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At the Met Gala earlier this month, drag queen Aquaria interpreted the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" theme with a white, scorpion-like hair sculpture, bejeweled talon gloves, and electric yellow eye makeup. (Her description of the look: "a little plastic swan woman ugly duckling fashion monster.") Clothed in Maison Margiela, Aquaria's garments were priceless, but the shadows used for her stunning eye makeup cost less than $30.
The shadows blessing her lids came from a top-secret palette that we can officially reveal right now: the Aquaria x Nyx Professional Makeup Color Palette. That's right: The winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 10 teamed up with beloved drugstore beauty brand Nyx Professional Makeup on a colorful eye shadow palette worthy of one of the fashion's most major events, and it's launching on May 30.
Back in March, Aquaria took a break from shooting the campaign to chat about how her Drag Race success informs the palette, what inspired the shade selection, and her most important beauty secret.
On deciding to partner with Nyx Professional Makeup
"It’s always been a brand that’s been a staple in my makeup collection," Aquaria reveals. "It’s always been something that’s accessible and affordable for me. From growing up to being a college student to being an up-and-coming drag queen in New York City and having to spend my last dime on not only my art but my rent, my utilities — Nyx was always there to make me look fabulous for my shows and not completely murdering my bank account, which I’m very grateful for."
On her involvement in the palette's creation process
"When Nyx first approached me, it was pretty much like, Aquaria, you are our goddess, can you please tell us what to do," she recalls. "All throughout this entire process, coming up with the campaign, choosing the shades, everything, it’s all been extremely me-focused, which as a makeup artist, I really appreciated, and as a narcissist, I was thrilled about."
"My palette has 10 shades based around elements of nightlife and the future," Aquaria shares. "I’m very inspired by the dark colors I see at night and all the bright personalities I get to see at the clubs. We just wanted it to be kind of slimy, oily, and dark, but also fun and bright. The colors totally represent that." Because she travels so much, she appreciates the palette's portability, too. "It’s lovely to have a big ol' meaty palette, but light and packable is ideal."
On picking each shade
"As a performer and a frequent makeup wearer, I always need a palette to have a matte white and a matte black, so we have that here obviously," she explains. "When I do a more androgynous boy look, I love using other shimmery colors, like a navy blue or gunmetal. I also love incorporating semi-untraditional colors into my regular makeup, like yellow." She also enjoys using the latter shade as blush. As for the mint green, it was inspired by future, sci-fi, and anime themes. "I call it hospital green," Aquaria adds.
The red was the trickiest, yet most satisfying addition for Aquaria. "I didn't want it to be a true red," she says. "I wanted it to come across as the coloring of a neon sign red — not just like hyper red-orange, and this one actually kind of snaps really hard. This was exactly what I was looking for."
On the lack of shade names
Aquaria alludes to the saying, "Naming something gives it power," before noting that leaving the colorful hues in her palette nameless keeps things simple, sleek, and professional. "If I were to tell you this shade is Sunshine, you’re going to think you need to make a happy look with this," she says pointing to the pan of lemon pigment. "But you can totally do a real narsty, grungy look with the yellow. It doesn't have to be 'Sunshine.'"
On creating within limits.
According to Aquaria, her success on Drag Race came down to having categories to stick to. "A lot of the creating that I do as far as looks, drag, and performances in general, are all based on having a parameter," she explains. "I like having some sort of rules to bend and play with. For this palette, it’s 10 shades — OK, you cannot make every single look out of 10 shades. Period. That’s just a fact. But how can you play with the textures and blend the colors? I just wanted to push people to figure out their creativity and explore what you can do with a limited amount of colors that aren’t limited in the color wheel."
When I ask Aquaria about makeup tips she's picked up along the way, she looks inward instead of toward her fellow queens and makeup artists. "My exploration of makeup and creation has always been kind of internal and experiencing it myself," she says. "I strive to hear plenty of things and interpret them however I may. What I’ve learned has come from sitting in front of a mirror and playing around and trying out different techniques, shapes, colors, and brushes. A tip I can give to others is sit in front of the mirror and think about things because the more present you are mentally when you’re doing your makeup, the more effective the outcome can be. Just because somebody says to add a little bit of white to the inner corners of your eyes to brighten them, if you don't know what that means or if that doesn’t make sense for your face, it’s not going to make sense for your brain. There’s no reason to do it if it’s not making sense to you. Have your makeup make sense to you."
Starting May 30, you'll be able to shop the palette for $25 on nyxcosmetics.com.
Read more about more of our favorite eye shadow palettes:
- A Pizza-Themed Eye Shadow Palette Exists, and We’re Hungry for It
- The Beverly Hills, 90210 Palette Is a '90s Dream Come True
- CoverGirl’s Royalty-Inspired Makeup Is Giving Us Game of Thrones Vibes
Now, learn about 100 years of eye shadow history:
