the looks that surfaced were ones we predicted would be welcomed into the zeitgeist in 2025.

The four-day affair was presented by Shark Beauty, with many of its hair experts directing shows using hot styling tools from its suite of innovative beauty tech.

“At Fashion Week, hair is a key element of the creative vision,” explains Shark Beauty’s hair director Madison Voloshin.

“With Shark Beauty’s powerful hair styling tools, we are able to meet the fast-paced demands of backstage, while delivering polished, show-ready looks with staying power.”

From the fluid romanticism of mermaid waves to the eternal elegance of a wine-stained lip, here’s every worthy beauty look that made an indelible mark at this year’s Australian Fashion Week.

Skincare as makeup at Beare Park

At Beare Park, the makeup brief was clear: a completely natural, skincare-based beauty look for its Pre-Fall ‘25 show.

The Beare Park runway proved the perfect avenue for New Zealand beauty brand Emma Lewisham to springboard the global launch of its latest innovation – the new Sunceutical SPF50 Mineral Glow Serum.

It’s the third SPF release from the brand in the last six months, following the launch of its reimagined facial sunscreen in December 2024 and a formulation for body in early 2025.

While it’s not yet available to the public (it launches across Australasia on May 27), the bronze-tinted serum formed the foundation of the Beare Park beauty look, which was directed by makeup artist and skincare therapist Isabella Schmid.

The partnership felt like a natural synergy between the two brands, brand founder Emma Lewisham explained in an exclusive interview with Viva ahead of the show on Tuesday evening.

“We started our brands around the same time, it [the partnership] really came from our personal connection. The standard, quality, precision, craftsmanship... there’s a real alignment in how we each create our products,” Emma said.

“It’s our first hybrid in the cosmetic realm. It has 60% skincare and makeup in one. It’s an all-in-one for customers who want to elevate their everyday skin.”

“It’s more of an illuminator than a bronzer, which works across all skin tones because it’s not a deep pigment,” Emma says.

Isabella worked with the complete Emma Lewisham range to inform the skin-focused beauty look, with the new Mineral Glow Serum at the heart. Applied in lieu of foundation, Isabella aimed to highlight each model’s individual beauty.

Skin was prepped with a bespoke Emma Lewisham facial ritual, beginning with the Illuminating Oil Cleanser and Illuminating Exfoliant, followed by the Supernatural Face Oil, Skin Reset Eye Creme, Supernatural Overnight Mask and a layer of the Mineral Glow Serum to finish.

Wine-stained lips at Mariam Saddiq

We called it back in January – berries and cherries were predicted to be the next in a long line of food-based makeup trends, and we were right.

Shades of deep berry burgundy or punchy bright cherry reminiscent of your favourite drop of red continue their reign on nails, lips and cheeks, as seen on the runway at couture designer Mariam Saddiq’s 10th anniversary show on Thursday evening.

Make Up For Ever makeup director Karyssa Leigh was the maestro behind the makeup look, with models sporting wine-stained lips.

They stepped out with myriad takes on the trend, some with matte lips, some highly glossed, and others with an ombre effect that coupled a richer liner with a lighter variation through the centre.

The runway proved a perfect setting to launch yet another beauty newbie – this time in the form of Make Up For Ever’s new HD Skin Perfecting Powder, said to help mattify and blur the skin.

Bold, burgundy lips were paired with a wholly quixotic take on a traditional French roll created by Shark Beauty hair director Madison Voloshin.

The vibe was old money (another Viva prediction) but with a sculptural twist – a sleek, glossy base created using the Shark Beauty SpeedStyle and elevated by a structured roll, which juts out at a dramatic angle as models turn.

“In collaboration with Shark Beauty, the hair direction for Mariam Seddiq’s 10th anniversary show reflects the collection’s sculptural evolution – bold yet refined, with shapes that echo her architectural tailoring and fluid, reimagined silhouettes,” Madison says.

Ethereal radiance at Aje

At Aje’s Resort 26 Impression show, held inside the newly built Pier Pavillion at Barangaroo, lived-in beauty reigned.

Hair was modelled off French cool girl chic, with just the right of volume and control without looking overdone, said Shark Beauty hair director Madison Voloshin.

“The nonchalance of the hair gave effortless cool, adding volume, enhancing natural texture, and keeping the hair light and full of personality.

“The energy of the hair looks we created is all about being effortlessly done and lived-in, yet still polished. It’s luxurious but cool – nothing too overworked.”

To create the look, Madison worked with the Shark Beauty FlexStyle auto wrap attachment and diffuser to enhance the models’ natural hair texture.

For makeup, Make Up For Ever makeup director Karyssa Leigh created a skin-like, pared-back look using the new Make Up For Ever Super Boost Skin Tint to lend a hydrated glow to skin.

Next, the team worked with the HD Skin Cream Palette for soft sculpting and to use as blush. Finally, the HD Skin Perfecting Powder was dusted over models’ T-Zones to reduce shine for a blurred, flawless finish.

Ultra low-slung ponytails at Nagnata x Saben

Tuesday afternoon at Nagnata’s Return To Earth show, we clocked two.

The first? Viva cover star Manahou Mackay. And the second? New Zealand accessory label Saben, which partnered with Nagnata to complement almost every look in the brand’s capsule collection.

It proved a milestone moment for the brand, which was founded by Roanne Jacobsen in 2002, and the partnership showcased both brands’ shared commitment to mindful luxury and conscious craftsmanship.

While Saben’s full collection isn’t pegged to drop until June, selected styles including the Knox and June are available to shop now.

Shark Beauty’s co-director of hair Chris Hunter directed hair for the show, with low-slung ponytails visible on models with longer hair or sleek, wet-look styles using Kerasilk products for those with bobs or cropped cuts.

Low-slung ponytails are a perennial favourite due to their air of sophistication and versatility, and here they were ultra-sleek to reflect the silhouettes visible down the runway. The style also helped to elongate each model’s faces and soften features.

‘Honey’ skin at Albus Lumen

You’ve heard of glass skin, but how about “honey” skin?

It’s the latest in a string of skin-centric beauty trends, a term borrowed from K-Beauty to describe skin that appears hydrated, dewy and deeply plump with nourishment.

The honey skin trend was visible at Albus Lumen’s Resort 26 show, by way of collaboration with New Zealand active skincare brand Raaie to develop a radiance-bestowing ritual to prep models’ skin for the runway.

“Albus Lumen embodies effortless, understated luxury, making this partnership feel like a seamless alignment for us,” says Raaie founder Katey Mandy. “Their aesthetic mirrors our approach to skincare – natural, radiant and refined.”

Under the guidance of makeup director Filomena Natoli, the glow-giving ritual was the perfect first step to ensure skin was soft, warm and radiant ahead of the makeup steps to follow.

“We’ve designed a targeted skincare ritual for the Albus Lumen show that preps the skin with our hero products, ensuring every model steps on to the runway with that signature ‘honey skin’ glow,” says Katey.

“Our goal is to create skin that looks like it’s been bathed in golden light; plump, dewy, and deeply nourished.”

Makeup was velvet matte, with a glossy lip and lived-in liner, that appeared smudged and cracked – tight-lined around models’ eyes.

Sleek blowouts at Carla Zampatti

Voluminous, 90s-coded hair a la Cindy Crawford was yet another of our 2025 trend predictions, one that was spotted at Carla Zampatti, who opened Australian Fashion Week with her Ubiquity show at the Upper Promenade in Circular Quay.

Shark Beauty director Madison Voloshi drew inspiration from the designer herself – someone he recalls has “beautiful hair with a lot of strength”.

“I once did her hair, which was an amazing experience,” he says.

As such, Madison formed a strong yet feminine hair look with a side part and soft wave, without losing the hair’s structure and body.

Beauty tools included a medium-hold texturising and volumising mousse and the Shark Beauty FlexStyle Air Styling & Drying System for hair, which Madison says “floats while you walk”, paired with the Shark SpeedStyle RapidGloss Finisher & High Velocity Dryer, using a rolling technique with a round brush to lend smoothness to the roots.

Modern mermaid waves at Bianca Spender

Chris Hunter was at the helm for hair once more at Bianca Spender, which transformed Sydney’s St Barnabas Church into a runway to highlight her Summer 2025 Deliquesce collection.

The stylist was motivated by Bianca’s penchant for ocean swimming when dreaming up the hair direction for the show, explaining how each look is designed to emulate the moment someone steps out of the water.

“It’s wet but not slick – there’s separation, softness, and a sense of calm that feels beautifully real. It’s the perfect hybrid of ‘done’ and ‘undone’ with malleability and a dewy texture,” Chris says.

“This collection is inspired by that feeling of plunging into water: the sense of weightlessness, the constant motion, the way everything moves around you,” designer Bianca Spender adds.

“I’ve always been drawn to fluidity and movement and that idea shaped everything from the loops and twists in the fabric to the silhouettes themselves. It all started in that underwater world, and I wanted each hair look in my show to feel like a different wave – each girl moving through it in her own way.”

To achieve this fresh-from-the-beach look, Chris dampened hair with water and used a thickening spray with medium hold to slick hair back into its natural direction.

A blast of air from the Shark SpeedStyle using the diffuser attachment helped set hair in place, with a spritz of dry wax spray over the top to add shine and flexibility.

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