Greta Lee’s Lipstick At The Oscars Is The New Way To Wear Matte

The 2024 award season has quickly ascended Greta Lee into the red carpet fashion hall of fame. In recent memory, no other A-lister has effortlessly gone from wearing a white knotted-back Loewe gown to accessorizing a mint lace The Row dress with leather opera gloves at their next event. When you are seemingly having as much fun with fashion as Lee, your hair and makeup needs to complement your couture rather than compete with it. And the Past Lives actor’s beauty moments are a master class in how to do just that. Following suit, Lee’s makeup at the 96th Annual Academy Awards is uniquely understated and provides the perfect foundation for her Loewe black gown with dramatic white draping.

“We wanted to keep Greta true to her own style, so her skin is doing all the talking. It’s fresh, dewy, and natural, but her lips are the [color] focus,” Lee’s makeup artist Naoko Scintu tells TZR exclusively. “I wanted to do more of a modern take on a lip, so it was diffused and soft on the edges.” Scintu goes on to say that the brick red lip is loosely inspired by The Goonies actor Martha Plimpton’s signature look.

Starting with the complexion, the makeup artist prepped Lee’s skin with Ilia Beauty’s Face Milk to boost hydration in order to achieve an otherworldly glow. Next, she used the brand’s Skin Rewind Complexion Stick and a bit of concealer to add coverage as needed. “This product was perfect to use on the skin for a beautiful natural finish with the perfect amount of coverage where we needed it but still allowing her natural freckles to shine through,” Scintu shares.

Once the base was set, she added a soft dewy flush to the cheeks with the Multi Stick in In The Mood, a shimmery peach shade. “Using your fingers is always a great way to soften the products because the heat from your hands allows the product to warm up and be applied so easily on to the skin with a simple patting motion,” Scintu suggests.

After swiping taupe eyeshadow on Lee’s eyelids, tightlining her eyes with liner, and applying a few coats of mascara of her lashes, adding the brown-red lip was the finishing touch. Scintu went with Ilia’s Color Block Lipstick in Marsala, using a fluffy eye brush to create that soft, diffused, lived-in finish.

Lee’s hair was also a fresh take on a classic style. Hairstylist Takuya Yamaguchi gave her a deep side-parted ballerina bun with a slick finish that was achieved with Olivia Garden tools and Bumble and bumble products like the Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil. The result is a polished yet simultaneously cool updo. Yes, those descriptors are oxymorons, but Lee has the uncanny ability to embody both with all of her red carpet looks.