Glitter Faces! Body Tattoos! The Valentino Couture Runway Serves Up Thrilling Beauty Statements

Entitled “The Beginning,” tonight’s Valentino’s couture show in Rome had a galvanizing sense of renewal, from the collection’s blooming floral appliqué motif to the parade of garden-fresh faces that strode down the stairs of the iconic Piazza di Spagna. While the natural, pared-back beauty was a departure from the bold feline flicks and feathered lashes of last season’s couture show, it wasn’t without its surprises.

True to form, makeup artist Pat McGrath took minimalism to the max, imparting her signature “sublime skin” with tactful taps of Skin Fetish highlighter on the high points of the brow bone, cheek bones, center of the nose, and Cupid’s bow. A swipe of clear Lust:Gloss added a dose of shine to the restrained equation. The exception? Two model visages saturated in silver glitter to match their crystal–encrusted dresses to second skin effect. This is a Valentino couture show, after all.

And it didn’t end there: Below the neck, eagle-eyed showgoers couldn’t miss the bold body tattoos drawn across select models’s chests and arms. The inked designs ran the gamut from doves to serpents to roses—the latter delicately decorating model Sora Choi’s clavicles.

Echoing McGrath’s celebration of individuality, the hair looks crafted by hairstylist Guido Palau hinged on each model’s unique cut and texture. And given the sheer scope of the cast, with models of all ages, sizes, and backgrounds, it was a stunning free for all with tousled pixies, graphic bobs, fuzzy Pre-Raphaelite manes, cascades of straight-back cornrows, and more.