How 3 Beauty Pros Are Handling Awards Season Glam During a Pandemic

The pandemic has changed a lot about life as we know it in the last year. For example, the way celebrities attend and perform at award shows is entirely different, although this hasn’t stopped them from bringing their beauty A game to each virtual or socially-distanced event. This, of course, is all thanks to the hard work of dozens of beauty professionals who’ve adjusted their regular red carpet routines to meet COVID-19 safety requirements while keeping today’s biggest stars looking glamorous.

“The thing that’s completely different is you don’t get to see the hyped up red carpet, but now people are shooting on their own during glam,” Regina King’s makeup artist, Latrice Johnson told POPSUGAR. Johnson has worked with King throughout all of awards season, and has stayed safe by getting tested for COVID-19 up to multiple times a week.

While most glam teams are still able to work with their clients physically, some have come up with other solutions that keep both parties safe and free of risk.

“What’s made this year so especially different is the fact that the majority of my clients who are nominated aren’t based in Los Angeles,” celebrity facialist Gavin McLeod-Valentine said. McLeod-Valentine has worked with stars like Rashida Jones, Laura Dern, and Ozark‘s Julia Garner. Under normal circumstances, all three clients would be able to travel to him to be treated on or before the day of each respective show, but being further away from customers physically has caused him to get more creative with his services.

“I’ve been working remotely to get them ‘red carpet-ready’ from a distance,” he said. Weeks ahead of the Golden Globes, McLeod-Valentine filmed video tutorials for Garner and sent her a care package full of skin-care essentials she’d be able to use in order to replicate the results of one of his signature facials. This has been the case for pros across the board, with everyone from The Queen’s Gambit actress Anya Taylor-Joy at the Critics’ Choice sourcing makeup tips from her makeup artist virtually to Tina Fey getting fitted for her Globes outfit virtually by her longtime stylist, Christina Ehrlich.

For the clients McLeod-Valentine sees in person, he ensures their safety by dressing in PPE from head to toe and getting tested for COVID-19 regularly.

“I take personal safety and the safety of my clients very seriously,” he said. “I always ensure that I wear two masks, a visor, goggles, gloves, and a surgical gown. Any tools and products I use are deep cleaned after every client and I make sure I take one PCR and one rapid COVID test every week.”

The bottom line: even with so many things at play during award shows, safety comes first for everyone involved, including the clients.

“That’s one thing Cardi stresses,” Cardi B’s makeup artist Erika La Pearl said. “I’m still able to do my job as a makeup artist and I’ve always practised cleanliness, but these days I’m more aware and cautious. Clean brushes, setting up my station with what I need for the assignment and no sharing of makeup is a must for me.”