Meet the Artist Behind Doja Cat’s Mesmerizing Makeup Transformations 

When makeup artist Laurel Charleston first met Doja Cat, it was, like any modern celebrity connection, thanks to technology. “We connected on social media, and the first time we worked together was for New York Fashion Week this year,” says Charleston. “She asked me to paint her, and we came through with that white, webbed makeup art painted all over her head!” The look was the trippy, swirling moment the “Woman” singer wore for Vogue World’s street-fair-meets-runway event, and it set the stage for an even more daring week in the City of Lights—with Charleston playing the role of a fine artist. 

“Each look we put together was a deeply artistic and beautiful collaboration between her, myself, and her stylist, Brett Alan Nelson,” says Charleston, who channeled inspiration from each fashion look. Musing upon conceptual sources isn’t unfamiliar territory for her. Charleston started out recreating fine art paintings using cosmetics as a medium. “I ended up teaching myself different painting styles, techniques, and ways to express myself with makeup,” she says. After moving to New York in 2019 to work as an orchestra conductor, Charleston started experimenting with other Brooklyn makeup artists like Nathan Sweet, Brian Vu, and Patrick Church for test shoots and projects. “It was also at this same time that I started my journey, living life as a transgender person,” she remembers. “The classical music world is (still) sadly riddled with a lot of normative gender ideals and transphobia, a career as a successful, healthy, and out transgender conductor was going to be harder than I thought. But as the classical world pushed me away, the makeup world embraced me with open arms!” 

Now, Charleston counts Teyana Taylor, Dylan Mulvaney, and Tati Gabrielle as clients, and Doja Cat’s otherworldly Paris looks have launched her career to another level. The pair collaborated for five front-row looks and one for Beyoncé’s party at the end of Paris Fashion Week. For the latter, Doja Cat asked Charleston to sign her neck under the Surreal line face design she created as a final fashion month flourish. “I was absolutely speechless,” wrote Charleston on Instagram. Together, their instincts subvert beauty norms in powerful fashion. “There was just a genuine understanding that we’re here to create extensions of her own, extremely creative expression,” says Charleston. “Makeup does not have to be traditional! Makeup does not have to be glam! Makeup does not have to be beautiful!” 

With no rules to follow, at Vivienne Westwood, sharply edged black glam rock eyes reached all the way to Doja Cat’s printed head scarf; at Lanvin, a black tuxedo called for asymmetrical electric blue blush; and at Thome Browne, the designer’s signature stripes were recreated with MAC paints in a strip under the lip. Some avant-garde moments required bespoke formulations, like for A.W.A.K.E. MODE’s show, where a neutral plaid suit called for a custom-blended gold face and body treatment. “On the spot, I had to create the perfect mixture that would be fully opaque without adding too much texture to the skin,” Charleston explains. Custom body makeup came into play again for Monot, where Doja Cat sat in the courtyard venue wearing all-black with painted gloves and graphic face makeup that read like an airbrushed blue and white mask. 

In response to social media criticism for her artistic makeup choices (and shortly after defending her buzzcut), Doja Cat openly discussed how the makeup wasn’t meant to be “sexy or attractive.” Charleston supports her distinctive voice—and the movement. “Personally, I am so tired of watching the general public try to tear down any woman or femme that doesn’t conform to traditional beauty standards,” she says. “It’s flat-out misogynistic, reductive, and so harmful, as our beauty ‘standards’ have always been shaped and molded to appease the male gaze. Do I think that you can be expressive in the world of traditional beauty? Yes, 100%. But once you let yourself go from some of these rigorously normative expectations, you just begin to explore the countless possibilities that exist when using makeup as a tool for artistic expression.” To Charleston, the face is the world’s most unique canvas.  

Here, a look inside Doja Cat’s six looks dreamed up for fashion month’s finale, in Charleston’s words. 

Monôt 

“This look was one of my favorites because of how impactful, bold and surreal the makeup was. Since the entire outfit was black, we thought it really made sense to bring a pop of color onto the face but still incorporate the black on the arms with painted-on gloves. I do a great deal of body painting in my work, so it was a really cool opportunity to incorporate that.” 

Vivienne Westwood

“This was a really fierce way to balance the beautifully busy styling while still making sure her face stood out strongly. We didn’t want her face to get lost in it all, so this eye was a way to make sure y’all could see her from across the room.”

Thom Browne

“Ernesto Casillas painted her gorgeous glam underneath and I did the liner art on top. I accomplished this look with MAC’s acrylic paints and had to lay it down symmetrically very precisely, even though it had to wrap around her bottom lip and chin. I really loved this entire look because it was a way to pull back a lot with the makeup but still have it play with the clothing and craft an extremely cohesive look.” 

A.W.A.K.E. MODE

“She was painted as if she had been alchemized into gold. This was one of my favorite looks because, though simple, I think it was so, so effective. I’ve done a lot of full-body makeup like this in the past, but the gold paint was just glorious on her body and in that styling. This is a style of makeup that requires me to mix a very finely ground gold pigment with a mixing medium.” 

Lanvin

“For this show, she was painted with asymmetrical, vibrant blue blush. This was inspired by her and her styling. It was a unique and fun way to incorporate elements from the clothing to the face.” 

Beyoncé’s Secret Party

“She asked me what I would die to paint on her, so I showed her this surreal black line look I did on myself back in 2020, and she was immediately down for it. She also asked me to sign her face when I was finished, as a traditional painter would…I was absolutely gagged! That really meant the world to me— for an artist that I value so much to place so much value in the work I do.”