50 Times Makeup Artists Pushed The Boundaries Of Creativity (2025)

Art, Optical Illusions

Makeup is perhaps the closest art form to traditional painting, where the canvas is replaced by the face or body. To celebrate some of the most talented creatives who’ve shared their work on Bored Panda, we’ve put together a list of their most upvoted works.

The artists below showcase their incredible ability to transform faces into characters, frightening creatures, and breathtaking scenery—we’ve got it all. So strap in for an unforgettable journey through the world of transformative makeup art.

To learn more about this unique craft, we reached out to Sarina Nexie, one of the featured artists. Be sure to check out our interview with her below!

Sarina Nexie first captivated audiences with her makeup looks in 2021, and she hasn’t slowed down since. Her Instagram is a constantly evolving gallery of stunning transformations—be sure to see what she’s been creating lately.

First of all, we were curious to learn more about creative makeup and what it means specifically to Sarina. She responded: “Creative makeup to me means expressing myself, and creating a sort of snapshot of my life from that moment in time. My art changes with me, my feelings and my life experiences, so having an outlet like creative makeup is so important to me and my mental health. It becomes a sort of therapy for me, where I can just be alone and tap into my inner world and creativity.”

We asked Sarina to share how she usually starts when planning a creative makeup look.

She wrote: “When planning a creative makeup look I typically start with finding a subject or object I want to create my look around, usually I do this by scrolling through Pinterest or Instagram and seeing if something catches my eye. If nothing comes to mind I tend to kind of ‘work my way backwards’, in a way, by searching for color palettes and then choosing a subject that fits the color palette. Sometimes no planning is necessary, though, and I just get hit with inspiration- those tend to be my favorite looks.”

As for the inspiration, Sarina explained what stands behind her most creative designs.

“My most imaginative or artistic makeup designs tend to be those with subjects or topics I’m the most passionate about or interested in. Historically those have been my LGBTQ+-inspired artworks, my astrology series and those inspired by things in pop culture I’m currently loving. I used to be scared to be inspired by my personal interests and life, but after coming out as a lesbian it has been increasingly important for me to use my art and platform to speak out about social issues and spread awareness, which has inspired some of my favorite and most creative looks!” wrote Sarina.

We were wondering if Sarina thinks that creative makeup is more about self-expression, art, or storytelling—or all three.

Sarina commented: “All of the above, definitely! Creative makeup can be such an immersive experience if you let it be, and if you just let yourself go with the flow and not overthink things, it can easily turn into something more than you ever expected it to be. Not all art needs to have a story, but as I mentioned earlier I also think that it creates a snapshot of the time in which it was created, which in turn makes it a part of the artist’s story, self expression and art journey. I think that’s the most beautiful part of art in general: that each piece of art contains a part of the artist who created it.”

We were also wondering what tools or products Sarina relies on most for creating bold, artistic looks.

She shared: “What I rely on the most when creating the looks I do is definitely good-quality water-activated body paints! If you have poor-quality paints, they tend to crack on the skin, which can easily ruin all the work you did, so it’s absolutely necessary for me to have good-quality paints. Other than that, I love my nail art brushes for fine details- and they’re super cheap, too! I also love a good accessory or prop for my looks, which I tend to either make myself or order online. Sometimes a good accessory is what makes the final look stand out in an image, so I have a tendency to hoard a lot of accessories (I may have a problem, hehe!).”

Regarding creative blocks and other challenges, Sarina wrote: “When I’m in a creative block or am feeling stuck, my favorite thing to do is actually to go back through my old looks! Something about looking at my past work reminds me that I’m not incapable, and that if I’ve done it before there’s no reason why I wouldn’t be able to do it again. I also give myself a lot of grace during these periods, as it’s so easy to be hard on oneself when feeling like you’re unable to do something and feeling down on myself really doesn’t help me at all. Sometimes all it takes for me to get back into things is to recreate some old looks I’ve done until I have some new ideas, because as soon as I’m back in that creative headspace it’s a lot easier for me to come up with new ideas!”

Lastly, Sarina added: “Don’t give up on your dreams! And never, ever be ashamed of your art. We all start somewhere, and no one was born with perfect artistic skill so if you keep doing what you love and are passionate about, you will grow and learn. It’s okay to not be perfect, because perfect is, quite frankly, extremely boring! And most importantly: always have fun with what you’re doing, because if you don’t have fun with it, what’s the point?”

BP staff account, working in collaboration with community moderators.