The Best Beauty Looks From The 2025 Critics Choice Awards – Essence

Tonight, the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards honored this year’s best performances in television and film at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. After being postponed twice during the Los Angeles wildfires—which are now 100 percent contained—the ceremony has been long awaited. So, with no further delay, nominees took to the red carpet to give their beauty looks the commotion they deserve. 

Nominated for Best Actress for her performance in Wicked, Cynthia Erivo arrived in a white French tip manicure airbrushed with a faint, hazy green (and gold embellishments, of course). Emilia Pérez’s Zoe Saldaña—and Best Supporting Actress winner—paired her skin-first makeup look with a sleek, modern ponytail. In the same category, Danielle Deadwyler from The Piano Lesson wore her lips in a soft, speckled pink with a side-parted bob tucked behind her ear.

The Wild Robot’s Lupita N’yongo’s longtime hairstylist, Vernon François, turned her sister locs into almost a chignon as she accepted the Best Animated Feature Film award. Meanwhile, Abbott Elementary’s Janelle James accentuated her eye with a long, thin wing lined in white with a matte lip. And, to end the night, Colman Domingo—nominated for his role in Sing Sing—added a side part to his well-groomed afro, which contrasted his low-shaved beard.

Below, take a look at the best beauty moments from the 2025 Critics Choice Awards.

Cynthia Erivo

Lupita Nyong’o

Janelle James

Myha’la

Skye P. Marshall

Danielle Deadwyler

Colman Domingo

Zoe Saldana

Marianne Jean-Baptiste

Aldis Hodge