Valentino’s makeup artist, Raoul Alejandre, has recently gone viral after posting a photo of Zendaya sporting a bright pink highlighter for the 2023 SAG Awards.
However, this stunning look is only scratching the surface of Alejandre’s talent. He’s worked with huge names, such as Zendaya, Naomi Campbell and Lil Nas X. His intricate use of shapes and other-worldly designs make for eye-catching makeup looks, unlike anything we’ve seen before. He has a much more holistic, experimental approach to his designs, resulting in extraordinarily unique looks.
He never sticks to just one style and is constantly trying new things with his techniques and creations; experimenting with using face jewellery, chrome makeup, metallic makeup and has sometimes even gone for a more stripped-down approach, showing incredible versatility in his talent as a makeup artist. Alejandre uses face jewels to create patterns on the face that makeup alone can’t create. The 3D effect of the jewels adds a sense of ethereal beauty. He uses chrome and metallic makeup to accentuate the high points of his models’ faces and bodies, precisely analysing their natural features and selecting the perfect products to emphasise the desirable parts of their faces.
A lot of his looks feature some sort of wing on the eye, but he takes that as a starting point to create something so much more wonderful and different. A look he did on model Ashara, featured a pink highlight on the cheekbone, and browbone, and a purple highlight on her arm. The cherry on top was the golden graphic liner design which perfectly complemented the dark red lip.
These types of looks are slowly but surely making their way into mainstream media, with so many beauty influencers having a go at these eccentric looks. Diego Godoy (@beautybydiego on TikTok) shared a video of her recreating an extraordinary, butterfly-themed look by Alejandre on singer-songwriter Kali Uchis. Godoy perfectly captured the bright red embellishments around the eyes from the original look while also adding her own touch with the butterfly wings on her brows.
One of Alejandre’s more daring looks utilises blue glitter on the higher points of the face, red warm-toned contour for the lower points and a striking black zig-zag liner look to top it all off. This astounding, androgynous look seems reminiscent of the 1970s glam rock era, when David Bowie continuously reinvented himself, showing the world his flamboyant makeup and style.
His use of shadows and light accentuates some very unusual features, which almost seem to contort his models’ face shapes while still flattering them. For example, in one of his outstanding looks, he chose to put the focus on the centre of the model’s forehead, by blending out the green and red shades in a circular shape around the area. This was enhanced by the eye makeup, designed to look like spider legs running down each side of the face.
Phoebe Duverger (@phoebeduverger in TikTok) tried out one of Alejandre’s looks that was posted to his Instagram, featuring a unique take on a bold, smokey black wing.
Another jaw-dropping look by the 27-year-old makeup artist featured gold ornamentation across the cheeks, nose and jawline with a natural base. These types of looks have put forward the notion that makeup looks can be created from so much more than just cosmetic products. Simple jewels and embellishments can make a look complete without the help of foundation and concealer. His work goes to show how imaginative makeup can be. Classic and basic makeup looks are slowly fading out of the spotlight, and now comes the era of expressing individuality through makeup. Alejandre is one of the main pioneers of this type of approach to makeup.
Whether this type of makeup is your thing or not, it’s hard to deny the sheer talent of Raoul Alejandre. He’s brought something new and fresh to the beauty world and we can’t wait to see his work flourish even further. For the few daring beauty gurus who would like to give these kinds of looks a try, here are some products that Alejandre uses for his designs, as well as a few drugstore alternatives:
Words by Ayushi Nathwani
Header Image by Raoul Alejandre
