Spotted on Pinterest, lace makeup is the defining beauty trend of autumn
A scrap of lace, a dark eyeshadow and a few minutes in front of the mirror: that is all it takes to turn an ordinary makeup look into something far more theatrical. Lace makeup is establishing itself this autumn as one of the season’s most talked-about beauty trends, carried along by a dark romanticism that is making a forceful comeback on runways and social media alike.
The numbers that confirm the lace makeup craze
This is not just a feeling: Pinterest has recorded a 120% surge in searches for lace makeup in 2026. That growth places the trend among the year’s fastest-rising beauty aesthetics, well before it has had a chance to settle into everyday bathroom routines. Because lace on the face is no longer the exclusive territory of editorial photography.
Among the figures who helped popularise the look, model Meredith Duxbury played a central role. Her handcrafted, lace-inspired eye looks spread widely across social platforms, making her one of the most influential Gen Z beauty creators to watch. Before her, creator Charlotte Roberts had already paved the way by turning lace makeup into a fully-fledged beauty experimentation space.
What the technique actually involves
Contrary to what you might expect, this makeup does not necessarily involve sticking a real piece of lace onto the skin. The most widespread method relies on a visual illusion: pressing pigment or eyeshadow through an openwork pattern so that its imprint is left on the skin. The result looks like embroidery without thread, achieved using nothing but standard makeup tools.
In practice, the areas of application vary depending on the effect you are after. On the eyelids, the design stays delicate and can extend a smoky eye into something more structured. On the temples, the result becomes more theatrical. Around the mouth, it edges into lip art territory. The same principle can therefore be adapted to very different levels of complexity, from an everyday selfie to a runway photograph.
- Press pigment through an openwork pattern to stamp the lace design onto the skin
- Work the eyelids for a delicate, structured effect
- Play with the temples for a more dramatic result
- Explore the lip line for a finish close to lip art
- Use a dark eyeshadow, a brush or a sponge as your only tools
When haute couture had already laid the groundwork
The lineage of this trend stretches back to the Givenchy spring-summer 2016 show, under the creative direction of Riccardo Tisci. Pat McGrath conceived lace masks covering the models’ faces and necks, deliberately blurring the boundary between makeup, accessory and garment. The romantic vocabulary of lace and veiling was pushed so far it became almost unsettling.
Ten years on, the same intuition resurfaces with far less ceremony. The autumn-winter 2026 haute couture season notably saw the birth of the lace lips at Jean Paul Gaultier: a makeup look in which the mouth itself becomes a lace surface. This artisanal gesture was singled out as one of the season’s most singular beauty propositions.
Why lace makeup breaks with recent trends
Lace makeup says something precise about how our relationship with makeup is evolving. After years dominated by perfectly even skin and near-invisible finishes, the face is now demanding drawing, texture and even a touch of complication. This phenomenon is part of a broader fascination with texture: after chrome, glazed, wet-look and mirror effects, beauty now wants to show its rough edges.
Lace delivers exactly that: relief, negative space, an almost obsessive repetition of pattern. In that sense, lace makeup openly embraces the idea that a face can be decorated, whereas the clean girl makeup aesthetic tried to convince us we were wearing nothing at all. It may well be this reversal of logic that explains its viral potential: it does not promise discretion, it claims ornament.
