Kristen Stewart’s gay little mullet and other Met Gala beauty highlights

Last night, the world’s most famous faces turned out for the biggest fashion event of the year, the annual Met Gala, which raises money for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. This year, the theme was Karl Lagerfeld and the celebrity attendees paid due tribute with vintage Chanel looks, a lot of pale pink and tweed, and many black velvet bows tying back flowing hair.

When it came to the beauty looks, the Dazed Beauty pick of the night was Kristen Stewart who showed up with a mullet that was like, so gay, dude. The mullet has always been a staple haircut for lesbians and queer women, alongside other Alternative Lifestyle Haircuts like shaved heads, faux-hawks, Bieber-esque bangs and anything asymmetrical. Stewart herself has sported the look on a few occasions, including in her portrayal of Joan Jett in the 2010 film The Runaways.

Last night, she wore her mullet spiky courtesy of Adir Abergel and paired it with bold, straight brows and a high-contrast, black and white zoot suit from Chanel’s 2016/2017 Cruise collection. The overall effect was – in my personal opinion, and to use the technical term – fucking hot. The look was a nod to Lagerfeld, Tara Swennen, Stewart’s stylist said, rather than an impersonation of him. “It’s more about leaning into an androgynous look, while it also harkens to the way it went down the runway. But overall the look feels very Kristen,” she said.

The androgynous feel was heightened by the make-up, which was kept very natural aside from some strong eyebrows. To create the look, Chanel make-up artist Jillian Dempsey prepped the skin and then used Chanel foundation and powder in the shade B20. For the brows, Dempsey used the Boy de Chanel 3-in-1 Eye Pencil and for the eyes a black crayon eyeliner. Finally, lips were prepped with lip balm and then given a hint of colour with a lip pencil in the shade ‘Nude Brun’.

While Stewart was a favourite, Doja Cat came a close second with her impersonation of Lagerfeld’s beloved cat, Choupette. Meanwhile, Nicole Kidman led the way on XXL long hair and Pat McGrath was back with the crystals this time for Lil Nas X. Here are the most memorable beauty looks from the Met Gala 2023.

Doja Cat

As we all know, Doja Cat loves to turn up in a look and last night was no different. In honour of Lagerfeld, the former Dazed cover star turned up to the ball as his beloved cat, Choupette. The feline face she wore for the occasion – which was part Whoville resident, part AW23 Collina Strada model – was the creation of prosthetics make-up artist Malina Stearns who has previously created looks for A$AP Rocky and Petra Collins.

Make-up was then applied by Charlotte Tilbury MUA Ernesto Casillas, who gave Doja a cat eye – naturally – with the brand’s Feline Flick in the shade Panther and the Hollywood Exagger-Eyes Liner Duo. Both the lipliner and the lipstick were the cult shade Pillow Talk, while blush was the Beauty Light Wand in Pinkgasm.

Nicole Kidman

Long XXL hair was a popular look on the Colgate carpet this year, with Naomi Campbell, Gabrielle Union, Quannah Chasinghorse and Jessica Chastain just some of the stars who wore their hair flowing down their backs. But it was Nicole Kidman who was our personal favourite, thanks to her Kajillionaire Hair.

Unlike many of the other celebrities who opted for glossy, bouncy blow dries, Kidman’s hair was more undone and unkempt but in a way that perfectly set off the opulence of her feathered and bejewelled Chanel gown. The hair was courtesy of Shay Ashual who completed the look with a black velvet bow, in honour of Lagerfeld. For the look, Ashual used products from R+Co Bleu including a styling mist and smoothing oil. A texturising spray from Virtue and a styling powder from Balmain were also used.

Meanwhile, Angela Levin kept the make-up natural and pretty with blushing cheeks which were achieved by applying the Chanel Lip and Cheek Balm in Healthy Pink with her fingers. Lips were lined with a lip pencil in Rose Naturel, then a coat of the shade Intemporelle was added, followed by Adrienne in the centre of Kidman’s upper and lower lips. “For Nicole’s Met Gala look this year, my inspiration was Chanel: iconic, timeless, admired, elegant and playful, just like her,” Levin says.

Lil Nas X

Pat McGrath is all about crystals at the moment. Earlier this year, she covered Doja Cat head to toe in red Swarovskis for a look that triggered a trypophobia outbreak at PFW. And now she has turned her sights on Lil Nas X, creating a modern take on Choupette the cat. The process took nine hours in total and involved over 5,000 crystals and 25-year-old couture lace.

“Lil Nas X approached this year's Met Gala with a vision to create a beauty look that was as daring and transformative as his personality,” McGrath said in a statement. “We incorporated over 5,000 crystals for the ultimate avante-garde style. The look is a celebration of self-expression and individuality while pushing the limits of traditional beauty standards.”

Devon Aoki

The iconic Devon Aoki went full Hollywood glamour for her first time at the Met Gala with blonde hair that flowed down her back and finished in ringlets by Peter Grey and make-up by the master of glam Hung Vanngo. Using all products by Lancome, Vanngo created a two-toned, smoked-out cream eye look using the shade Beige Brûlé from the Hypnose 5-Color Eyeshadow Palette and the Le Crayon Khôl Eyeliner Pencil in Black Ebony.

Alexa Chung

Dublin-based Róisín Pierce dressed Alexa Chung this year, in a frothy transparent, star-and-flower-detail top and skirt with an appliquéd floating flower overthrow. Also part of the look was a matching white crochet bonnet which fell delicately on either side of Chung’s face. To off-set all the white, Celia Burton created a make-up look that was all pink – bright pastel pink blush and covered the cheeks and a pink lip. On hair was Bleach founder Alex Brownsell who weaved in mini braids throughout and finished them off with white ribbons for a milkmaid effect.

“This look was inspired by classic Chanel infused with Alexa’s vibe — bringing the elements of the bows from the outfit into the hair, while playing around with her natural hair texture,” Brownsell said in a statement. “The colour was done at our UK Brixton salon one week prior by Alisha Dobson. Alisha used Instant Coffee Super Cool Colour to take the warm tones out of Alexa’s hair — making the colour more even and adding a luxe glossy brown finish.”

FKA twigs

While there was an abundance of black velvet ribbons on show last night, FKA twigs paid tribute to Lagerfeld’s love of bows more literally with a chic sculptural updo hairstyle in the shape of many bows by Louis Souvestre. Meanwhile, make-up by Kabuki was full of matte neutrals with a warm brown eyeshadow and brows that were very fluffy and brushed up, keeping attention on the hair and Maison Margiela ruffle top and satin skirt.