Pat McGrath Reveals the Products Behind the Maison Margiela Porcelain Skin Makeup

Courtesy of Pat Mcgrath Labs

This was the makeup look that broke the internet - Pat McGrath stole the show at the Maison Margiela Couture 2024 show by creating a porcelain doll effect that looked truly magical. Immediately after going viral, it was on everyone’s lips to find out - how did Pat achieve the ethereal makeup? She’s revealed all at her Maison Margiela Masterclass Live, breaking down her step-by-step for the look.

John Galliano, Creative Director of Maison Margiela in his brief wanted a makeup that would be otherworldly, theatric and romantic - not an easy look to achieve, and with the briefing taking place on January 5th, Pat and the team prepped for the process every day until the show on the 25th to make the dolls come to life through makeup - but the big secret is, Porcelain skin has been in the works by Pat for the past three years. The team trained so that the look, when done by two makeup artists could be done within 45 minutes on the day. There are different levels and variations of the look in the show - let’s break down one of them.

Skin Prep

A makeup artist's biggest holy grail is always skin prep, and for this look it was no different, the team focused on treating the skin as if for a spa treatment. The look therefore starts with the PAT McGRATH LABS Divine Skin Rose 001 The Essence Lotion visibly smooths & softens texture, leaving skin more nourished and hydrated with a legendarily luminous glow.

The Foundation Base

Pat went in with her own Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Foundation a divine oil-free foundation that takes the texture of a serum and unites it with a buildable, medium, soft-focus coverage and a weightless finish, mixed with a touch of Kryolan Supracolor Clown White for a chalky pale look on lighter skins. The look doesn’t require powder, but a tiny amount of Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Blurring Under-Eye Powder prevents creasing around the eyes.

Skin the foundation around the eyes, as you’ll want to add depth through the eye makeup. 

The Brows

Brow blocking is the method of fully concealing the appearance of the brow and it is essential to this look, for the team to be able to draw on a fresh, delicate, doll-like brow. To block brows effectively, you need to ensure that the brows are clean, with no oil residue. To do this you can use witch hazel or special effects alcohol. There are multiple ways to stick the brows down which include using a special effects water-based glue or a craft glue stick, and when applying push down and apply as many layer as necessary before you start applying concealer and foundation. The brow blocking is essential - when it’s not right, the danger is that the look will need to be restarted.

Naturally, the brow look depends on the model’s skin colour, the aim is to very lightly sketch out the shape of the brows and to keep the colour of the brown a natural cool brown. The team went in with a tiny brush to add depth and create thin hair strokes to give a painted doll effect when you see the brows up close. The trick to ensuring the brows are perfectly symmetrical is to use a string of floss, or anything straight-edged (like a piece of paper, or ruler).

The Eyes

Adding depth to the eyes is what gives the models their big eyed, poetic doll effect. The team used the Pat McGrath PermalGel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil (in Blitz Brown in this look), applied to the inner and outer corners of the eyes and then worked in with the warm of a finger to start building depth. The pencil is also great addition to the look because it adds to the wet finish. Continue softly adding shape into the socket with a bigger brush to build up the eye, Pat did this with the Mothership I: Subliminal Palette in shades Depth, Ultimate Taupe and a tiny about of Substance, the three shades that Pat swears are the basis to every show and editorial she works on.

While you’re doing this, it’s important not to (a) wing the eye, as you want to avoid sharp lines in this delicate, romantic look and (b) to apply some of the eyeshadow under the eye as well to echo the rest of the eye look.

The Blush

Achieving a doll-like blush starts with an application of the Divine Blush: Legendary Glow Colour Balm in Peach Lotus in this look. In terms of placement, you want to apply the cream circularly and diffuse the edges from there, again, softening the shape with either fingers or a brush. 

The trick is to then go in with the Skin Fetish: Divine Blush powder (in Nude Venus in this look), to mix it together with the Glow Colour Balm, applying it on top and to the highest point of the cheeks with a brush - and you can gently blend together with a beauty blender too where needed to soften the blush shape.

The Lips

The team starts with the Ultra Glide Eye Pencil again in Blitz Brown to add depth to the inside of the mouth, and then in with the MatteTrance Lipstick in Guinevere, a blooded crimson applied to the centre with a blur, becoming more transparent toward the edges of the lip (again, to avoid hard lines). 

The Glue Trick

The team has been playing around with the look for a few weeks, and they had tested it a number of ways to ensure that it was as long wearing as possible. What they had noticed in their tests was that some areas needed extra reinforcement to ensure there was enough longevity for the three hour show. 

To do this, they applied special effects waterbased glue with a q-tip, as glue itself was very flexile and focusing on the areas that are most likely to come away - around the mouth, around the nostrils and around the corner of the eyes (though closer to the side of the bridge of the nose than the eye itself to prevent irritation). 

The Mysterious Airspray

Internet sleuths were correct to assume that the porcelain skin look came from a mask in the airspray - or somewhat correct at least. Pat revealed it’s not a specific product, but instead an alchemic concoction of her own making of a variety of masks to reach the perfect consistency, these being a combination of Daggett & Ramsdell Tea Tree Peel Off Mask, Freeman Renewing Cucumber Peel Off Gel Mask, Proot Calendula Peel Off Face Mask, ​​ Hydrating Pineapple Peel off Mask distilled with Skin Illustrator Clear Gloss and water. It sounds like a lot of skincare benefits in that spray.

Now that’s a lot of products and a lot of proportions to get right to create the magic porcelain look, which is why Pat revealed that she is developing, and will soon be launching her own version of porcelain skin in one product.

When applying the airspray, the team used spoons over the eyes and lips to protect the makeup, and then began applying by layering. Each new layer gave more of a rich, vivid brightness, with seven to eight being the optimal number for the look. In between each layer Pat and her team blowdried the model’s faces with warm air - and despite what you might think, the final look isn’t sticky. 

The Final Touches

The look is finished by applying a mix of the Lust: Gloss in Peach Perversion and Flesh Astral which leaves a wet and glossy effect on the eye. Applying a little bit under the eye also helps to mirror the shine. Then complete with a few layers of FetishEYES Mascara adding as much volume or layers as you wish thanks to its customisable nature, but most importantly, giving the look a doll-worthy blowout.