How Pat Mcgrath Created the Iconic Porcelain Skin for Margiela’s S/S 24 Show
The porcelain makeup effect created by Pat Mcgrath and her team with the succinctly drawn brows and the pallid colours applied to the eyes perfectly meshes with the beautiful haute couture designs by Galliano. This was simply poetic storytelling.
2/5/20244 min read
From the Maison Margiela 'Artisanal' Collection runway show, three things stand out. The dramatic silhouette of the clothing designs expected from a haute couture show, the models’ creepy walk that blended perfectly with the set design and Pat Mcgraths incredible storytelling through the porcelain makeup look.
From every angle, you see a glistening shine emanating from the models’ skin as they creepily walk on the runway further embellishing the theme of the show. As you watch you cannot help but notice how the clothing, set design and model performance have been put together by genius creative minds. This without a doubt includes the work of Mother Mcgrath.
The hauntingly porcelain makeup effect adds an oomph to the Margiela show, that you cannot help but scream ‘Thank the highest, the iconic duo are back together!’
It was simply beautiful.
Her Instagram Live a week after the show demonstrated in detail the process of creating these looks and there were more than 15,000 attendees at some point! This was humorously described as The World Cup of the Makeup World.
Who is Pat Mcgrath?
Pat Mcgrath, also indisputably known as Mother Mcgrath or the Queen of Makeup has been in the makeup game since the 70’s but rose to prominence in the ‘90s when she did an I-D magazine shoot with the ex-editor-in-chief of Vogue, Edward Enningful. The rest is history and her impact in the beauty industry has since been profound.
Planning of the Porcelain Makeup Look:
Like most beauty enthusiasts once I saw my online mutuals tweet about Pat Mcgrath having a live demo of the Margiela show, I quickly made a cuppa and ran to my phone so I would not miss a second of this live.
The live starts with Mother Mcgrath presenting us with a beautiful caucasian model with red hair, and blemish-free skin. Her brows are already immaculately glued down and drawn on thinly.
According to Mcgrath, Galliano briefed her and her team in early January of 2024. He wanted the makeup to look exclusively ethereal and other-worldly and Pat Mcgrath’s team did exactly that.
Pat Mcgrath also confirms that it has taken her over 3 years of trial and error to accomplish this particular type of glass skin.
How Pat Mcgrath did it + products:
All the products used to prep the skin, do the base, eyes and lips were Pat Mcgrath Labs products. Here is a breakdown:
Skin prep and base:
Divine Skin 001 Essence Lotion (to prep the skin).
Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Foundation
Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Concealer
Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Loose Setting Powder
Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Blurring Under-eye Powder
Cheeks and Highlighter:
Heart’s Desire Collection Highlighter in Nude Opal
Divine Blush: Legendary Glow Colour Balm in Peach Lotus and Forbidden Fleur
Brows:
Mothership VI: Subliminal
Eyes:
Mothership VI: Midnight Sun
Mothership VI: Subliminal
Blitz Astral Quad: Nocturnal Nirvana
FetishEYES Mascara
Lips:
LUST: Glossh in Nude Negligee
MatteTrance Lipstick in Beautiful Stranger, Guinevere or McMenamy
The key makeup techniques taken from the live demo:
Pat Mcgrath emphasised how the base was key to this porcelain effect. She and her team did this by making sure everything was perfectly blurred by avoiding harsh lines.
The Guinevere lipstick was patted on and blended outwards toward the lip line. In my professional opinion mainly applying the lipstick on the centre of the lip ensures a better outer blend.
For the beautifully thin brows that were immaculately glued down, there were no comments on this. However, as a past makeup artist, this is a technique that takes practice but it is not impossible to do.
SFX water-based glue is used on the mouth lines and sides of the nose for a long-lasting effect.
The Skin Fetish line was essential for the smooth base.
Very minimal powder was used on porous parts of the skin for a blurring effect.
Now, for the super glistening skin details:
You won’t believe this, but Pat Mcgrath and her team used peel-off masks for the ultimate porcelain effect. Yes, you read that right… peel-off masks!
And it wasn’t just one peel-off mask, but a total of 7 to 8 masks!
The masks were applied with an airbrush tool for an even distribution. For the ultimate glassy skin, the peel-off masks were layered on, and each layer applied was blowdried on the lowest setting.
In total, according to Pat Mcgrath, it took 2 hours to complete the makeup on each model. For the eyes, the clear gloss was thinly applied.
If you’d like a visual of this tutorial, here is a YouTube link for it. This blog post can help you as a guide for which of PatMcgrath Labs’ products were used. This blog post is kinda like a written recipe for the makeup steps.
In my opinion, Galliano x Mcgrath is a creative powerhouse that inspires even the most apathetic and unimaginative individuals. This show was undoubtedly one for the ages!
Time and dedication have clearly gone into her art to create such poetically beautiful makeup. So much so that she re-inspired the makeup community.
The Instagram Live demo lasted for about 2 hours with two members of the PatMcgrath team presenting the step-by-step process. The porcelain makeup was applied to 2 models of opposing skin tones. Of course, in the year 2024, we more than appreciate the representation and diversity.