All Things Beautiful: Marieke Thibaut

A New Wave Series exploring beauty and its various manifestations. For the duration of the series, Angel Oseme will sit down with artists from various spheres of the beauty industry to explore their journey in the industry, and what beauty means to them.

Although designers tend to be the star of the show, a fashion presentation of any scale is not often the work of a single mind. A variety of disciplines collaborate, and somewhere between all of the fabric, tailoring, hair, skin, and lighting, you’ll find the show’s makeup artist.

New Wave sits down with Marieke Thibaut, senior global artist for MAC Cosmetics and a couture makeup specialist, whose work has anchored some of fashion’s most memorable runway moments.

Her recent work for Gaurav Gupta’s SS26 show felt almost celestial. Gupta’s silhouettes were beautiful. They floated down the runway as though suspended in air, and Thibaut’s makeup, focusing on bright skin, glamorous eyes, and artistic finish, completed the illusion.

“For my second collaboration with Gaurav, as with the previous season, we started the conversation about a month before the show so I could fully understand the story behind the collection. It allows me to collect references and share ideas with the team ahead of the makeup test.”

The final makeup look is not spontaneously applied to complement a garment; it is refined over time with collaborative dialogue.

“For this collaboration it was really about co-creation with Gaurav and the team. We test and adjust every detail in the makeup, not only to complete each look. That’s what makes the different silhouettes so powerful. We try different options until we reach the perfect synergy between makeup, hair and nails.”

Thibaut describes makeup as art.

Her gilded brushstrokes for Lutz Huelle’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection are painterly in nature. Even through a screen, her artistry feels decadent.

“Makeup is a type of art for me and a pure expression of artistry and creativity through colours, textures and finishes on a living canvas. The face itself becomes part of the artwork.”

The idea of her models being a “living canvas” is at the core of Thibaut’s signature. She likens her work to painting or sculpture, but unlike either of these, she’s uniquely cognisant of the fact that makeup has to exist in motion. It has to breathe with the person wearing it, it may change under lights, or shift with expression.

In this regard, she believes the eyes carry a significant power.

Smoky, diffused eyeshadow work and sultry contours often anchor her looks. Their effect is hypnotic; dramatic and alluring without ever overwhelming the face itself.

“Eyes are a clear window to the soul. They reflect so many emotions that you can translate through makeup. Lines, colours and the way you apply them can give very different feelings. Maybe that’s why I’ve always had a strong preference for focusing on the eyes in my creations.”

Thibaut highlights the importance of cultivating distinctiveness of style. We’re intimately trend-aware as a society, and whilst almost instinctual, it can often mean that individuality feels like an afterthought. Beauty and fashion spaces are particularly susceptible to this phenomenon. Marieke deeply encourages resisting conforming to the mould.

“Explore the infinite possibilities of makeup and don’t be shy to express your personality through your art. Your experiences and inspirations will help you refine your own artistic direction step by step.”

Her commitment to individuality is reflected even in her path into beauty.

“Before makeup I actually started a tourism study path and did a reorientation. I knew I was destined to an artistic career.”

Today, Thibaut works at the highest levels of runway beauty, and interestingly, the tools she relies on remain pretty simple.

She names three essentials products she swears by from her long relationship with MAC:

• MAC Studio Radiance Face and Body Foundation for “natural, no makeup luminous skin.”

• MAC Skinfinish Lightstruck Highlighter, “a liquid highlighter with a luxurious texture that gives multi-reflective highlights across the face and body.”

• MAC Lipglass Clear, a classic gloss she praises for a “high-shine, latex finish.”

To close the conversation, I ask Marieke when she feels the most beautiful.

“When I embrace my whole personality and I’m not afraid to show it. That’s when I feel confident and beautiful.”

Her final note to young artists returns to authenticity.

“Beauty is what makes you unique. It’s the difference between what you reflect and who you truly are.”