About-Face Makeup: Halsey's Color-First Picks

Halsey was doing the makeup long before there was a brand. As Forbes tells it, the first label that signed Halsey could not fund stylists or a glam team, so Halsey taught themselves how makeup behaves under stage lights, sweat and red-carpet flash. By the time of a YouTube sit-down with Manny Gutierrez, it had a name: a second job, since every album cover, magazine cover, red carpet and music video had been done by Halsey's own hand (Seventeen).

 

About-Face makeup is where that habit became a product line. It launched on January 25, 2021, direct to consumer on aboutface.com, with a promise of makeup without rules, and Halsey built it alongside Jeanne Chavez and Dineh Mohajer, the founders of Hard Candy. Halsey's own summary is that the brand is "based on being creative as opposed to correcting your face" (Nylon). I like a brand that comes from a working artist, and you can feel it here: saturated pigments, packaging color-matched to the formula, and no lecture about how any of it should be worn.

 

The taste comes from home. Halsey's earliest makeup memory is a mother who wore brown 1990s grunge lips, two MAC shades called Shiitake and Stone, and never worried that the look was louder than what other kids' mothers wore (Nylon). Experimentation was the norm, not a rebellion, and that is the feeling the brand tries to hand to everyone else.

The first thing the brand got right was the eyes. The original collection was built around three franchises, Light Lock, Matte and Shadowstick, and Matte Fluid Eye Paint became the product that grew a community around the label. It won an Allure Best of Beauty award in 2021, and the Line Artist gel liner took a second Allure award in 2022 (BeautyMatter). The brand's own promise is high-performance formulas that hold up to heat, sweat and tears, which sounds like a touring performer talking, and everything is vegan, clean and cruelty-free.

 

On June 14, 2022, About-Face arrived at Ulta, its first and exclusive retail partner, with Matte Fluid Eye Paint, Shadow Fix Eye Primer, Shadowsticks and Matte Fix Lip Pencils as the hero products (PR Newswire). It is a small club, brands where the founder really is the artist, and the r.e.m. beauty bag is another singer-founded line I like to browse.

Start with the eyes. Matte Fluid Eye Paint is a liquid that dries down flat and saturated, so you can sweep it on with the doe foot wand and leave it alone, or tap it out with a fingertip for something softer. Shadow Fix Eye Primer goes underneath, and I would not skip it if you plan to wear the paint past lunch.

 

For the face, THE PERFORMER Skin-Focused Foundation is the base for people who want skin to look like skin. Blush Rush Liquid Blush and Cheek Freak Blush Balm are my favorite pair, one a liquid that you dab and blend fast, the other a balm that melts in with warm fingers, and if you prefer to work in blush sticks the same logic applies. Beach Freak Bronzer Stick is the newer addition, an ultra-creamy, blendable bronzer the brand pairs with skincare ingredients, and a bronzer stick is the easiest way to warm up a face without reaching for a brush.

 

Finish at the mouth. Cherry Pick Lip Color Butter is a lip color with the feel of a balm, and Matte Fix Lip Pencil is a creamy matte liner, made with jojoba oil, that defines the edge before you fill in. The brand is vegan and is sold in stores, which is handy if you like to swatch first. Start with the eyes, then the cheeks, and stop while it still looks like you.

The rest of the About-Face range is where the fun really lives. Light Lock is one of the original franchises, and Light Lock Lip Gloss is the piece that gives it away: a glassy gloss meant to be worn alone or layered over the lip butter from the first grid. I press it on the center of the lower lip and leave the edges bare, which makes lips look fuller without any liner. When a shiny lip usually turns tacky on you, my list of glossy lips without the stickiness is the place to compare.

 

Blurred Matte Lip Plump is the soft-matte version of the same idea, a plush color with a plumping formula that tingles and cools on the way on, according to the brand. It is the one I wear when I want color without shine, and if you like that tingle there are more plumping glosses to try.

 

THE ILLUSIONIST Skin-Focused Concealer is the quiet one here. Use it the way you would use any concealer, in small dots under the eyes and around the nose, then blend with a damp sponge. It sits well beside THE PERFORMER foundation, and it also works alone on days when a full base feels like too much.

 

Volumizing Mascara is a plain, useful job. I put it on after the eye paint has set, so nothing smudges, and I brush through the lashes a second time only at the outer corners. It makes the paint look more finished without making it look heavier.

 

Shadowstick is where the eye story started, a one-swipe stick in matte or pearly color that is water-resistant and made for staying power. Holosticks are the dual-ended version, a creamy crayon on one end and a sponge tip pre-loaded with holographic powder on the other. Line Artist is the gel liner for drawing a graphic line instead of smudging one, with a built-in sharpener and thirteen colors from smoldering dark tones to bright ones.

 

Then there is Fractal Glitter Eye Paint, the most playful product in the set. It is a pigmented glitter you can wear over a matte wash of color, or alone on the center of the lid for a night out. A small amount goes a long way, so tap it on with a fingertip and skip the brush. If a piece lands on your cheek, lift it off with a piece of tape rather than a wipe. For more sparkle, my glitter lipstick edit is built for party season.

 

Wear glitter with a matte lip and a clean face, and it looks intentional every time.

Cream eyeshadow sticks and liquid shadows are the easiest way to wear color when you are running late, and there are lovely versions from other brands that sit happily beside the About-Face eye paints. All of them share one rule: they need something underneath and a little patience before you touch them.

 

Laura Mercier's Caviar Stick Cream Eyeshadow is the classic stick, a twist-up that you swipe across the lid and blend with a fingertip. Merit's Solo Shadow Cream Eyeshadow is the quiet, wearable one, a cream that gives a wash of color without any fuss. Makeup by Mario's Long-Wear Cream Eyeshadow is another easy one to carry in a bag, and Charlotte Tilbury's Eyes To Mesmerise Cream Eyeshadow is the pot I reach for when I want a glow with a bit of depth, applied with a fingertip and pressed on.

 

Armani Beauty's Eye Tint Long-Lasting Liquid Eyeshadow is the liquid, a wand-on color that comes in several finishes and is easy to layer. NARS's Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base is the primer in this group, and it is a good idea before any cream color, because a base gives creams something to hold onto. MAC's Dazzleshadow stick in Bedazzled Denim and the liquid Metallic Dazzleshadow in Silver Surfer are the sparkly end of the group, the two I would pick for a night out.

 

What I would skip: layering a cream shadow over a lid that is still oily or wet from eye cream. It will crease within the hour, whatever the formula. Wipe the lid clean, let it dry for a minute, add primer, then color. And do not blend until the product has had a moment to set, or you will lift it right back off.

Here is how I would build a look with all of this. Prime the lid first, then paint on one shade of eye paint and let it dry for a minute. Add a second cream shadow only at the center of the lid, where it will catch the light.

Then move to the face. Dab the liquid blush on with your fingers, blend the balm over it if you want a stronger flush, and finish with the lip butter or gloss. If you are wearing glitter, keep everything else matte, and if you are wearing a bold eye, keep the cheeks soft.

A good test is to look at yourself from an arm's length away in daylight. If the color looks blended and your eyes are still the first thing people see, you are done. About-Face is meant to be played with, so keep changing the order until you find the one that feels like you.