On Monday, Bad Bunny arrived at the 2026 Met Gala directly from the future. At least, it certainly appeared that way. The Puerto Rican superstar chose a hyper-realistic old-age look for the soiree’s “Fashion Is Art” theme, complete with miniscule liver spots, wrinkles, and the kind of bushy gray eyebrows only a distinguished elder can pull off. It wasn’t, of course, the result of a time machine or some sort of reverse cryogenic therapy. It was the handiwork of veteran self-taught makeup artist Mike Marino, who has spent the past three decades transforming some of the most famous faces in the world using prosthetics, paint, and some serious hands-on skill.
Marino, whose earliest inspiration came from a “traumatizing” childhood viewing of The Elephant Man and an obsession with the “Thriller” music video, has worked on over 100 films across his career. He’s perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with Halloween’s strongest soldier, Heidi Klum, and his work altering the Weeknd’s face with everything from faux plastic surgery to heavy bruising to bespoke old-age makeup.
We got Marino on the phone to explain how he managed to hand-paint microscopic burst blood vessels on one of the world’s biggest pop stars amid pre-Met chaos. “A surgeon wants quiet and peace and perfect temperature,” he says. “I'm walking into a party zone and doing surgery in front of 30 people.”
So how did you connect with Bad Bunny for his Met Gala makeup?
His team reached out to me, and they had already come up with a wish for a design with my name on it. I was really honored. We went down to Miami a couple months back and did a 3D laser scan of his face and whole head. Then we 3D printed that and I sculpted the old-age makeup on it. I didn't make him look too crazy, because he was supposed to look like an older person, not a zombie, you know? [Laughs] It’s the Met Gala, he’s gotta look handsome!
What was Bad Bunny’s vision for the look?
That aging is art in and of itself. I do think that the reflection of a distinguished man is represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We’re inspired by the older paintings there. So in a sense, Bad Bunny is arriving as this very handsome, distinguished man, much like he would be in the gallery. He’s kind of like a painting come to life.
You hand-painted all of the details onto the prosthetics. How long did that take day-of?
Once I sculpted the design, we made all these molds and eventually cast pieces out of silicone. During our first meeting, we took a skin color sample of him, which I used to tint each silicone piece intrinsically, so when I glue the pieces on, they already look like his skin. On top of that, I airbrush freckles and little liver spots and blood vessels and all those little details on top of this color I created inside the silicone piece. Once that is done, we paint his hands and his face, and apply the hairpieces we made custom: a mustache, a goatee, a little side beard, and the full wig. Those pieces get glued on and blended with a fine lace net. Same thing for his eyebrows. Then he gets dressed and that’s it! He’s a new man. That was, I think, about three hours. Bad Bunny was very kind, very cooperative. I couldn't have had a better person to do makeup on.
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