You've sailed past the velvet rope and start down a dark corridor, feeling along the wall for balance. The sound of live music grows louder, pulsing in the floor and echoing up your calves. Finally, the narrow hallway opens wide and ejects you into the middle of a party. Your eyes barely have time to adjust to the dim light before something flashes in your peripheral vision. It’s a model with a mosaic of pink crystals and sequins glinting on her face. Another soon swans by, cerulean latex painted from lashes to brows. Next you spot Rihanna, who’s arrived fresh from a magazine shoot; a golden starburst encircles her eye and trails down her cheek in metallic rivulets. And everywhere there’s transcendent skin—glowing to the point of incandescence, as though plugged into an LED light. This is a galaxy of stars, a world of extreme tones and textures. Welcome to the world of makeup as seen by Pat McGrath.
McGrath is the beauty industry’s most creative, most coveted, and most prolific makeup artist. Using exotic materials like feathers, gold leaf, pearls, and leather, she transforms models into surreal beings, and catwalks into otherworldly realms—usually wedged somewhere between Versailles and outer space. McGrath masterminds the beauty looks for roughly 80 fashion shows each year, always maintaining a serene presence backstage. Her famously all-black wardrobe keeps her visually removed from the chaos of partially dressed models and racks of clothing that create a sense of unspooling for the unaccustomed observer. She calls people “darling” and marshals an army of assistants, reacting calmly whenever someone on her team applies a layer of foundation or a red lip that doesn’t quite pass muster—meaning we have not yet arrived at perfection.
A keen, laser focus is how McGrath keeps her cool in this dizzying environment. “I have to pretend that no other world exists, or I’d go crazy,” she says. But outside the fashion show, or the magazine shoot, or the ad campaign, McGrath has a wandering gaze. She’s always in search of inspiration. And these days, she’s discovered it in an eclectic group of models whom she refers to—in the superlative language of the artist—as her muses. “They are their own women, representing a mix of ethnicities, sizes, and backgrounds,” says McGrath of this exclusive club, which includes a thoughtful young writer, an Instagram sensation, and the most famous supermodel on the planet. “They allow me to experiment and create the looks I dream of in my head.” Grouped together for an early-morning photo shoot, with the sun forming tepid bars of light on set, these models provide a hazy glimpse into that very head, offering a clue to McGrath’s creative psyche. She is an artist without a type. She’s not interested in reaffirming her vision, only in challenging it.
And while she’s at it, McGrath would like to challenge everyone else’s notion of beauty, too. This is the premise of the namesake line, Pat McGrath Labs, that she (finally) launched a year and a half ago. “I want to change how people think about makeup, and disrupt the status quo,” she says. The five collections that she’s created so far certainly achieve this goal. Eye shadows that flake like gold dust, lipsticks so shiny and pigmented they smack of latex, and highlighters that give skin a holographic glow have presented a bold alternative to the safe neutrals that form a unity of beige across beauty aisles and makeup counters. And it’s a look that women are not only willing to experiment with but actually racing to try. McGrath’s first collection, Gold 001, sold out on her website in six minutes and six seconds. Her more recent launches have made their way to Sephora—the Skin Fetish highlighters were gone within a couple of weeks.
If you can ignore (for a split second) the crazy popularity of McGrath’s products, you’ll find that her makeup also possesses built-in sanctity—an unusual concept for such a temporary medium. “I try to keep it on all day,” says Jasmine Sanders, a model and McGrath muse whose 2 million Instagram followers know her as Golden Barbie (and with skin and hair that suggest creamed honey, the handle isn’t exactly hyperbole). “My boyfriend laughs at me because I sleep on my hands, trying not to ruin it.” That sentimental feeling also extends to McGrath. In fact, the one characteristic that all of McGrath’s muses seem to share is their reverence for the woman herself. Each describes her in glowing terms, as if she can’t quite believe that the master’s gaze has settled on her. “It’s an honor to be involved with these products. I would do anything for Pat,” says Sanders, whose eyes look remarkably wide and earnest, even though they’re laden with glimmer and defined by a stiletto-ish flick of liner. She’s a social-media force and models for top designers. But right now, at this moment, she’s just another girl, happy to be invited to the party.
Naomi Campbell
Campbell has inspired so many artists, designers, and photographers that the supermodel is in a category all her own: She gets to decide who can claim her as a muse. McGrath is part of that small, elite circle. “We’ve worked together since the mid-1990s, and she inspires me in ways I’ve never imagined,” says McGrath. “There is no one like Naomi.” McGrath has always taken the same approach to Campbell: perfecting her complexion with minimal makeup, which allows her skin to peek naturally through. Here, a layer of vermilion glitter from McGrath’s Lust 004 collection creates an extravagant effect on her lips and an allover glow.
Watch as McGrath explains how she created Naomi's look:
Hailey Baldwin
Baldwin is accustomed to moving in famous circles (like that surname suggests, she’s the daughter of Stephen and niece to Alec). Laid-back and fresh-faced, she exudes a relaxed aura. “She’s the quintessential L.A. girl,” says McGrath. But that doesn’t stop Baldwin from getting a little star struck around McGrath. “Pat is a legend. I’m so grateful to be part of her creative process. I’ll do anything for her.” Even—it turns out—arrive at a photo shoot at 8 a.m. on a Sunday. Whenever Baldwin is in McGrath’s chair, the makeup artist accentuates her “smoldering eyes,” this time with the product that started it all: Gold 001. On Baldwin, the winking, alloyed effect has a Tinseltown glint.
Paloma Elsesser
Elsesser has the sort of creamy, hypnotic complexion that holds a person’s gaze—and guides a makeup artist’s touch. “Her face is the ultimate canvas,” says McGrath of the model and writer. “She’s a hard-core beauty.” McGrath uses a shimmery gold stick from her Skin Fetish 003 line to accentuate the high points of Elsesser’s face, creating what the model calls “rich baby skin.” A dramatic swoop of liquid liner anchors all that incandescence. “I’m happy to sparkle like a glazed disco ball,” says Elsesser with a laugh.
My Look: Model Paloma Elsesser
Jasmine Sanders
When you’re known in the fashion world as Golden Barbie, glowing like a precious metal is almost a professional obligation. “If I can get any more golden, I go for it,” says Sanders, who dazzles in this sparkling bronze eye shadow from McGrath’s Metalmorphosis 005 collection. Whether she’s walking Paris runways or vacationing in Mexico with Kim Kardashian West, Sanders radiates warmth—a magical effect that McGrath is famous for re-creating with makeup. Golden Barbie also happens to be a real doll: “Introducing my mom to Pat was such a huge moment for me. My mom’s a makeup artist. I cried.”
Mallory Merk
When McGrath first messaged Merk on Instagram, the 16-year-old model and musician “tried to be cool and not respond for like, an hour.” These days, Merk doesn’t contain her enthusiasm around McGrath. “I hadn’t learned how to do makeup yet, and now I’m learning from Pat McGrath!” she exclaims. Merk’s favorite new trick is to use coppery shadow on her lids to match her hair (“Yes, this is my natural color”). And while she may be a relative newcomer to makeup, she loves gutsy shades, like this glittery wine lip color from McGrath’s Lust 004, with gold traced over the Cupid’s bow. “I’m an artist from the inside out,” she says. “My makeup represents what I’m feeling.”
Ruby Aldridge
“Pat is a visionary,” says Aldridge, a model whose classic features offset her cheeky, mall-rat style. Aldridge has managed to deflect comparisons to her older, sex symbol sister, Lily Aldridge, by cultivating a look that’s uniquely her own—something that McGrath instinctively draws out of her. “The most over-the-top look Pat ever did for me was at Christian Dior in 2012. I’d never seen myself like that before—truly transformed.” Here, McGrath swirled blue and gold pigments from her Phantom 002 line on Aldridge’s lids, creating a mesmerizing peacock effect. “It matches her fun, fiery energy,” says McGrath.
For more on Pat McGrath:
- See All of Pat McGrath's Glittery Makeup Looks at Maison Margiela
- Pat McGrath Used 6 Shadows to Create This Insane Smoky Eye
- Ajani Russell Is the Cool New Model to Watch
And note on McGrath's cult-favorite products...
When Pat McGrath sent models onto Prada’s spring 2016 runway with lips coated in molten gold, a frenzy began to brew. A few days later, she was in the Jardin des Tuileries during Paris fashion week, painting the 24-karat liquid-powder onto the lips and lids of her model friends (Bella Hadid, Lily Donaldson), not to mention a few Parisian passersby. A makeup phenomenon—and Instagram sensation—was born. When Pat McGrath Labs Gold 001 was finally available to the public a month later, it sold out in 366 seconds. It’s been followed by four more collections: Phantom 002, a collection of jewel-tone pigments; Skin Fetish 003, two highlighting kits that replicate the famously luminous skin McGrath has created backstage for decades; Lust 004, three lip kits that all include (of course) gold pigment and loose glitter; and Metalmorphosis 005, pigments in gold, silver, copper, and bronze. Though quantities have increased, the products—always packaged with hundreds of sparkling (and highly Instagrammable) sequins—still disappear quickly...in weeks, if not seconds.
Makeup: Pat McGrath // Hair: Raquel Martuscelli // Manicure: Jin Soon Choi of Jin Soon Natural Hand & Foot Spas // Fashion Stylist: Natasha Royt
