The Angel Face

Before a single Angel steps onto the runway, there are hours of work nobody sees. Adriana Lima once said that getting ready for the show took about five hours of hair and makeup, and the backstage team got through around 150 tubes of lip gloss in a single night. The result is supposed to look effortless. It never is.

2017: the smoky eye

In Shanghai the makeup artist Tom Pecheux described his look as “a smoky eye that’s slightly naughty”, with pinky-nude lips. Anthony Turner did the hair, going for “volume and separation for a sexy, undone feel”. It is the face most of us picture when we think of an Angel.

2024: the comeback face

For the return of the show, the makeup was led by Diane Kendal and the hair by Duffy. It was the year of the slicked-back hair, and the internet made its feelings very clear.

2025: the glow

Pat McGrath took over the makeup with one goal: models who were “really glowing”. She talked about a “signature angelic glow” and “luminous, modern skin”, and used her Skin Fetish blurring powder so the skin looked soft rather than shiny. On hair, Jawara Wauchope’s brief fitted on a post-it: “Big! Bouncy! Coily!”

The Angel face is not about looking perfect. It is about looking lit from inside.

2026: the new face

At the 2026 show, Pat McGrath led the make-up for the second year running. “This year, we wanted to embrace the extraordinary fantasy of Victoria’s Secret,” she said. The skin was luminous and hydrated, built in thin layers so it stayed polished rather than heavy, with moisturiser dabbed on the cheekbones for extra dew. Around the eyes, a soft liner (her PermaGel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil) smudged out under shadow, then shimmer and dramatic lashes. Lips: glossy.

Hair was by Guido Palau: a bouncy blowout set on sky-high rollers while the models waited in satin robes, with L’Oréal Paris Elnett hairspray, Color Wow Dream Coat and Color Wow Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer, and extensions for extra volume.

Source: All the Backstage Beauty Details You Missed From the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show

Get the Angel face

• Skin firstMoisturise, then a light base. The glow comes from the skin, not from the foundation.
• Glow, placedHighlighter only where light would hit: cheekbones, bridge of the nose, the inner corner of the eye.
• A soft smoky eyeBrown or warm grey, blended until there are no edges. Mascara on the top lashes.
• Pinky-nude lipsA liner a shade deeper than your lips and a sheer gloss on top.
• The hairRollers on dry hair for ten minutes, then brush the curls out with your fingers.

None of this needs a backstage team. It needs a little time and a good mirror. ✦

Sources: Harper’s Bazaar Arabia (2017 beauty), Harper’s Bazaar Arabia (show trivia), Grazia (2024), Hola (2024 hair), Essence (2025), Grazia UK (2025).

The tips in “Get the Angel face” are ours, not the backstage teams’.