Beauty Detail
Carolina Gonzalez Has Sworn By This Foundation For 2 Decades
Sabrina Carpenter's makeup artist thinks doing glam should feel like oil painting.
In Bustle’s Beauty Detail, we dive into the beauty bags of our favorite celebrities and talent for intel on the rituals that keep them glowing. Ahead, celebrity makeup artist Carolina Gonzalez shares her “oil painting” technique, permanent makeup regrets, and the products behind her red carpet glam.
“I’m like an oil painter,” Carolina Gonzalez tells me mid-glam. “When you think you’ve blended enough, blend some more.”
I’m sitting in her chair, testing out the reformulated Luminous Silk foundation — which the Armani ambassador swears by — and it hits me that I’m getting the same treatment as Gigi Hadid, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Sabrina Carpenter. Her clients see the biggest stages and carpets in the world, and if they’re not painted to perfection, you’ll know. That’s why skin is Gonzalez’s signature. “I’m always like, ‘Oh my God, was that buffed out enough?’ she quips. “I wait to see those Getty pictures.”
From Met Galas to the Short n’ Sweet tour, her approach is all about coloring outside the lines — but without a heavy hand. “I want women to feel like their best selves,” she says. “I don’t want to transform you, although transformation is fun sometimes. I know it sounds corny, but I think that we’re all beautiful.” Skipping primer and concealer, she moves straight from moisturizer to foundation. With her artistic touch, the makeup layers flawlessly.
“I used to be made fun of all my childhood because I was very empathetic and dreamy,” Gonzalez tells me. Call it her Aquarius rising, but it’s clearly worked in her favor. She moves through a makeup routine with equal parts technical precision and creative instinct. She doesn’t map the look in advance — she lets it come to her — and when she decides on a red blush for me, she locks it in with an enthusiastic, “Oh yes, girl,” that might be meant for herself, me, both, or the aura in the room itself.
Gonzalez’s artistic approach to makeup comes by way of decades of experience and staying on top of trends. “Makeup is like fashion,” she says. “I try everything that comes to my door — I like to know what’s the newest, what’s happening out there.”
Nowadays, she’s not afraid to take risks in her own beauty routine either. “Let me tell you, Maria Gutierrez in Queens at the Atlas Park Ulta Beauty. That girl can cut and color hair,” she says, adding, “Don’t sleep on Ulta.” She even has fun with the missteps, she tells me. About a decade ago, she got a lip tattoo that’s still fading. “Everyone was doing just a lip blushing color,” she remembers. “I was like, ‘I need brown liner. I’m a Latina from Queens.’” She laughs, calling it “the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” And yet, it’s precisely that sense of play that’s driven her career.
Ahead, the celebrity makeup artist shares the products that have passed her tests — from the castor oil shampoo that sent her straight to Ulta for a trim, to the reformulated Armani Luminous Silk foundation, her longtime staple that just relaunched.
Her Fave Foundation
“My go-to for over two decades. It looks like skin, and with the reformulation, it’s even lighter than a serum. It almost feels like, ‘Is this really going to do something?’ And then, yes, it does. I like to put it on like a moisturizer because I never have time. It just melts into your skin, so you don’t have to work at blending it. If you want more coverage, dab on a little extra product. I just tap it in with my fingers, and that’s it.”
Her Winter Skin MVP
“I’m putting you on. This has pitera in it, which helps calm down my rosacea. You would think it’s a toner, but it’s actually moisturizing. This winter, I was getting dry and patchy, and it has saved my life. Splash it on your hands like water, and press it in. You’ll feel the suppleness of your skin.”
Her Must-Have Concealer Brush
“When my clients are on the phone or talking on camera, they can’t always look up. With this brush, I can just go in there without asking them to do that. It’s technically a triangle concealer brush, but it’s my favorite because you can do anything with it: get into the inner eye contour, buff out, and conceal. It’s very small, almost like a fingertip, and I love that.”
Her Hair Growth Hack
“My hair has never been so long. I had to cut it recently because it was getting stuck when I put on my pants. I turned it on to Sabrina [Carpenter]’s sister, and now her hair is growing like crazy. It’s the castor oil.”
Her “Marilyn Monroe” Lashes
“Even before the collab, I loved their lashes — the hair quality was beautiful, but they needed a little tweaking. I only wanted the individuals, and I asked them to bring the curl down because I wanted a subtle lift. I literally said, ‘Give me a Marilyn Monroe, pin-up curl.’ When I tried them, from a regular woman's point of view — not even as an artist — I was like, ‘I need this for the rest of my life.’ They blend so perfectly that they look like mine. Sometimes I’ll just pop one in the center for that doll-like look. Honestly, if I have my lashes and my Luminous Silk, I’m good.”
