Skin with a sheen, Caesar hairstyles and more top beauty trends from Spring 2024 Men's Fashion Week runways

Over the last few weeks in London, Florence, Milan and Paris, the Spring 2024 collections showcased lighthearted clothes, perfect for hotter months. The looks at the June runways might not have been laid-back, but they fit the season. There were eclectic hair and grooming techniques resulting in slick hairstyles, and makeup that created the laissez-faire natural beauty that heat and humidity can bring out. 

These are the five makeup and hair trends that stood out on the Spring 2024 menswear runways.

Combing through the details

If a comb isn't already part of your grooming kit, it might be worth finding one you like; there's a decent chance you'll be running one through your hair in the future if the Spring 2024 menswear shows are anything to go by.

Models at Martine Rose's show in London were the first to have comb tracks visible in their slicked-back hair. About two weeks later, in Paris, models for Kim Jones's collection for Dior also took to the runway with closely spaced comb grooves running through their hair. The visible well-defined tracks gave this a different feel to the typical slicked-back wet look. 

A contrast to some wavy blown-out styles seen last season, these looks said, "Yeah, I've put lots of product in my hair and combed it meticulously — so what?"

Hair forward

If hair was slicked back in a notable number of looks, it also, in other instances, ended up on one's forehead or in one's eyes. 

At the Martine Rose show mentioned above, one model's hair was combed forward and appeared pasted to their forehead — a thinned-out take on a Caesar — and a similar look was spotted at Egonlab in Paris. Etro, in Milan, featured more traditional, but still slicked-down, Caesars and coifs with longer bangs that brought the focus to the front.

At Kiko Kostadinov, models wore bonnets and skullcaps, many with their hair sticking out the front and hiding their eyes. Junya Watanabe's dark show featured intricately and overly coiffed models, including some with hair that looked to be dripping down their face as if painted on with oil. 

As the trends cycle through the aughts, the next thing we revisit appears to be angsty hair. 

Two-tone hair

Hair that was truly two-tone, not a mere few highlights, stood out at the Spring 2024 shows. Let these instances serve as inspiration and guidance for how to do the look well.

The best example was seen at Walter Van Beirendonck, whose shows always have plenty to offer on a grooming and beauty front. His models took to the runway with hair split between brown and blond, and black and brown, thanks to a series of wigs and hairpieces. Bluemarble's models had bold streaks and swaths of pale yellow in their hair, as if spray-painted on.

At Rick Owens, some models' hair was slicked back to highlight the contrast between their natural dark and the bleached blond. Études also played up the contrast between models' natural roots and their coloured hair to create two-tone looks.

Post-workout glow

Perhaps the post-workout high people talk about comes from looking in the mirror after. With bloodflow and sweat combining to make the skin look flushed and glisten, you could argue that one rarely looks better. 

That seemed to be the message from makeup artists working the Spring 2024 shows, as they offered up blushing cheeks, wet-look brows and shiny arms and torsos. Models at Lazoschmidl's beach-themed show sported rouge on their cheeks, which was made even more noticeable thanks to the ice-blue contact lenses they were wearing. MUA Jasmine Lundmark was inspired by AI-rendered faces, and on some complexions the effect had models looking as if they'd been in the sun too long; others looked as if they had just emerged from a sauna.

In Milan, Etro's models were coated in a sheen reminiscent of sweat, which complemented their wet pressed-down hair. And in London, at the other beach-inspired show, Saul Nash's models also shone with faux sweat as they made their way down the runway.

At the shows, though off the runway, sunscreen and high temperatures gave some attendees the kind of summery glow that makeup artists toiled so hard to perfect. A tip to remember when you're recreating these looks on a budget!

Fading out

On the opposite end of the spectrum stood Kiko Kostadinov and Acne Studios. 

At the former's runway show in Paris, models were powdered to the point of fading their features, giving them an appearance that was somewhat ghostly. Acne Studios didn't stage a runway show  and it's hard to tell what's makeup and what's simply lighting and retouching, but the end result was similar: faces transformed into flatter, almost anonymous avatars. 

While not as drastic, at Rick Owens, makeup artist Daniel Sallstrom blended models' eyebrows into their skin — fading one feature to highlight the others.

Sometimes less is more!