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Evening Standard

Lifestyle

Saskia Kemsley

Makeup Artist Val Garland’s Favourite Things

Val Garland Lady Gaga

Val Garland logs onto Zoom exactly as you’d imagine: signature red lip, jet-black flicks, iconic glasses balanced neatly on her nose. In front of her is a careful line-up of beauty favourites, each one ready to be picked up and discussed with the most genuine of affection.

Her setting is just as considered: an ornate, vintage-inspired room that feels more Parisian parlour than backstage chaos. Nothing about it is performative. Garland simply has taste.

With a career that spans over three decades, she has painted the faces of everyone from Kate Moss to Lady Gaga, bringing a distinct mix of punk energy and refined artistry to every look. It was Garland who helped define the visual language of early Gaga, including the various oh-so-Val liner looks that would become iconic throughout her Born This Way era.

But long before pop megastars came calling, she was already a favourite of fashion’s most audacious minds. She created beautifully uncanny, porcelain looks at McQueen. She gave Dior a high-shine edge under Galliano, and she continues to create remarkably unique complexions for cover stars on the likes of Elle, V Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Garland’s route into makeup wasn’t planned. She started out as a hairdresser in Australia in the 1980s, and only moved into beauty after a last-minute no-show on a shoot. That impulsive shift set her on a path to becoming one of the most influential artists in the industry.

Today, as L’Oréal Paris’s Global Makeup Director and a judge on BBC’s Glow Up, she’s still fully immersed – curious, candid and clearly in love with her craft. Within minutes, you forget you’re speaking to a legend.

Keep scrolling for the full interview.

What have you been up to recently?

I’m currently prepping for an iconic job that I'm doing next week. It’s going to be a big job with lots of amazing talent, but it’s top secret right now.

What are your desert island beauty products?

There are two SPFs that I'm currently using. One is Naked Sundays, and the other is Ultra Violette. They're both SPF 50. Ultra Violette is amazing. It’s an Australian brand, and anything from Australia, I mean, the sun's pretty harsh there, you know, so it's gonna be good.

So, I've got my SPF, and then I would have a mascara, because if all else fails, you know, you've got to work on the eyes. The one that I'm using at the moment is by Benefit, and it's called BADgal BANG!

What are your skin prep essentials?

I’m halfway through an 8-week trial, and it's fantastic because it's the first mask that I've tried that’s got these under-eye cooling gels, so it's really good for the bags. I think it’s genius. I'm working with NIOD, Reome, Alpha H, which is from Australia, and Emma Hardie.

In the morning, evening and if I just walk past the bathroom, I’m spritzing on the NIOD Superoxide Dismutase Saccharide Mist. Then, I'm obsessed with the Reome Active Recovery Broth, and I use their Firming Eye Treatment too.

I have a variety of moisturisers that come in liquid form, and the one I’m currently using is by Emma Hardie, it’s the Lotus Flower Treatment Cream. It’s like the Tatcha Water Cream, which I also adore and keep in my kit to use on other people. I’ll then finish with my Ultra Violette SPF, and that’s me done for the day.

How do you remove your makeup?

I'm back with the Reome Three Suns balm, because it comes with a cloth, which is really nice. Alpha H also do a fantastic cleansing balm and a vitamin C exfoliator – which I use twice a week, and just sort of throw it on at night before bed. It works really well on mature skin.

What would you say are your most iconic accessories?

I would say it's my glasses. Followed by my liner and my red lip. The reason why I love big statement jewellery is that I've got chubby hands! A small ring looks wrong; it has to be a big statement ring.

There are four collections: there's sort of like festival, carnival, archival and medieval. They’re all different, because I’m a bit like a magpie. I’ll go into my accessories cupboard and put on whatever sticks. I think it goes back to the 80s when I was New Romantic, you know, we used to walk around with like six watches on our arms and loads of keys attached to us.

But when I look at the four ranges, the archival range sticks out. I really like that because it's a mixture of metals: silver, gold, brass, and various textures. It’s very much lots of different things together, and I quite like a bit of a jumble. Within the collection, there are little things and big things, hoping to appeal to the minimalist and the maximalist within us all.

Would you rather go bare-faced sans accessories?

Oh, sans accessoires every time.

What’s your favourite makeup look that you've ever created?

I loved what I did with Lady Gaga for the Alejandro music video, where she's wearing actually quite minimal makeup. It’s a beautiful dewy skin, a drop-dead red mouth, a bleached eyebrow. It’s such a simple makeup look, but for me, that felt iconic.

I love that sort of dewy texture, but then also working with Gaga on the Born This Way album, where there were lots of different liners and techniques – I really liked that. I recently did a shoot for 10 Magazine with photographer Rob Rusling, and I did a creative liner and worked with a simple Kleenex tissue to create the look.

What’s a makeup trend from the last 10 years that you've absolutely adored?

I like all of them! There are so many great trends, you know, you've got strawberry blush, office core, mob wife… I just like makeup!

Is there one you despise?

No! Be who you want, wear what you want. There’s no right or wrong. Often, I hear people say like, oh, as you get older, you know, you should be sort of like a little bit more demure, you know, a little sort of like softer in your look. B*****ks to that! Be bold, not old. Why should you stop?

What’s a makeup tip that you wish more people knew about?

You don't have to tone it down as you get older. Keep your products in the fridge. Use an eyelash curler. Use a setting spray. Be brave and try something new. We mustn’t stop experimenting. There are so many fantastic products on the market, and a lot of them aren't expensive. You can go into Boots and get some great products at a great price point and do great things.