Lily Gladstone’s Oscars Beauty Look Has a Hidden Secret

Lily Gladstone glided onto the red carpet Sunday evening for the 96th Annual Academy Awards looking as gorgeous as usual. The Killers of the Flower Moon actress, who is of Siksikaitsitapi and NiMíiPuu heritage, has already collected multiple accolades for her performance in the Martin Scorsese film, and she is the first Native American woman to be nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Oscars. In true Gladstone fashion, her ensemble involved several Indigenous details, starting with her gown: a strapless embroidered Gucci dress created with Indigenous designer Joe Big Mountain.

Meanwhile, her shiny raven hair tumbled down over her shoulders in soft waves, courtesy of celebrity hairstylist Marc Mena and a few key products from Indigenous hair care brands Better Not Younger and Sister Sky.

“The dress is very formal, and because it’s such a historic moment, we wanted the hair to be something that was going to last,” Mena says via press release. “Something that was going to look great now and 20 years from now. Better Not Younger is a reliable brand that I knew I could turn to help me execute this look.”

Mena began by wetting Gladstone’s strands and spritzing Sister Sky Minkisoft Nourishing Mist from her roots to her ends. He then went in with Better Not Younger’s Lift Me Up Hair Thickener and No Remorse Heat Protection & Taming Spray to help thicken and protect the hair before using the new Pearl Pink Shark FlexStyle blow dryer and its round brush attachment to blow it out straight and silky. “The smoothness is important because it creates a shine that allows the light to bounce off the hair. We wanted the light to reflect off the hair,” says Mena. And who doesn’t crave shiny hair?

Before sculpting the waves, Mena attached Great Lengths tab extensions to add extra volume, length, and glamor and trimmed them into layers. Next, the SharkFlex came back into play—Mena used the tool’s curler attachment to curl Gladstone’s tresses away from her face and locked them in with the Better Not Younger Wake Up Call High-Hold Thickening Hairspray. “It’s a long night, and Lily’s category isn’t until the end, so I wanted to do something to make it last,” he explains.

After allowing the curls to set for 15 minutes, Mena brushed them out with a large paddle brush to achieve the final soft wave effect and sprayed everything down again with hairspray. A couple drops of Sister Sky’s Minkisoft Sleek + Shine Styler oil added shine, and the look was complete—barring one hidden detail.

We’ll let you in on the secret: “I added a tiny braid underneath her hair as a nod to the Indigenous people and for luck,” Mena shares. “You won’t be able to see it, but it’s there. She had braids when she won the Golden Globes and the SAG, so a little bit of superstition, and I wanted to make sure that was in there for luck.”

Gladstone’s rosy makeup look was a winner in its own right, too—this kind of soft glam look is set to be one of the biggest spring beauty trends, and it has that balletcore aesthetic that’s everywhere these days. Celebrity makeup artist Fiona Stiles concocted the flattering palette to complement—not compete with—the gown and the jewelry that accompanied it. “I was inspired to pair the neutral tones of her dress with full, fluffy lashes, soft, rosy cheeks, and a nude lip,” Stiles says via press release.

As with any successful face, the skincare that goes underneath the makeup products is just as important. To create a luminous and healthy foundation, Stiles started with the Chanel Sublimage La Crème Texture Suprême Ultimate Cream and smoothed the Chanel Sublimage Le Soin Perfecteur Ultimate Radiance-Enhancing Priming Moisturizer over it. Gladstone’s eye area stayed hydrated with the help of the Chanel Sublimage L’Essence Fondamentale Yeux The Radiance-Renewing Eye Serum.

Now, with the prep done, let’s get to the fun part: the color cosmetics. Stiles utilized the Chanel Le Blanc Rosy Light Drops to add even more of a glow to the skin and kissed the apples of Gladstone’s cheeks with the Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Rose Ruban, a cool, deeper pink shade. She then enhanced the eyes by carefully blending shades from the Chanel Les 4 Ombres Multi-Effect Quadra Eyeshadow palettes in Candeur et Expérience and Tissé Rivoli before fluffing up and creating a falsie-like effect with the Inimitable Volume-Length-Curl-Separation mascara in Noir Black.

To finish off the look, Stiles lined Gladstone’s lips with the Chanel Le Crayon Lèvres Longwear Lip Pencil in Nude Brun and smoothed on a layer of the Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Nuit Blanche Luminous Matte Lip Colour in 06:00—a combination that resulted in a mesmerizing deep pink nude we’re dying to test on ourselves.

If you want to try your own hand at the red carpet look, find everything you need to recreate it below.