All of Nicole Kidman’s red carpet beauty looks have one thing in common: romanticism. This career-long sensibility is due in part to her tumble of natural curls, which evoke a sort of Old World charm that defined many of her early event looks, and in part to a general tendency toward softness. Throughout the decades Kidman’s brand of beauty—always featuring that iconic mane, colored shades of red or blonde—has ricocheted between Baroque and rock ‘n’ roll, always with an element of ease.
The ‘90s saw Kidman shaking out and pinning up her unruly ginger curls, hair paired with the era’s more minimal makeup and a selection of antique-inspired accessories. With the new millennium came a want of sleeker styles, cultivated curls and ponytails paired with berried lips and heavy blush. Gelled and pinned ringlets made for sculptural updos and low-slung chignons, while mussed tie-backs and braids delivered that same romantic feel to a more contemporary coil. Long bobs and blowouts, hazy cat eyes and peachy pink lips, topknots, and Old Hollywood waves—Kidman has sampled nearly every classic hair and makeup note.
Though Kidman’s Met Gala appearances are rare, she can be counted on to turn a look worthy of the occasion. For 2003’s “Goddess: The Classical Mode,” Kidman coupled her Tom Ford-era Gucci gown with a polished pony and a pull of peach blush; 2005’s high-slit Chanel called for a long and layered blowout; and 2016’s “Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology” found the actor topping a celestial Erté gown with a tiara-topped braid crown and touches of silver shimmer. Last year, Kidman paid homage to Karl Lagerfeld (and her Baz Luhrmann era) in a throwback pink and plumed Chanel Haute Couture, easy long blonde finished with a black ribbon at back.
Here, 24 of Nicole Kidman’s best red carpet beauty moments.