John Galliano’s Maison Margiela’s Spring/Summer 2024 Couture show stunned the world on Thursday night—and it was in no small part due to the makeup magic created by Pat McGrath herself. The models resembled perfect porcelain dolls with impossibly glowy skin, stunning eyeshadow, penciled-in brows, and bold lips, echoing the ‘20s look McGrath last crafted for John Galliano’s Dior Autumn/Winter show in 2009. Inspired by the show’s location, which took place under a full moon by the Seine, the makeup artist made sure each model’s glazed skin indeed looked as if kissed by the moonlight.
To achieve the base of the look, McGrath first applied Divine Skin: Rose 001 The Essence, her glow-inducing essence, and followed it up with her classic Skin Fetish foundation and concealer combo as well as the Divine Blush: Legendary Glow Colour Balm. The rest of the look featured Pat McGrath Labs’ PermaGel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil and MatteTrance Lipstick—plus eyeshadows from the Mothership I: Subliminal, Mothership VI: Midnight Sun, Blitz Astral Quad, and MTHRSHP Mega: Celestial Nirvana eyeshadow palettes applied on the eyes, brows, and even lips. She documented the various looks in hypnotizing videos posted to her Instagram page.
But as to exactly how the glazed effect was achieved, well, that’s a secret between the Mother of Makeup and the makeup artists who helped her execute her vision at the show. But stay tuned, because McGrath might just reveal her technique. When Instagram user @missglamslap commented, “Mother!! We need a video on how this skin was created! ❤️❤️🔥,” the legendary artist replied with three suggestive 👀 emojis. Perhaps, if we’re very lucky, we’ll get a tutorial soon—until then, we’ll be holding our collective breath and applying way more highlighter than usual.
And while we wait, check out these exclusive behind the scences photos sent directly from Mother.
Carol is the Associate E-Commerce Writer at ELLE.com, where she covers all things beauty. Before joining ELLE.com, she was an editor at Food Network Magazine and HGTV Magazine. She’s always on the hunt for the perfect lipstick and watches the same few comfort sitcoms (Frasier, Cheers, Seinfeld, New Girl, etc.) over and over again.