I Did My Own Grammys Makeup—and These Are the Products That Held Up

I’ll admit, sheepishly, that one calendar year ago, I was not exceptional at doing my own makeup. I’d improved since college when I colored my brows daily with generous scribbles of off-black eyeliner pencil, and September 2023, when I attended a lavish destination wedding armed with just four products. Through it all, I knew there was room to grow. So when my boyfriend was nominated for a Grammy in the best musical theater album category, I knew it was time to put my year-and-a-half of gratis makeup-receiving, expert-insight-gathering, product-scouring, and colleague-inspired beauty know-how to work.
The thing is—since junior year prom, I’ve been showing makeup artists this image of Kat Dennings on the red carpet at the 2013 Television Critic Association’s Summer Press Tour (an event that I’m totally familiar with and definitely know anything about at all) for beauty inspo. Her dark nude lip, soft orangey-brown eyeshadow, peachy blush, and smoky, burnt umber bottom liner? Influencer-chef’s kiss.