a deep dive into the star wars makeup collaborations
calling all people at the intersection of star wars and makeup! this is your stop!
From being bullied for being a girl who likes Star Wars to now celebrating the franchise through impeccable makeup brand collaborations, it’s safe to say that we’ve come a long way! Star Wars has been a constant presence in my life (I saw Revenge of the Sith in theatres at 5 years old) and has an array of the best makeup looks and creative design.
Star Wars has many reasons to celebrate this year: The 45th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith, and the 10th anniversary of The Force Awakens. The franchise doesn’t seem to slow down either, churning out multiple series on Disney+ (how good is Andor?!), and a movie starring Ryan Gosling to release in 2027.
The franchise has a distinct, almost untouchable quality, which unfortunately can be daunting for brands to approach. For makeup brands especially, the pressure to live up to the Star Wars legacy means pushing creative boundaries. Collaborating with such an expansive universe isn’t just about slapping on themed packaging. But with both Star Wars and beauty, they provide stories. These collaborations made connections, created noise, and started a conversation about how much this matters. And so, here are the brands that made Star Wars their muse:
Cover Girl x Max Factor: The Force Awakens
Before 2015, Star Wars wasn’t a discussion point in friend groups. In high school, peers thought the franchise was too old and nerdy to get into. But everything changed when The Force Awakens was announced. Suddenly, the franchise was everywhere again, and everyone wanted in, including Cover Girl and Max Factor.
After some digging, I discovered that Pat McGrath, who you'll know from her eponymous makeup brand, was the Max Factor and Cover Girl’s Global Creative Design Director at the time. In an interview, McGrath said she watched the original Star Wars (1977) in the cinema, so I don’t doubt her passion. Plus, this was before the peak of brand collaborations, making the announcement even more exciting and surprising.
The collection included six glittery lipstick shades, four nail polishes, and 12 mascaras with different Star Wars quotes. For Christmas that year, I got one of the lipsticks and one of the mascaras, which I treasured immensely. Cover Girl and Max Factor were a great choice of brands at the time as well; they’re accessible and inexpensive, helping bring Star Wars to a new audience.
The shades were relatively on-theme, glittery to match the franchise's sci-fi/space opera theme, but the shades didn’t matter at this time. What mattered most was how it felt to be a 15-year-old girl, finally feeling seen in a universe that was usually gatekept. For once, being a young female Star Wars fan felt validating, and that was more powerful than any lipstick.
Colourpop Cosmetics
Disney+'s release of The Mandalorian allowed a new audience to glimpse the Star Wars universe with Pedro Pascal and Baby Yoda. The entire range included a small mirror, a makeup bag, The Child eyeshadow palette, The Mandalorian eyeshadow palette, and a lip oil duo.
Having previously collaborated with franchises like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Tangled, and Pokémon, ColourPop brought their experience translating characters into thoughtfully curated beauty products.
I was especially drawn to the lip gloss duo and The Child palette, which I still love. The eyeshadow palette stood out with earth-tone shades of browns and greens, mirroring the two main characters. The shade names are spot-on and interlink with the storytelling.
ColourPop also launched a Darth Vader collection, but unfortunately, it fell flat. Given the vast universe of Star Wars, there are so many other characters with more potential for a makeup collaboration.
Pat McGrath
This was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. Despite her passion for the franchise, the Pat McGrath brand is prestigious, and I always felt like it was out of reach price-wise. But she brought out two Star Wars collections; one in 2019 and the other in 2022.
For The Rise of Skywalker, Pat McGrath released three lip balms, a rerelease of the Mothership IV eyeshadow palette in a gleaming gold case, two 6-shaded eyeshadow palettes, and a colour balm.
The two 6-shade palettes are named perfectly: Galactic Gold and Dark Galaxy capture the shades and reflect the franchise’s contrast of the light and dark sides. What about the rest of the collection?
While the lip products may be of excellent quality, they seem like an afterthought. The packaging is beautiful, but it looks like it was wrapped in a Star Wars movie still taken from the film. A little deflated, but pretty nonetheless.
But McGrath knows how to do eyeshadow. The metallic shades are exceptional. They’re highly compact, ultra-reflective, and packed with pigment. They shimmer with intensity and feel as luxurious as they look.
2022 marked the 45th anniversary of the original Star Wars (1977), and Pat McGrath paid stunning homage to the iconic trilogy.
So, what did Pat get right? The collection itself is impressively extensive, and when compared to the 2019 release, it’s clear that the packaging has been upgraded; bolder, sleeker, and more immersive.
The standout is Mothership VI: Midnight Sun, detailed with a striking Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back poster. The palette is hefty, both in size and impact, and honestly feels like a collector’s piece.
The shade names are fine. They don’t hit the nail on the head, but make sense in a basic space fantasy aesthetic.
Not everyone is impressed, though. This Reddit thread explained the disappointment of the repackaging and placing them in Star Wars packaging. Meaning there are no special shades for the collections. Disappointing? Definitely, because this is very expensive makeup; however, it doesn’t dismiss the quality of the makeup we were given, which is incredible.
Ending thoughts:
I feel like the Star Wars makeup department still needs to be fully developed. We’ve only scratched the surface. Fans eagerly line up for hours to get their hands on high-quality collectibles, and I want the same for makeup.
So far, every makeup collaboration has been successful, capturing a distinct moment within the ever-evolving legacy. But I hope for the future, there’s more potential for a brand to sweep us away and fully harness Star Wars’ legendary status.
What I WANT from future collaborations:
A genuine, fresh connection to the world of makeup for Star Wars. Full of the same creativity and individuality. I want less of a brand deal and more as an act of love for the franchise. Most people who work on Star Wars have a long, immense love of the work, so I’d like to see the same passion displayed in the form of make-up.
A reflection of the makeup work in the movies in a collaboration: Queen Amidala’s makeup and costumes are the most iconic, but that also goes for Shaak Ti, Luminara Unduli, Mon Mothma, etc.
More products: eyeliners, blushes, highlighters, bronzers, and stickers.
Inspiration to be taken in the form of the planets: The nature of Naboo, the cityscape of Coruscant, Chandrila, Endor, Felucia - the inspiration is endless. The best part is that the hard work is already done. The designers and artists have already made these planets, and all we need to do is take the inspiration from them.
True metallics, highlights, shimmer, depth, a fucking payout. Something worth the money that the fans are willing to spend. Nothing half-assed.
Here’s a bonus: makeup that can be used for Star Wars cosplays. For example, an Ahsoka Tano orange and a Riyo Chuchi ocean blue.
2027 marks the 50th anniversary of Star Wars (1977), so we’ll watch this space, and hopefully, someone will read this and take notes.