Andrew Dahling's beauty awakening began at age 8, when he was left home alone for the first time: He snuck into his mom's makeup bag, and later got caught trying (unsuccessfully) to rub off waterproof mascara. While his parents were "gagged and shocked" when they found him, Dahling remembers that moment as the beginning of his beauty path.
"When I was a kid, I went through this era where all I drew were women with tons of makeup and big lips and big eyes," he tells Fashionista. "Glamour and women always fascinated me, and I was enamored by the world of makeup, hair and fashion from an early age."
Photo: Steven Ferdman/Getty Images
But small-town Kentucky wasn't exactly the most creatively inspiring environment growing up. "There weren't any real weirdos," Dahling says. "The emo kids were the most avant-garde…but they were just sad and chainsmoking all day."
So he turned to the internet: He found community within various online subcultures and on Tumblr. He watched documentaries about Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, club kid culture and London's '80s punk scene. Lady Gaga was another formative figure in Dahling's upbringing: "I remember being screamed at by my family all the time because I would watch the same music video for 'Marry the Night' over and over and over," he laughs.
Pop culture not only helped Dahling escape into other worlds, but it also helped shape his love for beauty. "I grew to love the power behind makeup, especially when you're gay and you grow up and you're in this solitary confinement psyche where you're somebody else for everyone else," he explains. "So you create this fantasy world inside your head and makeup is a way to materialize that fantasy that you have inside of you into real life."
As he got older and more confident with his makeup skills, it was time to put them to the test. Dahling landed his first-ever job as a cashier at Ulta Beauty. "Hated it," he recalls. So he became a "counter girl" at Dillard's. "Hated it," he says. His next stint doing wedding makeup? "Hated it" as well. It wasn't until he packed his bags and moved to New York City that he finally landed a job he loved working retail at MAC Cosmetics.
In 2019, Dahling dove into freelancing, allowing him to finally commit to creating the makeup looks he loves, which he describes as "architectural," "graphic" and "beyond recognition."
"I don't think my purpose here is to create more of the same," he says of his approach to his craft. "Making people pretty is fine, but I want to make people look like a walking piece of art."
That ethos has been on full display through his collaborations with Chappell Roan. He first worked with the artist for her 2024 Governor's Ball performance, where she hit the stage in green body paint, dressed as the Statue of Liberty. Dahling recalls that moment as a turning point in his career and one of his best works to date.
"She really broke open a space for pop divas and pop culture, and for people who are in music in general to express themselves in new ways," Dahling says. "Every time I think about it, I start to cry a little bit because it was such an important moment for everyone involved — for her, for culture, for the gays. I just don't think that will ever be able to be recreated."
Ever since then, he and Roan have been locked in. Other standout moments to come out of their collaborative partnership and friendship include the performer's swan-inspired look on "The Tonight Show" and her "Pink Pony Club" glam at the 2025 Grammys.
"She's so willing to sacrifice comfort for the sake of art," Dahling says of Roan. "Going forward, we're focused more on continuing the story and fantasy of Chappell Roan through the lens of who she is and creating different universes that still feel authentic to her creative spirit."
Chappell Roan at "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." Makeup by Dahling. (Photo by: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)
Another highlight of Dahling's career has been MAC Cosmetics' most recent Viva Glam campaign featuring Roan as the face, with Dahling overseeing her makeup looks. "Everyone at MAC...is just so down to support artistry, which is so refreshing," he says.
For Dahling, it's also a full circle moment to go from working at a MAC counter to being a key artist for one of its campaigns. "I thought I was going to have to move back home so many times," he shares. "I was a true starving artist. I had no idea what was going to happen. So to be here and have this opportunity is insane — especially with MAC, a brand that basically made my life happen when I moved to New York."
Dahling putting makeup on Chappell Roan for the Mac Cosmetics Viva Glam 2026 campaign. Photo: Courtesy of Mac Cosmetics
He hopes that his artistry serves as a reminder for aspiring makeup artists to stay true to themselves and not feel pressured to cater to social media or industry demands. "You have to allow yourself to take time and space away from the rest of the world and the rest of social media and the industry to find your own voice," he says. "If you don't take that time and you're constantly consuming, your mind's going to be so clouded that you're never going to be able to tap into who you are as an artist."
With the Viva Glam campaign and another professional project (that he "can't talk about") wrapped, Dahling plans to use his upcoming free time to prioritize personal projects.
"I'm just focused on reconnecting with the makeup I personally love to do, which is the weird club kid stuff," he says. "I've just been so focused on building my career. So definitely look out because my Instagram will be flooded soon with really crazy avant-garde stuff."
* This article was originally published here