What YSL’s national makeup artist puts on her face

Before she was painting faces for magazine covers, movies, and red carpets, Riviera Lynn Vaz was backstage at dance shows, learning to blend and contour with a Kryolan palette. “I didn’t even grow up wearing makeup,” she says. But somewhere between a short course at Fat Mu, a deep internet crush on the London-based Delamar Academy of Makeup and Hair, and prosthetic experiments in her bedroom, Vaz found herself all in—first for bruises and fake blood, then for a flawless base and bronzed glow.

Today, she’s known for her impossibly light hand, her gentle glam, and as YSL Beauty’s national makeup artist. She’s also the kind of artist who prefers her own face bare, swears by sunscreen over highlighter, and picks up products purely because the packaging looks cool (who isn’t guilty of this?).

Below, Vaz on the products she uses till the last drop, working with Alia Bhatt and Janhvi Kapoor, and her Olive Young hauls from her trips to Seoul.

I didn’t wear any makeup growing up... because my mom never wore any—and still doesn’t. I wasn’t introduced to makeup at a young age, but I used to dance with this group in Mumbai while in junior college, and one of the girls in the group was a makeup artist. She did an at-home session where she invited friends and taught them how to do their own makeup. I remember going to Kryolan and buying a bunch of products after the session. We’d stage a lot of shows, so she’d basically do the makeup, and we’d try to replicate the same thing on each other backstage. That was my introduction to this world.

My first formal makeup course was at Fat Mu in Bandra, just for fun during summer break from college. While in my third year of studying BMM, I realised I wasn’t interested in journalism or advertising. I randomly came across Delamar Academy online and was obsessed. They specialised in prosthetics, and I would go and stalk their website every day for hours. I wasn’t interested in beautiful makeup at all at the time; I just wanted to do full-blown prosthetics and create crazy characters.

I went to Delamar and ended up falling for beauty. I came back and played around with prosthetics on myself at home. I even worked on a film doing on-skin SFX. But slowly, I realised I just wanted to make people look beautiful. I didn’t want to build characters anymore.

One of the most challenging projects I’ve done was Mili with Janhvi Kapoor. Her character gets stuck in a freezer, so she had to look frozen. The prosthetics were designed by another artist, but I had to create the progression in her skin tone—how it changes from when she enters the freezer to having spent many hours there. My job was to make sure the skin changes colour slowly, and towards the end she’s got this almost purple, deep skin tone. When you do prosthetics and bruises and stuff, you have to work in a very specific way because the camera picks up every pixel. We’d spend nearly two hours every day painting her face and the insides of her ears and nose using alcohol paint. Every spot had to be filled so it would look realistic. It was a crazy experience, and I really, really enjoyed it. But after that, I was like, I just want to do beautiful makeup now.

I never moisturised or used sunscreen—but this was before I went to beauty school. I’ve been seeing a dermatologist on and off for years. I like to go once in a while to just show what my skin looks like, and whatever they recommend I keep. But when I go shopping, I tend to get carried away. Most of my core skincare is derm-recommended, but I’m a sucker for nice packaging. I went to Olive Young in Korea recently and bought everything that looked fun.

Right now, I’m using the Novology acne reduction cleanser in the morning, and on days I wear makeup I double-cleanse with the Manyo Pure Cleansing Oil. I rotate between two moisturisers: d’you In My Defence, and the S Nature Aqua squalene moisturiser—the one with the silver packaging. I remember picking it up because I thought it looked really cool, but I love it because it’s light and works so well for Mumbai. I just went to the Maldives, and right before I went on that trip I felt like I needed to carry at least carry three sunscreens with me. So, I’ve been using the Beauty of Joseon Relief sunscreen and Isdin Fotoprotector, and I recently got the Laneige Hydro UV Defence. I ended up using only the Laneige on the trip just because it felt like my skin was being protected—it’s a lot thicker than the Beauty of Joseon sunscreen.

Three times a week, I use the VT Reedle shot before moisturiser—another Olive Young discovery I picked up because of the packaging. I asked the sales assistant if it was good and she was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, take it. I find it very fascinating, because every time I use it my skin starts tingling and it feels like it’s doing something.

Makeup artists swear by the Embryolisse Lait-Crème. I don’t wear it unless I’m wearing makeup because it’s quite heavy, but the richness helps the makeup sit well. I was introduced to Embryolisse when I was in beauty school in 2016 and it hasn’t left my kit since. It’s the only moisturiser I always have in my kit. If someone’s skin is super dry, I mix it with Paw Paw or Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream—that combo saved me while shooting in Kashmir in the winter a few months ago. Mixing that into the moisturiser and massaging the skin really helps in that weather.

Actors rarely bring their own skincare to set. But some are very specific about the sunscreen or moisturiser they use—like when I worked with Alia [Bhatt], she introduced me to d’you IMD. She only uses that moisturiser.

I prefer my face without makeup. When you do makeup day in and day out for work, you don’t feel like doing it on yourself. But I do like wearing makeup if I go out or when I’m travelling, which is rare because I’m a bit of a homebody. In Mumbai, it’s just so hot. I don’t have the patience to do a full face.

On the days I feel like I look dead, I’ll use the YSL Lash Clash mascara, and I obviously use lip balm—Candy Glow or Candy Glaze, depending on what I’m feeling. I have so many shades of those, and the packaging is amazing.

The secret to glowing skin: I mix a little bit of a glow drop in my moisturiser to get that bronzy-skin effect. If I want coverage, I use the YSL All Hours foundation. It’s got hyaluronic acid, it’s buildable, and it stays through the day. And I love using my fingers for everything—even foundation. It really looks the best when you do it that way.

My favourite packaging of any product ever is the YSL eyeshadow palettes! I’ve been using them a lot recently.

The thing I hate most about my job is the weight of my bags. They’re so heavy! Because I’m a tiny person, I think my bag sometimes looks bigger than me. I have literally started doing Pilates and working out because I want to be able to lift my suitcases.

The best part is the people. It’s an incredibly enriching, supportive community. If you met somebody who’s doing hair on set today, you don’t know when you’re going to see them next. It could be a week or three years later, but it never feels like that. It also feels really nice when someone sits in your chair and trusts you, and you’re able to see their face light up at the end of it. Like you’ve made some difference in their day. That never gets old. It doesn’t feel monotonous.

I never thought I’d be doing masterclasses. I used to be terrified of speaking in public. But when YSL asked me to be their national makeup artist, I thought, if I don’t do this now, I never will. I remember seeing giant YSL Beauty hoardings at airports and thinking, wow, I wanna do a big beauty brand campaign someday. And now I get to be a part of it. It feels gratifying.

The best beauty advice. Can I be honest? It has nothing to do with skincare or makeup. I know every second person is like, yeah, drink lots of water, you’ll look better or whatever. But for me, it wasn’t until I started eating cleaner, exercising, and hydrating properly that my skin calmed down. My skin was inflamed, and I didn’t know why—my water consumption was terrible. It’s not glamorous advice, but it worked for me.