Loren Gray has 54.4 million TikTok followers and 22.6 million Instagram followers. She just turned 20, and on Monday, she debuted a limited-edition collaboration with Revlon. It includes an eyeshadow palette of her own design, dubbed the Revlon x Loren Gray Fierce Angel Makeup Collection Eyeshadow Palette, as well as three Revlon essentials she selected. Gray has been working with the brand since 2020, but this is the first time she’s designed a product of her own. We chatted with the mega-influencer about the new collection, the process of creating (and naming) her own shades and her love for low-rise jeans.
Tell us a bit about your road to working with Revlon?
I started posting videos on Musical.ly when I was 13. I was really big into makeup from the very beginning. I started doing makeup when I was 12. And by the time I was 13, I was doing full winged liner, falsies, the whole nine. When I got the opportunity to work with brands, Revlon was a collaboration made in heaven because I’m such a makeup lover, I’m such a big fan of Revlon, and they’re so incredible to work with.
Is this the first product you’ve created?
This is the first makeup product I’ve ever collaborated on and the first time I’ve had my name attached to makeup at all. It was a super collaborative process. Revlon walked me through the process, and I gave major input every step of the way, from picking the shades to naming the shades themselves. It was really, really fun.
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The shade names are really personal to me and my life and include some inside jokes with the fans. For example, I made sure I had shades named after my pets and also my mom’s nickname, “Karaoke Queen.” I also have one called “Big Shrimp.” Don’t ask me where that came from, but it’s a subtle thing the fans will pick up on.
Were there any current makeup trends or TikTok trends that you wanted the collection to reflect?
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I love the Y2K style right now, so I really wanted to include a frosty blue shadow. For that pop of color, I’ve really been loving those kinds of shades. There’s a lot you can do with them. And I’ve been experimenting with them since I got [the palette] a couple weeks ago — I’m filming a tutorial today. But I also wanted to mix in everyday shades, like neutral browns and [colors] everyone can wear.
What’s your favorite thing about the return of Y2K style?
I love the icons, like Paris Hilton. And I’m just obsessed with it — the style, the makeup, the thin eyebrows, the low-rise jeans. I love every part of it. I had to have frosted blue eyeshadow, frosted lip gloss. I just appreciate the nostalgia. And I think there’s a modern way to do [the look] that’s so beautiful and interesting. I had a lot of fun pulling inspiration from that.
You were at Coachella, and Y2K style was huge this year…
Oh, yeah, definitely. I was wearing camouflage low-rise skirts and chunky bedazzled belts all weekend, and I think a lot of people had the same idea. People are putting their own spin on it and interpreting it in their own way, and it was actually really interesting to see. I enjoyed the outfits at Coachella. I don’t have any high-rise jeans anymore — they’re all low-rise.
What other trends are you noticing that people, say, 10-15 years older than you should know are happening?
People need to stop fighting the low-rise jeans. That’s my biggest thing: Just let it happen. The low-rise jean is cute. And statement pieces — the belts with the big buckles and things like that — can be cute. You just have to do it the right way. Put your own spin on it. If something looks ridiculous, and you’re like, ‘Oh, there’s no way,’ then interpret it in your own way and make it yours. That’s how I’ve been looking at fashion and beauty lately.
What surprised you, in terms of going from testing and wearing makeup as an influencer to actually creating it?
It was actually a really interesting process because it was during peak quarantine time. So they shipped me a poster board with all the different pigments, and then I had to test them on myself. I was by myself in quarantine, testing all these shades, then rearranging them the way that I wanted them and naming them. So that was really interesting. Because, typically, you would go and you’d sit down with everyone and figure it out. They walked me through the metallic shades and shimmers and mattes over Zoom. It was an unconventional way to do it, but it worked out.
What should we know about the rest of the products in the collection?
The lip crayon is the Revlon x Loren Gray ColorStay Matte Lite Crayon in “Tread Lightly.” It’s my favorite shade ever — I’m wearing it right now. And the eyeliner is the Revlon x Loren Gray ColorStay Line Creator Double Ended Eyeliner. It’s super convenient — I do winged [line] sometimes. Sometimes I like a more smoked-out liner, and it works for all of the above. There’s also the Revlon x Loren Gray So Fierce! Big Bad Lash Mascara, which is so voluminous. I love all the products and I’m just really happy that we finally got to do this.
How do you approach your beauty content?
My style of content is a little different than your typical beauty influencer because I do all different types of stuff. I’ll try things out, and I try not to overthink posting too much or scheduling posts out too much, because that’s when I burn myself out. And when you’re recording yourself every day for seven years, it’s really easy to do that. So I try to just post when I see something. Like if I do see a beauty trend going around that I want to try, sure. And if there’s something I want to talk about or there’s something on my mind or there’s something I think is funny, I found that that’s the best [time] for me to make content and remain sane.
