All The Best Beauty & Grooming Moments From The 2025 Met Gala – Essence

Tonight, celebrities hit the steps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for fashion—and beauty’s—biggest night out. And this year, the Met Gala theme, Black Dandyism, nods to a style that has existed even before the annual fundraiser itself (held for the first time in 1948). This theme, inspired by Monica Miller’s book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, was everything of 1920s Harlem era. In other words, some of the most iconic beauty moments were preesent on this year’s carpet.

Harlem-born Teyana Taylor opened the red carpet with sideburns gelled into Josephine Baker-approved pin curls and brown, almost dried blood-like eyeliner. Soon after, well-groomed Co-Chair Pharrell Williams arrived in high-style with a low cut and gold fronts cracking through an ever-so-slight grin. Then, Diana Ross showed in a cascading white gown that still couldn’t overshadow her beauty: pinkish-purple lips, which matched her eyeshadow and blush, brushed jet black curls, and a crystal at the center of her forehead. 

For Andre3000, “the devil is in the details,” says his makeup artist Alexa Hernandez, prepping his skin with MAC’s Hyper Real Skincanvas Balm Cream. Co-Chair A$AP Rocky’s diamond-dressed teeth (which matched his nails) accented his finger-waved braids, but for Jeremy Pope, cornrows weren’t needed, cutting out a fade on the underbelly on his gel-waved look. The same couldn’t be said for Alicia Keys, whose ruby red headdress replaced her hair, similar to Lupita N’yongo’s black gem-encrusted brows. And while Cardi B’s regalia lied in martini green makeup, Regina King’s tornado-hit hair transformed into an unexpected hat, turning beauty into a genre of fashion.

Cropped ‘dos were ever-present as well. See: the mini bobs on Tessa Thompson and Quinta Brunson. Simone Biles also saw this to be fitting. “We leaned into the idea of Black dandyism,” her hairstylist Brenton Diallo shares exclusively with ESSENCE. “We took inspiration from The Harlem Renaissance and wanted to pay tribute to Josephine Baker and her famous hair bang swirl,” he continues. To bring it all to life were a mix of k18 products such as the Astrolift Volume Spray and Molecular Repair Oil.

Then Tyla stunned with her blonde bouffant ‘do. And on that note, Law Roach took his signature silky black lengths to a blonde pixie as well. Glowing skin didn’t hurt, either, thanks to the Halo Glow Liquid Filter from e.l.f. “Law has a beautiful balance of masculine and feminine features which make him sort of a chameleon of fashion,” his makeup artist A. Love says. “I really love to play into that blurred line of beauty by keeping his skin soft and matte accompanied by a sculpted cheek.” Additionally, “I recently learned to use Vaseline as a makeup primer,” he said during the pre Met Gala Vaseline luncheon on Thursday.

From ultra short hair on Tessa Thompson to Janelle Monae’s optical illusionary beauty, here are all of our favorite moments from the red carpet.

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The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” – Red Carpet

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The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” – Arrivals

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The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” – Arrivals

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The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” – Arrivals

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The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” – Arrivals

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The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” – Arrivals

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The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”

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The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”

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The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” – Red Carpet

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The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”