The Met Gala 2026 Looks That Carried ‘Art’ Into Beauty
While most interpretations of the theme “Fashion Is Art” unfolded through gowns and ensembles, some of the most compelling takes were painted onto the face.
The Met Gala is, year after year, fashion’s most anticipated spectacle. This event is exactly where dress codes become creative prompts and celebrity styling turns into cultural commentary.
For 2026, the theme “Fashion Is Art” invited interpretations that leaned heavily into references from painting, sculpture, and installation. As expected, the red carpet delivered no shortage of sculptural gowns and conceptual ensembles.
But beyond the silhouettes and embellishment, there was another layer of interpretation unfolding up close: the face. Here at Allure Philippines, we found ourselves zooming in on the makeup looks that didn’t just complement the theme, but also extended it.
Below were the stars whose makeup looks became the masterpieces of the night.
Maria Zardoya (The Marías)
Maria Zardoya stunned with a look that felt lifted from a vintage dream sequence. Styled as an 80s porcelain doll, she wore skinny brows, metallic gray eyeshadow dusted with subtle glitter, and soft glossy baby pink lips sharply overlined in black, which became an intentional contrast that gave the softness an edge.
The makeup, created by Sandy Nicha using YSL Beauty products, played directly into the nostalgia of her ensemble, which also included a companion antique porcelain doll.
Audrey Nuna
Audrey Nuna’s beauty look leaned fully into abstraction, echoing the visual language of Jackson Pollock’s 1948 work Number 26A, Black and White. The face became a study in graphic restraint and controlled chaos, with elongated black liner stretching horizontally beyond the eyes and lips painted in black, punctuated with silver shimmer.
The artistry was executed by Filipina makeup artist Ashley Ysabelle using products from MAC Cosmetics, NYX, Chanel Beauty, Inglot, Anastasia Beverly Hills, and more.
Rihanna
Rihanna, as always, treated the carpet like her personal gallery. Her gilded beauty moment centered on gold-toned eyeshadow, sculpted brows, and strategic shimmer that caught light from every angle. Silver and gold rhinestones traced the outer corners of her eyes.
The look was brought to life by Hector Espinal, who leaned into a vision of modern gilded glamour. Every reflective detail felt considered, like ornamentation on fine art.
SZA
SZA’s makeup turned warmth into atmosphere. Painted by Sophia Sinot, the look mimicked the sensation of being lit from within by golden-hour sunlight. Yellow tones washed across the face, with soft gold shimmer on the lids and long lashes framing the eyes. The lips grounded the glow with a glossy fuchsia pink.
Using products including Vaseline Radiant Glow and Lilly Lashes in “Milan” and “Miami,” the look felt less like makeup and more like light translated onto skin. Yes, as in sunlight as texture.
Hudson Williams
Hudson Williams delivered one of the night’s most painterly interpretations, with makeup that blurred the line between costume and canvas. Designed by Filipina makeup artist Aika Flores, the look featured a black swan-inspired transformation: smoky grays, deep blues, and red streaks sweeping across the lids, all finished with shimmer that created a fractured, almost brush-painted illusion.
In Flores’ own words, the inspiration was “a study in transformation: where innocence fractures and grace darkens, the white swan shedding softness to emerge as something sharper, untouchable, and entirely reborn.”
The beauty work was completed using Chanel Beauty and We Love Coco products.
Hunter Schafer
Hunter Schafer’s look was one of the most literal translations of fine art into beauty. Inspired by Gustav Klimt’s Mäda Primavesi (1912/1913), the makeup,created by Sandy Ganzer, channeled the painting’s softness through blush-heavy cheeks, pastel blue and lilac eyes, and pink lips.
The result felt almost ethereal in its accuracy: as though the painting had stepped off the frame, softened at the edges, and learned to move.
Anok Yai
If there were a singular moment that pushed makeup into performance art, it was Anok Yai. Created by Sheika Daley with prosthetics and body work by Malina Stearns and her team, the look reimagined the “Weeping Madonna” through sculptural tears and luminous gold-toned highlights that traced the face.
The prosthetic tears gave the illusion of emotion suspended in material form. It was devotional, theatrical, and arresting in its stillness.
Tyla
Tyla closed this lineup with a siren-like glow that leaned into sensuality and shine. Makeup artist Ngozi Esther Edeme created a wet-look finish anchored by blinding highlights, glitter concentrated under the eyes, a smoky shadow that softened the gaze, and nude lips that kept the focus on the skin’s reflective surface.
The effect was fluid and intentional, like movement captured mid-frame, or light bouncing off water at night.
Makeup is art
At the Met Gala 2026, “Fashion Is Art” wasn’t only about garments. On the most compelling looks of the night, the face became its own medium. And in those moments, makeup wasn’t an accessory to fashion. It was the artwork itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Met Gala 2026 theme was “Fashion Is Art,” which invited interpretations drawing from painting, sculpture, and installation art. On the beauty side, this translated into makeup looks that referenced specific artworks — Hunter Schafer’s look was directly inspired by Gustav Klimt’s Mäda Primavesi (1912/1913), while Audrey Nuna’s graphic liner echoed the visual language of Jackson Pollock’s 1948 work Number 26A, Black and White. Several looks treated the face as a canvas extending the garment’s conceptual intent rather than simply complementing it.
Two Filipina makeup artists had their work featured on the Met Gala 2026 red carpet. Ashley Ysabelle created Audrey Nuna’s abstract graphic look using products from MAC Cosmetics, NYX, Chanel Beauty, Inglot, and Anastasia Beverly Hills. Aika Flores designed Hudson Williams’ black swan-inspired transformation — smoky grays, deep blues, and red streaks across the lids — using Chanel Beauty and We Love Coco products, describing the concept as “where innocence fractures and grace darkens.”
Anok Yai’s look was among the most theatrically striking of the night. Created by makeup artist Sheika Daley with prosthetics and body work by Malina Stearns, the look reimagined the “Weeping Madonna” motif through sculptural prosthetic tears and gold-toned highlights tracing the face. The prosthetic tears created the illusion of suspended emotion in physical form — a convergence of makeup artistry, prosthetics, and performance art that was widely cited as one of the defining beauty moments of the evening.
Rihanna’s look centered on gilded glamour — gold-toned eyeshadow, sculpted brows, strategic shimmer, and silver and gold rhinestones tracing the outer corners of her eyes. The look was created by makeup artist Hector Espinal and treated as an extension of her ensemble’s art-adjacent visual language, with each reflective detail functioning as ornamentation consistent with the “Fashion Is Art” theme.
Hunter Schafer’s makeup artist Sandy Ganzer recreated the softness of Gustav Klimt’s portrait Mäda Primavesi (1912/1913) through blush-heavy cheeks, pastel blue and lilac eyeshadow, and pink lips. The look was one of the most literal fine-art references of the night — widely noted for its accuracy to the painting’s palette and its sense of stepping directly from the frame onto the red carpet.
