Since making her debut in 2021, Ayra Starr has repeatedly shown she’s had her finger firmly on the pulse of pop culture.
Whether it’s on records such as “Bloody Samaritan” or “Fashion Killer”, Ayra displays the cool confidence of someone who’s self-aware of her position as a fast-rising global act. Her lyrics are unapologetic and bold, never shying away from representing the voice of a generation that refuses to be silenced.
When it comes to her glam, she’s no different.
In the last year, we’ve seen Ayra experiment with texture and tone, breezing through our TL’s and screens with hair and makeup looks that reflect her youthful, yet bold candour. From the wavy braids and smouldering eye she dons on her debut album,”19 & Dangerous” to the blonde stitch braids and nude lip at the AMVCA’s, she’s slowly leaving behind a trail of iconic visual moments.
In her first single of the year “Rush”, Ayra brings the heat once again with her powerful vocals and a stunning music video to match.
Over here at FEMME MAG, we couldn’t help but notice some of the beauty looks Ayra dons in the video. In “Rush” she sweeps through each scene with dewy skin, letting her blonde tresses in their various forms (braids, fringe, feathers) take center stage. Her makeup is deeply inspired by some of the soft glam lewks we saw dominate during the 90s.
We sat down with her makeup artist Onome Ezekiel (@merakibyonome) to get the breakdown of Ayra’s skin prep and product details used to achieve the lewk.
On beauty inpso for ‘Rush’
Ayra goes through phases with the kind of makeup looks she wants to do. Right now, we’re deffs in a stage where she wants to keep it minimal but cute. She wants to wear liners but not too much and we only use them if we absolutely need to. When putting together a mood board for ‘Rush’, I already had these things in mind. I kept it clean and very ‘soft glam’. We opted for 2 coloured liner looks in total but made sure they weren’t defined at all. In the scene where she has the braids, we did a soft winged-out blue eyeliner and for skin, we did a tinted moisturizer finish.
On her go-to makeup brands to use on Ayra
I use a lot of Danessa Myricks and Pat McGrath because they work great with 4k cameras and HD. I lean towards those products because I just feel like they give off a different look. Some foundations have some HD properties in them so they just look so airbrushed and clean on camera.
On Skin-prep
Skin prep is usually very straightforward for me. For ‘Rush’ I did the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Drops serum and then followed up with the Yves Rocher Hydra Vegetal moisturizer. I also have a bit of massaging moments with my clients. I use a Gua Sha tool because it helps to work the serums into the skin barrier. It’s also relaxing!!
Product List For ‘Rush’
Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin serum “Juice boost”
Danessa Myricks , Balm Powder “7”
Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Foundation “19G”
Danessa Myricks Balm contour “Deep 1”
Pat McGrath concealer Skin Fetish concealer MD 22
Laura Mercier Powder x DM powder
Pat McGrath under eye blurring powder (I use more of this)
Blue eye-liner look was eyeshadow from a Morphe palette
Smokey eye Red liner in her waterline from Uoma beauty
Lips: MAC Chestnut lip liner
On Her 4 Current Fav Products
Danessa Myricks balm powder in the Universal shade. It’s a translucent powder and I use this as a primer. It has some special ingredients in it that help push back the oils in your face and helps your makeup last throughout the day.
Pat McGrath Concealer in conjunction with their under-eye blurring powder. When I use these two together? *chefs kiss*
M.A.C eyebrow pencil in Stud followed up with a powder to set the brows. When I do this, the brows don’t move at all!
Inglot 77 gel eyeliner.
