Solange Delivers Endless Beauty Inspo—7 Iconic Looks That Live Rent-Free in My Mind

Have you ever scrolled through Pinterest and saved post ofter post of Solange Knowles' incredible beauty looks? If you answered yes, then rest in the knowledge that Who What Wear's beauty team are equally as obsessed with the "Binz" and "Don't Touch My Hair" singer's iconic 'minimalist boho' beauty looks. Keep scrolling for our deep dive into seven of her most memorable beauty moments from red carpet appearances to effortless selfies that have earned thousands of likes on Instagram. Whether you've just discovered the talented artist via her viral music videos or through looking up celebrity-approved protective styles, you've landed in the right place.
Below are seven makeup and hair looks we're itching to recreate and the must-have products in the lineup to help us bring them to life from best-selling beauty brands.
Sun-Kissed Complexion with Extra Small Knotless Braids
Time and Place: The Watermill Gala in Watermill, New York July 2024
Knowles made an appearance at last year's Watermill Gala with a sun-kissed, dewy complexion that perfectly complemented the charcoal grey sculptural, minimalist set from The Row’s resort 2025 collection. She also wore her jet black, extra small knotless braids in a center part tucked just behind the ear to show off an eye-catching pair of chrome Jil Sander earrings. To achieve a similar look, start with a dewy, sun-kissed makeup base by using gold-flecked blush with a bronzing cream.
Get The Look:
This lightweight cream-gel bronzer creates a delicate velvet-matte finish with soft-focus powders and light-reflecting pigments. Simply apply the bronzer where the sun naturally hits the face using your brush of choice or by gently patting it into the skin with the fingers.
To create the same arched, refined brows that Knowles is always pictured wearing, invest in an ultra fine brow gel and pencil duo. Merit's Brow 1990 is an easy-to-use, microfine gel pencil that can be used to fill and define the brows for natural-looking finish without any harsh lines.
For sleek protective styles, you'll want to get your hands on this extra firm hold foam. With a lightweight formula featuring a blend of biotin and honey, this foam combats frizzy, dull hair to reveal nonstop shine. Apply a few pumps to braids to smooth away frizz before wrapping with a silk scarf.
Blown-Out Textured Tendrils and 'No Makeup' Makeup
Time and Place: Photoshoot with makeup artist Cherish Brooke Hill and hairstylist Kim Kimble
Knowles shared these shots of herself with long, blown-out tresses that showed off her stunning hair texture and a 'no makeup' makeup for a photoshoot. The hair look by celebrity hairstylist and natural hair educator Kim Kimble, proves center parts will never be out of style while Knowles' barely-there natural makeup look is everything we could want and more. If you have similarly textured hair, get the look by blowing out your tresses with a hair dryer brush (don't forget your heat protectant!)
Get The Look:
Using a multi-purpose hair dryer brush on tight curls can deliver the same blown-out tresses as modeled by Knowles. Our curly-haired editors swear by this one to get the job done. It has an elliptical-shaped barrel plate to deliver volume and body close to the root.
Having healthy looking and feeling hair takes some extra effort, but using a heat protection spray can help ensure your strands stay armed against your heat tools. Oribe's multi-tasking, dry conditioning spray repairs, nourishes and shields damaged strands of all hair types for soft, frizz-free finish.
Whenever she wears a flawless 'no makeup' makeup look, just know we're taking nonstop screenshots to recreate it later with our favorite easy-to-use, minimalist products. To bring this look to life, try Refy's Lip Blush to enhance your natural lips while adding a subtle wash of color.
Electric Green Eyeshadow with Straight Strands
Time and Place: Unknown
Here the singer is pictured sporting a colorful eye look that's as bold as the music of the woman wearing it. In these selfies, she pairs electric green eyeshadow on her lids and brown, ultra-glossy lips defined by liner in a deep brown shade. This is one of the few times on her Instagram page we see Knowles with sleek, straight hair, as she regularly wears her strands in protective styles.
Get The Look:
If you're in the market for a sheer cocoa brown lip color to recreate the effortless lip look Knowles wears in these selfies, try Summer Fridays' Lip Butter Balm in Iced Coffee. Not only is it the best shade match, but its formula delivers soothing moisture to parched lips with a blend of shea butter, murumuru seed butter, and vegan waxes.
What better way to achieve an effortless, bold eye makeup look than with an easy-to-use eye pencil? Nyx's The Jumbo Eye Pencil in Matcha is a shimmering lime green shade with a creamy and blendable formula. The pencil can be used as an eyeliner, eyeshadow, or as an eyeshadow primer. For the latter, Nyx recommends blending it out with your fingers or an eyeshadow brush, then topping it off with your favorite powder eyeshadow.
For sleek, straight hair, it's crucial to have a finishing spray that can extend the wear time for your style. Crown Affair's non-aerosol and alcohol-free fine mist hairspray is made with two of the brand's proprietary blends (Tsubaki Meadows and The Brush Away Blend) for ample shine, hydration, and hold. Its formula also has strengthening panthenol, beetroot seed extract, and nourishing aloe vera.
'70s Inspired Blow Out and Chrome Eyes
Time and Place: Unknown
Whether she's gracing us with her presence at a star-studded red carpet event or on stage, Knowles knows how to deliver throwback beauty looks in fun and modern ways. She posted these pics of a voluminous natural style reminiscent of those worn by '70s songstress Donna Summer and shimmering chrome eye makeup perfect for glam nights out.
Get The Look:
The Coco Dew Curl Defining Refresher Spray by Mizani is a curl-defining spray that can be used to prep the hair before natural styling or to refresh your second-day curls while adding moisture and reducing frizz. Its formula is infused with coco extract, which leaves the hair moisturized with a light, refreshing coconut fragrance that has notes of salt and energizing guava that lasts all day.
Knowles wears the prettiest silver shade on her eyes that catches the light as she moves. How fun is it that the color matches her chrome earring and stands out against her glowy complexion and glossy lips? Path McGrath Labs' Chromaluxe Artistry Pigment in Golden Seductress is exactly what we would imagine the songstress having in her makeup collection for disco diva-inspired looks.
Your search for the best fudge-colored lip oil is over. E.l.f. Cosmetics' Glow Reviver Lip Oil in Hot as Fudge is a dreamy rich brown shade that screams '70s model off-duty. Plus, its non-sticky formula nourishes and hydrates the lips with ingredients like squalane and avocado, jojoba, pomegranate, and apricot oils.
Long, Wavy Tresses and Flushed Cheeks
Time and Place: The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp—Notes on Fashion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
When Knowles attended the 2019 Met Gala wearing a custom designed Ferragamo python print bodysuit and long, tousled strands, our hearts skipped a beat. Not only was the look an ultra-glam take on boho beauty, but thanks to the peachy, flushed cheeks, also took over our summer and spring makeup Pinterest boards. Knowles was glowing from inside out, and we won't stop until we can recreate it.
Get The Look:
To get Knowles' flawless wind-blown waves, consider picking up an anti-frizz treatment to help create a sleek, glossy texture like the Dream Coat Supernatural Spray Anti-Frizz Treatment. It uses lightweight, heat-activated polymer technology to block humidity, while chamomilla extract and glycerin to protect color, enrich radiance, and promote moisture.
To pull of Knowles' chic 'just-pinched' flush to the cheeks, choose a warm-toned pink blush shade, working the blush across the nose, then upwards towards the cheek bones. Westman Atelier's Baby Cheeks Blush Stick in Minette is a luminous peach tone that looks gorgeous on all skin tones and uses a creamy, buildable formula.
Knowles' Met Gala makeup look balances the shades of juicy peach with a shimmery pink gloss. The newly formulated Dior Addict Lip Maximizer Plumping Gloss uses 90% natural-origin ingredients and infused with cherry oil and hyaluronic acid, and comes in the perfect pink shade for this look (Pinkmania).
Vinyl Eyeshadow with Waist-Length Box Braids
Time and Place: Unknown
While pictured lounging poolside in a black bikini, Solange wore waist-length box braids with loose curls at the ends (A.K.A. the perfect summer friendly protective hair style) and silver eye makeup with a futuristic vinyl finish. She topped off the look with glossy, pink lips that played up their natural flush to perfection.
Get The Look:
About-Face's Vinyl Effect Eye Gloss in clear is the easiest way to recreate Knowles' eye makeup. The glistening, lacquered gloss creates a glass-like shine that can be swiped onto the lids for a fresh, dewy effect or over About-Face's Matte Fluid Eye Paint to create the same look in two steps. It uses a soothing formula infused with squalane to moisturize the lids without leaving them sticky.
You can't create flawless edges without the help of an ergonomic and easy-to-use edge tool like this one by Pattern. The brand's best-selling three-in-one tool can be used to comb, brush, and swirl baby hairs thanks to its strong vegan bristles.
To keep your edges in check while wearing a protective hair style like small knotless braids, opt for a flexible edge gel like this one by Kiss Colors & Care. The Edge Fixer Maximum Hold's formula is non-greasy and infused with biotin B7 to nourish your baby hairs while delivering strength and hold. It also comes in five different fruity scents (Sweet Peach is our favorite).
Juicy Passion Twists with a Full-Body Glow
Time and Place: Unknown
Looking for a protective style to wear on your next tropical vacation? We're taking notes from Knowles and wearing thick and juicy passion twists when we hit the beach in two ways: pulled up into a high volume ponytail and long and loose down our backs. We're also loving how even-toned and glowy her body looks!
Get The Look:
This 3-in-1 no-rinse scalp cleansing solution by Bephor crafted to cleanse, balance, and refresh the scalp with a formula that antibacterial protection, restores the scalp’s pH balance, regulates sebum and moisture, and relives itchy scalp. The addition of apple cider vinegar allows the product to cleanse the the hair while exfoliating and clarifying the scalp.
Looking for a styling gel that is as good for your scalp and strands as it is for the appearance of your protective style? House of Braid's Non-Toxic Styling Gel provides long-lasting hold without causing irritation, flaking, dryness, or greasiness with a formula using castor oil, tea tree oil, aloe vera, and moringa oil to promote hydration and growth.
The Shimmer Oil SPF 30 features two types of shimmer (a pearlescent glaze and reflective gold flecks) in a rich blend of naturally derived oils that leaves no white cast. For the best results, apply the product liberally 15 minutes before sun exposure, reapplying at least every 2 hours when in sun.
Maya Thomas is Who What Wear's Associate Beauty Editor based in New York City. Her strong love for all things beauty and fashion stems from a strong childhood interest in the fine arts. During a gap year spent in Paris studying the history of French fashion, she shifted her focus to English literature and journalism as a student at Loyola Marymount University with the goal of one day pursuing a career in fashion. After graduating in May 2021, Maya began freelancing for Parade.com as a contributing commerce writer while also building a following on her lifestyle blog, Itsmayalala.com. When she's not writing, Maya spends her free time catching up on reading, perusing art galleries, and enjoying a night out at the ballet every now and then.
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