Hit singles and flawless skin? Halsey's got us covered. Literally.

When we hear the name Halsey, our minds immediately think of hit singles like Without Me or Bad at Love. But, the musician has a huge footprint in a different world, too: beauty. Halsey (she/they) is an MUA themself, so it only made sense that they’d have their own beauty empire one day.

Today, she’s the founder of about-face beauty and its sister brand, af94. And about-face just launched its first-ever foundation (!!!). We spoke to Halsey about the formulation, her approach to makeup, and more.

Your brand has been around for a few years now. Why did it feel right to launch the foundation now?
I didn’t want to launch it from the start because I knew it was a category I wanted to perfect, and because I had a really hard time with foundation. I had tried every single foundation on the market (everything from drugstore to prestige and international brands). I was literally online scouring, watching videos, and searching things like “What’s the best foundation?” and none of them worked for me.

What was the process for creating this product? How did you know what you wanted the formula to look and feel like?
In the product development process, I probably went through around eight versions of the formula. We tried completely different approaches to foundation. Did I want something that was more blurring or silicone-like? Did I want something that was more dewy? For me, I think what was really important were two things: the first being it couldn’t break me out, and the second was it needed to be multi-functional. I wanted a buildable consistency. Sometimes I like having less coverage (I have freckles and I like when they show) and then there’s sometimes a demand for more coverage. It’s really inconvenient when I have to travel with multiple foundations in my kit for different needs, so this is the only one I use now. It’s super long-lasting, and I wasn’t going to put a foundation out until it checked all of those boxes. Plus, the shade range was the most personal part of the journey because we were sending out to friends and family for really honest feedback.
 

What are some standout ingredients in it?
Blue agave! It also has wintergreen which helps balance the skin, and chlorella which is oxygenating, good for pollution, and improving texture.

You’ve been very open about motherhood, your health, and everything in between. How have your experiences changed your approach to beauty?
My face changed a lot in the past couple of years. I gained a significant amount of weight when I was pregnant. Then, I lost almost all of it, plus more, because I got sick after I had my son. So, my face was just oscillating between all these different shapes and sizes and I had to learn how to love doing my makeup again. It felt like every couple of months I’d look in the mirror and see a different person, and it made me really versatile as an artist! The tricks that worked on my old face didn’t work on my new face. Also, convenience is important. The foundation has a dough foot applicator, which is awesome, because I can do my makeup with one hand. This has become a need for the past two years or so since there’s always a baby on my hip.

Obviously, your fans connect with you through music as well. Do you have any songs or artists you love to listen to while getting ready?
Always! I’m still figuring out my 2024 playlist, but last year I think my go-tos were Lana Del Rey, Doechii (always on the playlist!), and a lot of Alex G—I listened to Elliott Smith growing up and he kind of reminds me of him in a way. Earlier in the year I was also listening to Renaissance a lot!