The Met Gala is widely known as the Oscars of fashion, which naturally means we wait with bated breath to see the stars pull out all the stops. This year’s theme seemed to leave many attendees confused, after all not everyone knows their favorite avant-garde look at the back of their hand. This theme brought on a range of unexpected hair and makeup looks, some that gave us inspiration for the summer, some that were eye-rollingly banal and others that were just plain bizzare.

Many of those on the red carpet decided to get Rei Kawakubo bobs to honour the 74- year old Comme de Garcons designer (who ironically herself disregarded the theme and showed up in her uniform outfit). A few ignored the theme and went in favour of soft waves and nude lip and others like Katy Perry and Lily Aldrige experimented with elaborate veils(?!) If the Met Gala’s thematic goal was a call for thought-provoking beauty, it’s safe to say that most of this year’s attendees rose to the occasion.

Kendall Jenner

Kenny’s look may be under deliberation by the fashion police for being a proponent of the ‘naked look’ but we’re totally confident about her simple and impactful beauty look. Her unkempt wet locks and red lip are a refreshing combination and if you haven’t picked up on it yet, these are the two key trends you should look into for summer inspo.

Rita Ora

Ora’s hair instantly caught our attention. While it may look like a platinum blonde cut from afar, it takes closer inspection to really comprehend its brilliance. According to the grapevine, the intricate, unique design took three days to create. This paired with her dark brows and Marchesa gown with a gigantic, silky red bow (which we don’t normally love) - however, the confidence this girl carried it with won us over!

Lupita Nyong’o

Orange we glad Lupita always does a one up with every beauty look? Her eyes had strokes of purple, magenta and yellow paired with a tangerine dress which we admit is not an easy look to pull off. Nyong’os copious use of bold colours also put a final rest to the claims like "this colour doesn’t suit my skin tone". Keeping the rest of the makeup minimal, she allowed her eyes to take centre stage at the Gala.

Rihanna

Rihanna easily made the most dramatic entrance. To accompany her extravagant Comme des Garcon couture gown, she created the perfect beauty look with her sky-high top knot and side swept bangs, from-eyelid-to-cheek pink shadow and a very vibrant berry lip. As always, she stayed true to the theme and looked like a million bucks doing it! When everyone else starts wearing bright pink highlighter in a few months we can point them back to this exact moment Rihanna wore it to the Met Gala.

Cara Delevingne

Cara recently shaved her head for a role in Life in a Year and in true Delivenge fashion she embraced the new look and debuted it at the Met Gala in style. She sported a scalp coated with silvery paint and sequins and chose to keep her makeup look modern by just doing heavy eyelashes to accompany her signature brows!

Gigi Hadid

While it’s known that Gigi bleached her brows for the Met Gala it is also rumored that she dyed her hair a darker caramel colour. And that wasn’t even the most dramatic thing about her look - her fierce, winged eyeliner and perfectly constructed hair which was made up of a disheveled bun and long bangs that covered her right eye and complemented her asymmetrical outfit.

Zendaya

Zendaya sported the biggest and the best hair of the evening. Standing out from a sea of cropped blunt bobs and tightly wound top knots, the popstar let her free flowing afro steal the show. Cheers to Zendaya for bringing natural beauty to the red carpet!

Lily-Rose Depp

Depp’s jet black eyeliner at the Met Gala was nothing short of perfection. Her liner dragged into the corners of the eye and extended outwards and was the most dramatic thing on her face. She kept the rest of the look elegant and feminine with highlighted and blushed cheeks and an elegant chignon hairstyle with a rosy lip.

Lily Collins

Collins looked like a glam robot version of the woman of the night she was channeling. Tight blunt banged bob, vampy dark burgundy lip, clumpy black lashes and signature full brows made for quite a dramatic look. Her milky complexion rendered the change all the more dramatic.

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez isn’t usually one to experiment with her looks but her red carpet debut with new beau, The Weeknd ‘Starboy’ meant that all eyes were on her. The singer didn’t fail to rise to the occasion with a pops of pigment on her eyes with a high octane pink eye shadow that extended to brow level. We approve 100%!