Gen Z Says is a bimonthly column chronicling the newest traits within the fashion-and-beauty house by way of the lens of Who What Wear’s personal Gen Z editors. Expect a obtain on the upcoming class of tastemakers, rising designers, and procuring and fashion decisions straight from the era setting the traits.
For some, December marks the start of the top. The month is spent drawing one yr to a detailed, celebrating one other, and acknowledging all the nice and unhealthy issues that include each. For me, nonetheless, the month additionally indicators a kind of rebirth for my appreciation for the tremendous arts onstage, in museums, and on my bookshelf. You can think about how excited I used to be to find that Pinterest’s 2026 pattern predictions for magnificence, trend, and life-style included one thing dubbed the opera aesthetic with photographs of velvet theater seats, dimly lit aisles, and light-flooded levels adopted by footage of opulent fragrance bottles, ethereal hair equipment, and elegant make-up kissed by candlelight. The complete pattern looks like one thing straight out of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 basic novel The Phantom of the Opera.
“Enter: the opulent party. Dial up the drama with velvet drapery, red roses, and string quartets,” reads the outline discovered beneath Pinterest’s featured board. As a lover of the extravagance, romance, and thriller of the opera, I discovered myself creating a completely new Pinterest board devoted to my interpretation of the pattern as a magnificence editor. My take leans into the pattern’s softer, extra whimsical facet, evoking every thing from the excited whispers backstage to the dried flower bouquets hanging in dressing rooms to must-have magnificence necessities, equivalent to subtle blush, glitter-flecked nail polish, heady floral scents, and extra. Interested in seeing the pattern by way of a magnificence editor’s eyes? Scroll on to see which merchandise seize Pinterest’s predicted opera aesthetic greatest and methods to convey it to life with or with out ever stepping right into a theater or having been within the midst of a prima donna.
Candelit Makeup
Chantecaille
Lip Definer in Chic
According to the numerous photographs populating my Pinterest homepage simply seconds after the phrases “opera aesthetic” have been entered into the search bar, the pattern champions every thing from just-bitten, shiny lips to their extra matte and sculpted counterpart. The Lip Definer pencil will guarantee your pout appears outlined utilizing a semi-matte, creamy method. I prefer it in Chic, a deep merlot, probably the most.
bareMinerals
Nourishing Lip Oil in Indulge
I’m famously keen on ending off my lip appears with a swipe of high-shine oil for a dewy look moderately than opting for a gloss. (Admittedly, it is often a texture factor.) The BareMinerals Nourishing Lip Oil presents a cross between the 2 with and ultra-hydrating, nonsticky method comprised of 9 botanical oils and hyaluronic acid to appease and situation. I’m obsessive about the sheer wash of coloration it delivers.
Armani Beauty
Fluid Sheer Glow Enhancer in Bronze Blush
To create a glow on the complexion that appears as when you’re surrounded by the mild flicker of heat candlelight, decide for a light-weight complexion enhancer like this one by Armani. Designed to be utilized as a focused spotlight or blended along with your skincare and basis for added radiance, the Fluid Sheer Glow Enhancer blurs and illuminates the complexion with buildable protection.
Victoria Beckham Beauty
Colour Wash Blush Water Tint
Pinterest’s trending opera aesthetic embraces the romance of the season, and I am unable to think about a greater approach to evoke the magic of the stage than with this long-wearing, watercolor-inspired liquid blush for a natural-looking flush. It delivers subtle coloration that may be blended into the pores and skin utilizing a brush or your fingers utilizing activated water expertise for mineral-rich hydration. I’ll be re-creating the pattern with Vintage Rose, a common berry mauve.
Timeless Polish
Essie
Nail Polish in Odd Squad
Nothing brings the drama like a deep-brown manicure. Essie’s vegan Nail Polish in Odd Squad presents a wealthy espresso brown warmed by purple tones with a creamy enamel method for flawless protection. The model’s unique easy-glide brush permits for fast, even utility to nails with out streaking or skipping. While this has been one in all my prime picks for fall and winter, it additionally makes an awesome year-round impartial.
CND
Vinylux Longwear Polish in Married to Mauve
Moody manicures are all the time elegant, however there’s one thing particular about seeing nails with a cool, berry-toned shade like CND’s Vinylux Long Wear Polish in Married to the Mauve. It appears magical throughout winter and fall. The long-wear polish is infused with vitamin E, keratin, and jojoba oil to situation and strengthen nails whereas selling a wholesome base for {smooth} coloration utility. It’s additionally price noting that it lasts for as much as seven days with out chipping.
OPI
Nail Polish in Kyoto Pearl
OPI’s Kyoto Pearl is a type of impartial nail polish shades that by no means falls out of fashion. The delicate and ethereal white satin is good for sporting to elevated occasions as a result of it pairs properly with every thing and displays mild in a refined, dreamlike method. To me, the polish appears greatest in candlelight. It enhances all pores and skin tones, however I believe it appears particularly good on medium-deep ones.
Londontown
Lakur Enhanced Colour Nail Polish in Vibe
Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year is Cloud Dancer, a comfortable, ethereal white symbolizing calm and readability. While I’ll all the time be keen on neutrals, I’d wish to current Londontown’s Lakur Enhanced Colour Nail Polish in Vibe, a jade inexperienced with licorice tendencies, as an alternate choice. The polish makes use of a vegan, breathable, gluten-free, and cruelty-free method for gel-like put on and shine.
Nailberry
L’Oxygene Oxygenated Nail Lacquer in Noirberry
Nailberry’s L’Oxygene Oxygenated Nail Lacquer in Noirberry evokes the plush velvet of theater seats in an opaque, deep purple that’s intense, opulent, and moody. It additionally makes use of an ultralight, breathable method with patented expertise that helps the well being of your nails whereas permitting easy utility and a stunning end.
Idyllic Fragrances
Santa Maria Novella
Melograno Eau de Cologne
Scent Type: Spicy floral
Notes: Bergamot, bitter orange, contemporary spices, pomegranate chord, rose, ylang-ylang, oakmoss, labdanum, patchouli, musk
Evoke the romance and thriller of the opera with this beloved scent by Santa Maria Novella. This is a blooming bouquet of lush florals, contemporary spices, and candy citrus with heat opening notes of bergamot and bitter orange towards a coronary heart of velvety rose, ylang-ylang and tart pomegranate. A fancy base combines glowing patchouli, labdanum, and musk with dry oakmoss.
Jo Malone London
Scarlet Poppy Cologne Intense
Scent Type: Warm floral
Notes: Ambrette, scarlet poppy, iris, barley, tonka bean, fig
Drawing inspiration from the extravagant scarlet poppy blooms that decision the steppes of West Asia their residence, this Jo Malone London perfume enhances the flower’s opulent scent with velvety-smooth iris and a splash of candy tonka bean grounded by barley. A ravishing base is the results of combining succulent fig with decadent amber.
Diptych
Do Son Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: Warm floral
Notes: Tuberose, orange blossom, jasmine, ylang-ylang, amberwood
If you gravitate towards comfortable florals warmed with spices, Diptyque’s Do Son is for you. Drawing inspiration from Vietnam’s bustling Haiphong market, this fragrance opens with a heady mix of tuberose, jasmine, and ylang-ylang lifting off on a sea breeze, then is grounded with spicy amberwood. To me, it smells like white flowers towards aged wooden or maybe a bouquet thrown lovingly onto a stage earlier than the curtain falls.
Marly perfumes
Valaya Exclusive Perfume
Scent Type: Fresh floral
Notes: Almond, bergamot, mandarin, orange blossom, white flowers, powdery aspects, akigalawood, sandalwood, ambroxan, vanilla
Parfums de Marly’s floral-woody creation exudes sensuality, magnificence, and refined luxurious with a novel olfactory expertise that mixes alluring almonds, clear white flowers, and creamy white woods. The sensual and heat notes are additional enhanced with powdery ones, giving this one a velvety softness that wears superbly on the pores and skin and lingers within the room lengthy after you’ve got left it.
Penhaligon’s
Empressa Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: Fruity floral
Notes: Blood orange, bergamot, mandarin, peach, cassis, dewberry, rose, neroli, geranium, cardamom, pink pepper, black pepper, vanilla pod, cocoa, frankincense, amber, musk, woods, patchouli, sandalwood, maltol
Penhaligon’s Empressa Eau de Parfum smells just like the grande finale, when the prima donna has held her final excessive notice and the viewers has been dropped at their toes. Dramatic and colourful, this iconic scent is impressed by the fantastic thing about valuable silks, pearls, and tremendous materials that adorn girls of affect. Its scrumptious notes of juicy peach, {smooth} vanilla, and shimmering blood orange (amongst a myriad of others) are virtually dripping with magnificence.
Elevated Accessories
France Luxe
Basic Side Comb Classic in Tokyo
In case you do not maintain a finger to the heart beat of the runway magnificence scene like I do, a side-comb renaissance is going on. The ’40s-meets-’80s hair accent presents a classy styling answer for preserving strands in place and provides a timeless magnificence to any look. The Basic Side Comb is hand made in France and completely polished. Of the 12 colours at present supplied by France Luxe, I’d put on it in Tokyo, brown tortoiseshell, for an evening out on the opera.
Amy Jay
Hair Pin in Gold Tiara
Ideal for creating a simple French chignon in seconds, this hair pin by Emi Jay is designed to work with all hair varieties. It helps information your tresses into an elegant updo with a flexible, polished steel design that will not slide misplaced. I like how Gold Tiara appears with my dark-brown knotless braids, however I’m already plotting to snag the identical hair pin in different colours to develop my hair-accessory assortment.
Lele Sadoughi
Peony Flower Claw Clip in Ivory
In my opinion, including a fragile floral accent to your chosen coiffure for your night time on the opera (or wherever you’d wish to put on this pattern) is the epitome of romance. I hold coming again to this resin claw clip with a sateen peony flower in Ivory as a result of it is a quick approach to elevate any outfit with out sacrificing time or effort. Measuring 4 inches by 4 inches, it additionally occurs to be an awesome measurement to assist protecting types.
A discover
Zoe Stone Mini Pony
A smooth ponytail or braid will all the time look stylish, however accessorizing with art-inspired particulars can add dimension and intrigue to an in any other case easy fashion. The Zoe Stone Mini Pony, for instance, is crafted from rhyolite jasper and framed with an eye catching golden trim. It might be worn solo, stacked, or blended and matched with different equipment (equivalent to luxe pony cuffs) for an editorial end.
A discover
Glossy Draped Barrette in Rhodium
Another gorgeous accent by Lelet I’d be fortunate to have in my assortment is its Glossy Draped Barrette. Available in Rhodium and Gold, the sculptural silhouette captures the look of molten steel with a contemporary design and high-shine aptitude. It’s putting but refined and provides a fluid contact to the coiffure of your selection for dressed-up moments. I might layer two of those for a fashion-forward tackle the pattern.