“When Michaela told me she was going to be one of the hosts for the Met this year, she said she’d like to feel as if she’s ‘dripping in gold,’” says longtime makeup artist and friend Bernicia Boateng. Ahead of arriving at the Met Gala 2023 to host the event alongside Penélope Cruz, Roger Federer, and Dua Lipa, Coel and Boateng finalized their vision at The Mark Hotel. “She’s such a minimalist; she’s not someone who does too much; she always does just enough,” says Boateng of Coel, who she’s known for a decade and thinks of as a big sister more than a client. “I just wanted her skin to beam, and almost speak for her.”
When the pair first laid eyes on Coel’s gilded Schiaparelli gown procured by stylist Georgia Medley, it was instantly clear that luminous skin and a bronzed gaze would deliver an elegant balance. “Every time Michaela sits in my chair, she’s just like ‘B, let’s make sure I’m glowing,’” says Boateng of anticipating the moment and calling on the “Mother of makeup,” Dame Pat McGrath, to consult on a supernatural glow. “Her input was incredible; she advised me on the colors to use and her gorgeous pigments,” Boateng says of dreaming up a makeup look that could act as “an accessory” to the fashion.
To prep Coel’s “glorious skin,” Pat McGrath Labs Divine Skin Rose 001 The Essence served as a perfect canvas ahead of a layer of Sublime Perfection Foundation. And playing off of the Lagerfeld-inspired emblems on Coel’s gown, “the eyes are like an added jewel,” says Boateng, who chose Pat McGrath Labs FetishEyes Longwear Liquid Eye Shadow in Smoldering Seduction created “the focal point of the whole look.” And while hosting the Met Gala has created an understandable dose of “good nerves” for Coel, tonight’s beauty is yet another successful collaboration for the longtime friends. “She trusts me,” says Boateng. “And she’s a gleaming goddess today.”
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