London’s spring/summer 2026 shows have officially come to a close. But first, they had to deliver statement lips at Labrum, wedding hair at Richard Quinn, brow-touching lashes at Harris Reed, and tear-filled eyes at Dilara Findikoglu—joined by Naomi Campbell with wet eyes of her own.
Here, ESSENCE Beauty wraps up four key trends for Black women straight from London Fashion Week.
Statement Lips
Labrum London—a West African brand known for their statement beauty—tapped makeup artist Joey Choy to achieve this season’s “bubble lips.” “[The look was] inspired by tribal adornments, nature and Osmosis,” she wrote on Instagram after the show, using Haus Labs to layer colors, textures, and elements.
A similar shade was spotted at Simone Rocha, making black lipstick one of three of the statements lips executed by makeup artist Thomas de Kluyver. One, a shiny, semi-sheer black lip. Another, magenta flower petals painted on. And, the final look, words like “sweet heart” and “sweet dream” kissed on the top and bottom lip respectively.
At Bora Aksu, dark lipstick was more matte than Simone Rocha and concentrated at the center turning models into China dolls. While red is the most popular power lip shade, this time, it was bound to the cheeks of a few women instead.
Teary Eyes
At Fashion East’s Mayhew show, makeup was sweated off. Using MAC Cosmetics, makeup artist Dominic Skinner took dewy skin to a new extreme with exhausted, sweat-drenched eyes with nothing but (obviously waterproof) wet liner left. The lips, as well, were nothing but the end-of-day remnants of lip liner.
With Naomi Campbell making a surprise appearance, beauty at Dilara Findikoglu was just as emotional as Fashion East. Makeup artist Yadim Carranza, using MAC Cosmetics, made tears drip like candle wax down the dirty cheeks (clean beauty, rejected) of models.
Undone (And Overdone) ‘Dos
In London, designers couldn’t decide between undone or overdone hair. At Richard Quinn, hairstylist Sam McKnight wrote “the look was an ode to glamour and elegance, modern couture, with a sleek French twist and volume,” on Instagram after the show.
He blow dryied the roots using Hair by Sam McKnight Superlift to add volume, before applying his Easy Up Do for texture to twist and set the hair more easily. While Naomi Campbell was made up in a classic, elegant ponytail next to other sculpted wedding party looks, beauty was much more disheveled elsewhere.
At Marques’almeida, hair was the opposite of Richard Quinn: intentionally unbrushed bedhead. The look was unstyled, teased, and had some grit, which in turn, prioritized volume and ease over a defined shape.
Exaggerated Eyes
Fashion East celebrated their 25th anniversary with exaggerated green eyes at Jacek Gleba’s show. This season, eyes were central to beauty, spanning sand-skin at Labrum London, tears at Dilara Findikoglu, and at Jacek Gleba, making either pink or green eyeshadow span the full eye.
At Harris Reed and Dreaming Eli, exaggerated eyes culminated into stark lashes. The first celebrated their 10th anniversary with feathered bottom lashes, which Charlotte Tilbury described as “GOTHIC architecture and ETHEREAL winged beauty,” directed by her niece, Sofia using Exagger-Eyes Mascara and Super Nudes Easy Eye Palette.
Meanwhile, Dreaming Eli was more pared back with three, eyebrow-scraping top lashes, choosing length over volume. While Harris Reed had more exaggerated bottom lashes and more clustered to the outer wing, lashes at Dreaming Eli were more centered and top-heavy, leaving the bottom lashes natural.
