The Best (and Worst!) Beauty Looks From the 2018 Oscars

The beauty scene at the Oscars is notoriously snoozy, so we were delighted to see more than a few stars buck the cliché last night. Taraji P. Henson and Whoopi Goldberg showed up in eggplant purple lipstick; Lupita Nyong’o, St. Vincent and Andra Day broke out show-stealing hair accessories; Whoopi Goldberg channeled Rihanna; Margot Robbie, Saoirse Ronan and Greta Gerwig all debuted brand-spanking new ‘dos. And a good time was had by all, except maybe Ryan Seacrest.

Check out our favorite and least-loved 2018 Oscars beauty looks in the slideshow above.

[ Next: All the Must-See Looks From the 2018 Oscars Red Carpet ]

Oscars Beauty 2018

Best: Zendaya

Z, give your glam team a raise. Hairstylist Ursula Stephen used Dove styling products to sweep the Spider-Man: Homecoming star's hair into the sculptural top knot to end all sculptural top knots. Her red carpet glow was the work of makeup artist Sheika Daley — and Charlotte Tilbury's newly released Hollywood Flawless Filter.

Image: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Best: Gal Gadot

Slip on a sequin (Givenchy) gown and slap on some vibrant red lipstick and little is required of you hair-wise. This Revlon girl wears Revlon ColorStay Lip Liner in Wine and Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Bombshell Red, because contractual obligation.

Image: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Best: Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock paired her pin-straight, center-parted mane with brushed-up brows, toffee lips and a charcoal smoky eye that practically burned through the screen.

Image: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images
Worst: Jennifer Garner

At the Oscars, hair often winds up looking too done. This is one of those instances. (Plus those lone, stripey highlights aren't helping matters much.)

Image: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Best: Jennifer Lawrence

By contrast, J.Law's voluminous S-waves (the work of hairstylist Jenny Cho) managed to look effortless while still looking polished. And her intensely smoky eyes gave her above-the-neck region some edge and worked well with her Dior gown.

Image: Steve Granitz/WireImage
Best: Viola Davis

You have to give it to Viola Davis, who always arrives in hairdos that are the opposite of boring. (Recall her glamorous Golden Globes afro.) This curly, elegant pony came courtesy of hairstylist Jamika Wilson. Brava. (And hoops were the perfect finishing touch.)

Image: ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images
Best: Margot Robbie

There's nothing groundbreaking here, but first-time Best Actress nominee/professional Tonya Harding impersonator Margot Robbie sure looked nice. To complement her minimalist white Chanel gown, hairstylist Bryce Scarlett chopped Robbie's hair into a chin-grazing bob. "Immediately when I saw the dress I knew we had to cut [her hair]," said Scarlett, who used Moroccanoil styling products to crimp and condition Robbie's hair. Makeup-wise, Pati Dubroff kept it low-key, painting Robbie's face in soft pinks and whites.

Image: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Best: Danai Gurira

How do you accessorize a bald head? With paint, duh. Hairstylist Vernon Scott accented ~~General Okoye's~~ Danai Gurira's shaved hairdo with white temporary hair color. Garnet lips and thick, feathery lashes completed the show-stealing look.

Image: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Worst: Paz Vega

What was with Paz Vega's choppy hair helmet? Something tells us it's for a role.

Image: Steve Granitz/WireImage
Best: Betty Gabriel

The Get Out star's metallic lids, rose gold lips, fluttery lashes and cascading half-up curls brought tears of joy to our eyes. As did Jordan Peele's win.

Image: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Best: Andra Day

Singer Andra Day loves reclining on the red carpet almost as much as she does hair horticulture (see: her 2017 Grammys look). For the 2018 Oscars, Day (or rather, hairstylist Tony Medina) sprinkled her ample ponytail with teeny tiny roses. In keeping with the romantic theme, makeup artist Porshe Cooper gave her smoky mauve lids and plum lips. Monochrome makeup FTW.

Image: Eric McCandless via Getty Images
Best: Taraji P. Henson

Last night, our beloved Cookie demonstrated that epic red carpet burns are best delivered by unapologetically purple lips. Said lips were lined with MAC's lip pencil in Cork and coated with Lip Bar’s Liquid Matte Creme in Savage and Drama Queen. How fitting.

Image: Steve Granitz/WireImage
Quirky-Good: St. Vincent

OK, St. Vincent's black, flower-like pouf was kind of kooky, but also clever in that it offset her gargantuan puff-sleeve shoulder and drew our attention to the singer's face, where her makeup — red lips, bold brows, gilded lids — was totally on-point. We're also here for her dramatic face-framing chop and incredibly strong earring game.

Image: Steve Granitz/WireImage
Best: Emma Stone

The 80s are trending, y'all. To match the Hollywood power player's power suit, Stone's longtime makeup artist Rachel Goodwin gave her some "power blush" (aka blush draping). For this, she used the Kingpin and Buzz shades from the upcoming NARS “Wanted” cheek palette (available at Ulta.com beginning March 8). Stone's razor-sharp lob expanded on the theme.

Image: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Best: Lupita Nyong'o

Nyong'o and her makeup artist, Nick Barose, created a look inspired by Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet. (As you can see, this involved bold blue eye shadow and lots of golden highlights.) To complete the look, hairstylist Vernon Francis crowned her with a golden ornament. Wakanda forever and ever.

Image: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Worst: Greta Gerwig

Unpopular opinion: We don't care for Greta Gerwig's new blunted 'do. We believe a chin-length bob works much better with her face shape. Also, is it just us or does her lip liner kinda sloppy? Whatever, we'll stop nitpicking.

Image: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Best: Laura Dern

Laura Dern kept it pretty classic for the big night but her flawless makeup, A-plus balayage and well-sculpted waves nevertheless turned heads.

Image: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Best: Saoirse Ronan

Meanwhile, Lady Bird star Saoirse Ronan knocked it out of the park. Between her new, sophisticated blunt bob, shimmery peach eye makeup and Gwyn-reminiscent Oscars dress, we were floored.

Image: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Undecided: Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg's look was fun but was it too much fun? Her dreaded mohawk and moody, aubergine lipstick certainly stood out from all that slick hair and subtle makeup. But then she went the Rihanna route and wore her (tiny) sunglasses at night. Maybe if she'd skipped the shades or worn a monochrome dress the overall effect wouldn't've been so...busy.

Image: Steve Granitz/WireImage