Madison Beer knows good glam when she sees it. The singer-songwriter has been in and out of makeup chairs for the past decade and has learned that when it comes to beauty, it’s all about feeling your best.
“First of all, I have to love the look,” she tells Glamour. “I’ve definitely done music videos before where I’ll have inspo and say, ‘I really want to do this.’ I’ll have a picture pulled up, and it’s a super-different look for me. Then I put it on, and I’m like, ‘Oh, wait, I don’t like this.’”
Failed looks usually end up on the cutting room floor—“If I’m not happy with how it looks, it’s not going to make it in the fucking video,” she says with a laugh—but experimenting has helped her create boundaries and take full ownership of her image.
“Learning to say, ‘I have to like the way I look before I walk to set,’ is very important,” she says. “That makes for the best shots. And if you don’t like it while you’re looking in the mirror, don’t put it on camera because you’re not going to like it in the edit.”
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Beer is in full glam-chair mode these days while promoting her new album, Silence Between Songs, out September 15. Her signature look—glowy skin and bold blush—has been recreated and dissected ad nauseam on TikTok. But even though Beer is one of most influential forces in beauty today (a makeup tutorial of her using the Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand went viral and sold out the product for months), you won’t see her participating in the current food-as-makeup trend. “I can’t with these new names on just normal makeup,” she says. “It’s so funny to me.”
As for what fans can expect music-wise, Beer says “real honesty and vulnerability” are the biggest themes of her sophomore album. “Self-growth, realizations, maturing, and evolving,” she says. “There’s a lot of topics that I talk about that are very personal to me. Real honesty would probably be my biggest expectation.”
Ahead, Madison Beer shares the eight essential products for her signature makeup look.
Tatcha The Dewy Skin Cream
Traveling is such a, in general, dehydrating process. I literally feel like I’m in the desert whenever I land somewhere. Even on the plane, my skin dries out, my throat dries out. I recently did Good Morning America in New York and had one of the worst travel days of my life. I ended up getting there and just felt so dry, and I had be up at 5 a.m. to sing. I was like, “Oh, my God, I’m going to sound terrible.” I would say drink a ton of water and definitely invest in a good moisturizer.
I love the Tatcha The Dewy Skin Cream. This cream is thick, but then it melts into your skin after you apply it. It doesn’t feel thick anymore because your skin drinks it up and you look glowy. I swear that moisturizer is definitely the best one for the base of wanting to get that glowy look achieved. And the Tatcha The Luminous Dewy Skin Mist is really yummy.
Ice Roller
I always say base and prep is most important to achieve a glowy look, because it has to come from within. I like to ice-roll before I do my makeup and give myself a little facial massage.
Saie Glowy Super Gel Lightweight Dewy Highlighter
Saie Beauty makes a highlighter. I use the tan shade. It’s like the Drunk Elephant drops, but I like the consistency of this one a bit better. Any type of glowy serumy thing is great as a base.
Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer
For my makeup recently, I’ve been doing very, very minimal face makeup, but I’ve been focusing on the highlighters. I’ll do a tiny bit of concealer. I like the Charlotte Tilbury hyaluronic acid one. If it says “hyaluronic acid,” I think that it’s probably good for my skin. It’s pretty lightweight. It has good coverage, but it’s lightweight in my opinion.
Merit Bronze Balm Sheer Sculpting Bronzer
My bronzer is my main thing. My summer tan is already gone, and I’m so annoyed about it. I want to go lay out after this. But yeah, I’ll use a lot of bronzer. I really like the Merit stick bronzer. That bronzer is really good. I like the Rare Beauty bronzer as well. I use all cream products. I rarely put any powder products on my face at all.
MAC Lip Pencil
Probably one of the first beauty products I ever used was a MAC lip liner or a MAC lipstick, because my grandma was reapplying all the time. My grandma and my mom both use it. It has such a distinct smell. My grandma uses this brown shade still to this day.
Makeup by Mario Soft Pop Blush Stick
Of course, I love some blush. I’ve been using the Makeup by Mario blush sticks in the shade Dusty Rose. I’ve been liking more of a deeper blush lately, like a red, dark pink. I used to use the Charlotte Tilbury Pinkgasm and Nars Orgasm and all those really pink blushes, and I still love those—don’t get me wrong. But for summer I’ve been really into a deeper blush.
Juvia’s Place Nubian Earth Palette
For highlighter, I’ll use anything that has a good amount of sheen to it. There’s a palette by Juvia’s Place with one shade that is the brightest highlighter I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t even think you could use it on your cheeks because it’s so bright. I use it on the inner corner of my eyes.
Ariana Yaptangco is the senior beauty editor at Glamour. Follow her @arianayap.
