Back-to-back weekends headlining two major music festivals sounds exhausting, but it’s no surprise that Lorde pulled off her Coachella-to-Jazz Fest double-header like a champ. After performing live for the first time since 2014 in a surprise show at a tiny venue outside of Los Angeles just two weeks ago, the artist is back — and she’s brought two new songs and a stepped-up beauty game along with her.
Exhibit A: the unexpected braids that were her secret to beating the heat in hot-as-hell New Orleans this past weekend. Lorde defied humidity (and her head-to-toe crushed-velvet outfit, which couldn’t have been particularly breathable) with two Dutch braids pulled back off her forehead, with the rest of her hair loose. The look is both utilitarian — it kept her hair off her face, which was necessary — and cool, in that slightly messy, flyaway-embracing way that’s the hallmark of a good festival hairstyle.
As for the rest of her look, blue eyeshadow isn’t the first thing we think of when we're picking hot weather-friendly makeup — but with the functional braids and not much other makeup, Lorde has us convinced that a jolt of color on the eyes could be all the makeup we need to carry us through Indian summer and beyond. We're going to take a hard pass on the black velvet, though.