Sydney Sweeney, Selena Gomez and Zendaya add to the bombshell revival, with voluminous blowouts and cinematic drama back on the red carpet
After years of slick buns, glazed skin and “maybe she’s born with it” minimalism, beauty has rediscovered its appetite for a little drama – the big lash, peach blush, glossy lip kind. Suddenly, winged liner is back in everyone’s make-up bag, blowouts have volume again, and blush is visible on purpose. Sabrina Carpenter has become the poster girl for it: all fluffy bangs, soft waves and bombshell energy that nods to Brigitte Bardot but never crosses into full costume. It’s feminine, it’s cheeky and it’s proof that after years of paring back, we’ve remembered that a little play never hurt anyone.
Carpenter set the tone at the 2025 Grammys in May, arriving in a custom baby-blue JW Anderson gown with glowing skin, flushed cheeks, pouty lips and that unmistakable Bardot-style blowout with bouncy blonde bangs. By midsummer, the mood had fully caught on. When The Fantastic Four: First Steps premiered in July, Lux Pascal turned up with a soft, side-swept blowout and winged liner straight out of a 60s daydream, while Xochitl Gomez went full Bardot with a sculpted bouffant do, peachy tones and lashes made for fluttering. And at the 2025 Golden Globes, the red carpet turned into a love letter to Old Hollywood with Zendaya’s glossy waves, Selena Gomez’s softly teased curls and Nicole Kidman’s sleek half-up bouffant, all carrying that same cinematic softness.
While this year’s red carpets have made the revival impossible to ignore, traces of it have been around for a while. Anya Taylor-Joy has been perfecting that sculpted hair and defined liner long before anyone called it a comeback, while Sydney Sweeney’s soft curls and warm-toned make-up have quietly redefined what modern bombshell beauty can look like. Ariana Grande’s sharp cat-eyes and sky-high ponytails still carry that unmistakable 60s precision, and Lana Del Rey’s lashes and teased volume have always nodded to a more cinematic era.
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So why now? Part of it is timing. The 60s are far enough away to feel fresh again, but close enough to remain familiar. Gen Z’s obsession with vintage and thrifting naturally spills into beauty, too: TikTok tutorials for 60s make-up rack up millions of views, and searches for Bardot bangs, peachy blush and “Sabrina Carpenter hair” keep climbing. The look fits with a culture that loves nostalgia but demands modernity, and if there’s one place where that throwback energy really shows, it’s in make-up.
“The key elements of the 60s trend are major emphasis on eyes, especially the heavy lash look inspired by Twiggy, major winged-out liner and colourful eyeshadow,” says celebrity make-up artist and pop culture expert Nyssa Green. “There are also nude lips, and lots of earthy tones as well.”
What makes this new wave of glam so wearable is how much easier it feels than the original. The old version of 60s beauty was famously high-maintenance: hot rollers, thick powders and clouds of hairspray. The 2025 update is dewy, blended and far more forgiving.
For Green, it starts with skin. “The skin should look as smooth as possible, so go in with a really soft, fine powder like Pat McGrath’s Sublime Perfection Blurring Under-Eye Powder. I use it all over the face for an impeccable finish.” Then comes the blush, which she calls the secret weapon. “You want soft, doll-like cheeks, so a cream or liquid blush works great for this. The Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blushes are amazing and so pigmented.”
The best part of this aesthetic is how easy it is to make it your own. Lean in as much or as little as you want, starting with whichever detail feels fun. The same philosophy applies to make-up – think warmth over precision. Skin should still look like skin: fresh, even and a little lived-in. A tinted moisturiser or sheer foundation keeps things light, while cream blush in peachy or pink tones brings that romantic flush high on the cheeks and up towards the temples. For eyes, a soft brown through the crease and a winged liner (whether clean or a little smudged) create the shape without overdoing it. A few coats of mascara (including on the lower lashes) open everything up, and a nude or peachy lip ties it together.
It’s the kind of look that feels polished but never overdone – a balance that Green says is key: “Do a graphic liner, which is 60s-inspired but also very modern. If you’re going for lashes, do heavy liner on top instead of a huge lash. And use matte shadows.”
If you’re starting with hair, the 60s mood translates beautifully there, too. As Judi Seeley, Muk Haircare’s Melbourne-based national technical and education manager, explains, the 60s comeback isn’t a copy-and-paste revival, but a reinterpretation. “We take that inspiration and make it wearable for today,” she says. “The helmet-head is gone, leaving behind a more modern, movable texture. We still want blowouts with beautiful volume – but instead of being super-smooth and polished, they’re more textured, tousled and edgy.” She adds that a product like Slick Muk Pomade or Rough Muk Forming Cream can provide hold and polish while also keeping your blowout soft.
Seeley also notes that prep is everything. “You’ll want to apply your styling product twice: once when the hair is damp for styling, then again once it’s dry for hold,” she says. The result is less about retro perfection and more about the kind of volume that moves, bends and looks better the messier it gets. “You can transition a sleek pulled-back look with a middle part to smooth softness with volume,” Seeley adds, recommending a good volumising spray and a round-brush blowout for that touch of bounce. For those tempted by bangs but not ready for a full Bardot fringe, she points to the curtain-bang revival as the perfect middle ground. To achieve it, Seeley recommends to “section out the crown area and apply a volumising powder on the root. Backcomb gently to create soft volume, then tousle through the mids and ends with your fingers.” The result is movement that feels flirty but still modern.
Beyond styling, Seeley sees the return of throwback beauty as part of something larger. “The 60s looks are back because we are living in parallel times. Think political protests, young people rebelling against their Boomer and Gen X parents, and a strong thrifting culture embracing fashion pieces from other eras,” she says. It’s nostalgia as rebellion: a return to softness, expression and individuality in a world that often feels sterile.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
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