Makeup Artist Kenric Carpio Channels the Palayok’s Terracotta and Ochre Tones Into a Beauty Look

Beauty doesn’t always come from a jar. For Allure Philippines’ Global Beauty issue, it also comes from clay—specifically, the traditional earthenware clay pot, the palayok. 

Filipino makeup artist Kenric Carpio saw this brief and immediately gravitated toward translating the palayok’s texture, creating a look that highlights the terracotta and ochre tones of the pot, set against a pared-back, powdery base. 

In this Allure Philippines exclusive, Kenric Carpio breaks down how he channeled the traditional palayok’s unglazed textures and tones into an editorial beauty look. 

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How the look came together

The whole look started with a facial massage—not simply as skin care, but as part of Carpio’s makeup prep. Not only does a quick massage help promote blood flow, it also de-puffs the face and leaves a smooth, glowing canvas for makeup. “Kasi parang super bare nga siya, so more focus on the eye [makeup],” said Kenric. 

The eye makeup was built with about four to six layers, with a fine, powdery finish and colors inspired by the palayok. To create the texture, Carpio scraped the eyeshadow pigments before tapping them onto the eyes with a spoolie, building up the color layer by layer.

For the lips, Carpio created a gradient lip—but with more “oomph,” as Kenric said.

The key products she used

Primer, set the tone for the rest of the look: Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base gave the skin a plumped, luminous base to build on. From there, Carpio used MAC Studio Fix Every-Wear-All-Over Face Pen and Sunnies Face Skin So Good Skin Stick in Palomino to add a bit of depth. 

Color came entirely from contour and bronzer—no blush. Carpio used the GRWM Cosmetics Face Card Contour shades and the GRWM Cosmetics Face Card Shadowplay: Velvet Matte in Icon to intensify the sculpting, then set the look with a terracotta shade. 

To lock everything in place, Kenric used the Gucci Poudre De Beaute Mat Naturel Face Powder and applied the Chanel Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick in Moonlight Kiss along the outer perimeter of the face.

The foundation of the eye look was the Elmer’s Disappearing Purple Glue Stick, which she applied in three layers to build the look’s clay-like texture. The eyeshadow pigments, a mix of contour and bronzer shades, were then applied with a spoolie. To create the appearance of bleached brows, Carpio muted them with Makeup By Mario concealer.

For the gradient lips, Carpio worked with a MAKE UP FOR EVER Rouge Artist For Ever Matte in Endlessly Blushed, adding MAC’s MACximal Silky Matte Lipstick in Caviar in the inner lip along with Kaleidos Makeup Cloud Lab Lip Clay in Cold Smoke, then softening the look with a whisper of gloss from Anko. 

To set the whole face while still retaining a skin-like finish, Carpio used the GRWM Cosmetics HydraMist Multi Action Setting Spray. 

The palayok isn’t just where this look began—it’s part of the story. Every scraped pigment, every deliberately raw layer, was Carpio’s way of putting Filipino culture and craft at the center of the beauty look rather than treating it simply as a reference.