Melania Trump's Worst Makeup Fails Yet

Former First Lady Melania Trump might have a high fashion background, but that hasn't stopped her from seemingly taking some questionable makeup cues from her bronzer-loving husband, President-elect Donald Trump. She tends to stick to a carefully defined makeup style, one that stays consistent across all appearances, that she developed in tandem with longtime makeup artist Nicole Bryl.

Like Donald Trump's daughters and daughters-in-law, Melania Trump has gravitated toward a particular feminine aesthetic that relies on classic, if dramatic, makeup styles and noticeable cosmetic enhancements. With the Trump family, more is more, and that applies to tanning products, fillers, and eyeshadow galore. Because of her political associations, even her style choices are the source of scrutiny and debate, and that includes her beauty preferences.

But while Melania Trump sticks to her favorite look, it hasn't always been perfect. These are some moments when her go-to face has been less than flawless — to the horror of beauty experts everywhere.

The former model favors fresh skin, pink lips, and a dark smoky eyeshadow look that accentuates her fox-like eyes. Her over-reliance on that signature look might be her biggest makeup faux pas, since it's not always appropriate. It fits her high-fashion background, but the glam aesthetic is heavy and poorly suited for political life — particularly daytime appearances. In one TikTok video, a user compared Melania Trump's heavy eyeshadow look to older, more fresh-faced photos of Melania and suggested that the signature look tends to weigh down her almond-shaped eyes.

But according to makeup artist Nicole Bryl, the dramatic choice is strategic. "Without enough flash, a face can get lost in the shadow. Because of this I often smoke her eyes up for events, so that the camera, under any circumstance, will not fade her out," Bryl explained in an interview with The Telegraph. Instead, the style keeps the focus on Melania Trump's striking blue eyes.

In October 2024, the notoriously private former First Lady made a morning appearance on Fox Business, where a dark eyeshadow meant to accentuate and contour her eye area was poorly blended with the rest of her makeup. "The eyeshadow deliberately outlined her eye shape to make her eyes look wider. Unfortunately, the shade used was a dark one and if not blended well, the result is too harsh," professional makeup artist Luna Viola explained to Women. She suggested a lighter shade might have blended more naturally and appeared more appropriate for a daytime television interview.

Although Melania typically self-tans in a manner that doesn't look nearly as intense as her husband's unnatural glow, in this instance, her skin looks even darker than her hair highlights. Additionally, while Melania Trump usually tries to enhance her eyes with a smoked-out aesthetic, her eyeliner is much darker and sharper than the rest of her makeup, making her peepers look smaller and giving the makeup a very dated appearance.

Most beauty heads know that it's important to swap in lighter makeup shades come fall and winter, when skin is naturally paler from limited sun exposure. But it appears Melania Trump forgot to make the switch in 2019 when she appeared at the White House's annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon looking a bit more orange than usual. In addition to being overly dark, the bronzing shade was badly blended, creating harsh and streaky lines across her face, particularly near her cheeks and eyes.

In a 2020 biography, "The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump," former housekeeper Sandra Diaz revealed that Melania Trump tended to make huge self-tanner messes in her private bathroom where she often applied the spray (via The Mercury News). Diaz reported that Melania Trump tended to use the tanner as often as she left the house.

Still, Nicole Bryl defended the aesthetic choice to go heavy on bronzer, in an interview with The Telegraph. "Looking pale isn't a makeup vibe I would ever create on Melania. It's just not her style," she explained.

While over-lined lips are trendy right now, this look missed the mark for Melania Trump's Fox appearance in September 2024. The contrast between Melania Trump's lipstick and lip liner color was too dramatic. Rather than giving the former First Lady the appearance of a full pout, the different tones created a harsh and distracting outline on her mouth. The lip color was also a bit darker than the cool pink tone she often prefers, which meant it looked less distinct in contrast to her bronzed skin hue — giving her a more orange cast on screen.

In an interview with Hola!, Nicole Bryl revealed that she used a combination of Urban Decay's 'Cruz' 24/7 glide-on lip pencil and Naked 'Lovechild' lipgloss to create Trump's timeless inaugural look. The former First Lady would likely have been better served by sticking with that combination, which is less trendy and far more subtle.