Blush blindness? This celebrity makeup artist has never heard of it. Across our feeds lately, you have likely seen Tyla’s striking cerulean eyeshadow and hot pink blush on the cover of Vogue China, or Love Island USA star Olandria Carthen’s stunning pink and gold glow at Paris Fashion Week. These looks are the handiwork of Ngozi Esther Edame, known on socials as PaintedbyEsther, an artist playing a crucial role in branding today’s “it girls.”
The U.K.-based artist’s signature blushed look went viral on TikTok and Pinterest for its vibrant celebration of Black women’s features. In her seven-year career, Edame has worked with high-profile faces like SZA, Naomi Campbell, and Anok Yai. By bucking the “clean girl” minimalist trend that dominated the early 2020s, she has carved out a niche for high-impact, whimsical glam. We spoke to Edame about her artistry and her thoughts on the current beauty landscape.
GU: What makeup techniques or best practices should Black women know to get the most out of their products and makeup routine?
Esther: Find your correct undertone. A lot of brown-skinned women reach for yellow powders when, a lot of the time, they are neutral or golden. So my advice would be to find your undertone and put that banana powder down! Your makeup would look better with a translucent powder rather than a colored powder. The same goes for concealers. A lot of the time I see dark-skinned women use a yellow-undertone concealer and then set it with a yellow powder. It is not a bad look if done correctly, but it can look a little better by using the correct products suited to your specific undertone and learning how to neutralize products when they get too yellow. Also, really moisturize your skin before application. It doesn’t matter what skin type you have; your makeup will always sit better when you have a soft, dewy, glowy base.
GU: 2016 high glam makeup is making a comeback on the internet. What are your thoughts on that style of makeup?
Esther: I am going to be the contrarian here and say that 2016 glam itself is NOT making a resurgence. What I see instead is people excited for the whimsy we had in 2016. It is about the freedom of expression—the freedom to create and do what you want without being judged. People were having so much fun back then; everybody was free and living life. You could post what you wanted on Instagram without overthinking your feed. It was a nice, whimsical time, and that is the energy people are craving now.
GU: What is a current makeup trend that you’re feeling?
Esther: I don’t actually look at makeup trends. I do what I want, when I want, and if people like it, amazing. What I see trending is everything simultaneously. “Clean girl” and “fun girl” makeup are both trending because those two things are not interchangeable; they exist simultaneously in a vacuum. I don’t understand why we are putting “two baddies” against each other. There is a time for clean girl makeup and a time for fun girl makeup. You don’t have to cancel one for the other—that erases the fun of makeup. I wake up sometimes and I want to look gorgeous and glowy, and on other days I want to look like sexy siren Rihanna. Everyone should have that choice.
GU: What is a makeup myth about dark skin that needs to be debunked?
Esther: That dark-skinned women cannot wear pink blush. They are often told to stick to red or orange, but they can wear a whole spectrum of pinks, purples, and corals. Another myth is that they can’t wear red lips. In my opinion, it suits them best. All that is needed is a good lipliner close to their skin tone—maybe a shade and a half darker—to contour the lips so they don’t get lost in the color. The same goes for bubblegum-colored lips; that is a lie. Everyone loved the pigmented lip look I just did on Olandria. Dark-skinned women suit everything; they aren’t just confined to one nude palette.
GU: Speaking of Paris Fashion Week, can you reveal your secret behind the amazing glow you did on Olandria?
Esther: The body glow is my own secret concoction of mix-and-match products that I have created. The pink glow on Olandria’s face is courtesy of the Danessa Myricks Lightwork Palette in Pastel Dream.