Pixel Makeup Is Blending Tech and Glam—Here’s How to Try It
Wellness isn’t always about unplugging. Sometimes it’s logging in—and letting your alter ego play.
Inspired by 8-bit gaming, “pixel makeup” transforms tactile beauty into digital play. Makeup artist Zee Ghielmetti reimagined pixels as paint, using the Make Up For Ever 12 Flash Color Case Multi-Use Palette to create block-like shapes in clashing shades, like maroon with fuchsia, deep blue with teal. Using liner brushes of varying thickness, she mapped each square with precision. “Start simple, build up, and edit as you go,” she says—like beauty in beta mode.
Kieran Punay
Matching the energy, hairstylist Cats del Rosario created Y2K–inspired spiky space buns with braided extensions, keeping things together with the Got2b Glued Blasting Freeze Hairspray and Belfour Water Gloss Hair Setting Lotion. Her advice for keeping strands healthy while styling: “Never mix pre-styling with finishing products,” because they serve different purposes and combining them can cause damage. Turns out, a little pixelation can be part of the picture of self-care.
Kieran Punay
Photographed by Kieran Punay. Modeled by Brea Umali of Luminary. Makeup by Zee Ghielmetti. Hair by Cats del Rosario.
