For years, Aspen has been revered as the ultimate mountain town destination, a pleasure-seeking place where A-listers and influencers flock during the cold weather months to simultaneously escape and be seen. With clubs on the main strip, castle lodges, high-end restaurants and a landmark opera house, everything about the winter hub screams luxury, the beauty aesthetic included.
“The Aspen aesthetic is what I would call luxury mountain glam — polished, elevated beauty with a touch of winter warmth,” celebrity makeup artist and beauty founder Alex Persico told WWD. “It’s inspired by the type of effortless-but-expensive look you see on women vacationing in Aspen.”
Jennifer Lopez in Aspen.
Like the “cold girl” makeup trend, Aspen beauty features flushed cheeks, dewy skin, neutral eyes, groomed brows and cream textures. “It’s glamour without trying too hard. It’s more ‘quiet luxury’ than red carpet drama,” Persico continued.
The focus is on the skin. At 7,891 feet, it must be. Even women who aren’t hitting the slopes are prioritizing hydration, prepping their skin with mists, serums and moisturizers before putting makeup on.
“Hydration is non-negotiable. Rose water, hyaluronic acid and niacinamide works beautifully for that smooth, lit-from-within finish,” Persico said, adding that when it’s time to put on makeup, cream products are preferred. Think Chanel’s Les Beiges Healthy Glow Bronzing Cream and Makeup by Mario’s Soft Pop Plumping Blush Veil. The product formula should “mimic real skin,” Persico pointed out.
“Light definition is key” for eyes, she continued. “A precise liner in espresso or black with a soft wing helps lift the eye without overpowering it,” Persico explained. The lips should be natural or nude, “lined and slightly diffused with a hydrating gloss to create that plush, luxury finish,” she said.
Hailey Bieber in Aspen.
The look is not to be confused with the quintessential “Old Money” aesthetic. That said, they’re both ostentatious in nature. “Where Old Money is, ‘I always look like this,’ Aspen beauty is, ‘I just came back from a ski lodge glowing, fresh and elevated!’”
Though not necessarily new, the Aspen aesthetic feels fresh now amid beauty’s growing commitment to skin-first makeup. In the last year, myriad brands have launched have made a concerted effort to launch products powered by skin care ingredients such as niacinamide, centella asiatica, glycerin and pentylene glycol.
The need for these innovations is coming straight from the consumer. “Consumers today want to look polished, but they want their makeup to feel breathable, quick and authentic,” Persico said. “It aligns with the trend toward cream textures, hydrated skin and enhanced natural features.”
The K-Beauty glass skin influence is also supercharging this, per recent data from Spate. “When you look at the top-trending claims today versus last year, in skin care we’re seeing things like ‘glowy’ and ‘blurring,’ which otherwise have largely been reserved for makeup, and in the makeup space, we’re seeing ‘moisture,’ ‘cooling’ and ‘hydration’ as top-searched benefits,” Yarden Horwitz, Spate cofounder, previously told WWD.
Pat McGrath Labs was in the first wave of brands, launching its Skin Fetish: Glass Skin 001 Artistry Mask at the top of 2025. Then came Glow Recipe’s Dewy Flush tinted cheek serum, Peach & Lily’s first Glass Skin Luminizing Stick and Victoria Beckham’s Foundation Drops powered by Augustinus Bader’s TFC8, Trigger Factor Complex TFC.
