YSL Beauty Takes Us To Madrid to Party the Gen-Z Way
March 25, 2026
Fashion & Beauty
Words:
Beanie Stolper
Beanie Stolper
Who says glamour sleeps in? YSL Beauty is embracing the day party as Gen-Z’s answer, proving you don’t need late nights to party hard and live like a YSL girl. Gone are bleary-eyed mornings and late-night eyeliner, now it’s daytime DJs, sunlight energy, and slightly undone lipstick for the modern YSL girl. Confident, playful, and rule-free, she radiates effortless glamour in her own way. I caught up with Sam Visser, Global Makeup Artist at YSL Beauty, to find out how the brand balances bold nudes, liberated textures, and a new kind of cool that only comes when the party starts before 4pm. Madrid kicked off the tour, we can’t wait to party with YSL Beauty in London Town.
Beanie Stolper: The YSL girl is rebellious, confident and radiates modern glamour. What does she actually look like in real life? Daytime riser, always on the move, or effortlessly chilling?
Sam Visser: YSL girl is all of the above, she has fun and does it effortlessly and authentically. Radiating a “lived-in” glamour all the while. It’s not about being polished at all times, it’s about being fully present in whatever the moment asks of her. Whether she’s rising early, caught in the middle of a block party at noon, or the last one standing at 2am, she’s confident, bold, and she writes her own rules.
BS: You are the Global Makeup Artist for YSL Beauty. Over your career, lips have gone from matte to glossy to clean girl vibes. Where do you see them heading now? Is LOVENUDE the perfect mix of everything we’ve wanted in the last decade? Kissable, soft-focus, and care-driven?
SV: No more clean girl makeup! I think we’re embracing nude in an exciting way. As we’ve seen on runways from the 90s, nude doesn’t need to be subtle. Make it a statement! The LOVENUDE is the bridge between the high-pigment drama of the past and the subtle philosophy of the present. Perfect to pair with a liner. I love the idea of nude as something deeply individual rather than something invisible. A nude lip can hold attitude, sensuality or softness depending on the tone and finish. Creatively it becomes about helping someone discover the version of nude that feels like an extension of their identity rather than a default choice.
BS: “YSL creates daring beauty that dresses change” is a big statement. When you stepped into the role in 2025, how did you start translating that into modern, rebellious, liberated makeup looks?
SV: I started by stripping away the “rules” of traditional makeup and replacing them with liberated textures and intuitive application. Because makeup today feels very emotional and very situational. It is important to allow yourself to move between those states and to honour the feeling you want to express in a given moment. For me it is always about balance and authenticity. You can mix references and use contemporary techniques, but the makeup has to feel true to the person wearing it. Confidence is ultimately what makes a look feel timeless. I have seen very strong makeup feel completely effortless because the individual’s personality carries it. When essence and aesthetic are aligned the result feels modern without trying too hard.
BS: With Gen-Z not strictly rejecting nightlife but instead rewriting it, how does that energy shape makeup when the party starts at noon, not midnight?
SV: They are stripping away the beauty rulebook and embracing self expression, letting that nighttime makeup see the light of day – literally. Daylight is brutal and I mean that in the most positive way. It demands intention. Texture becomes visible, colour placement becomes more considered and the overall feeling of the makeup needs to be resolved. You cannot rely on drama or darkness to create impact so confidence becomes quieter but stronger. There is a sophistication in choosing restraint and allowing the light to reveal the beauty of the work.
BS: The idea of a block party feels democratic compared to a traditional luxury event. How do you translate YSL glamour into something spontaneous, street-level, and culturally alive? A bit more down to earth and attainable, products that can straddle celebrity red carpet to the everyday YSL customer?
SV: Translating YSL glamour into a block party setting is about prioritising self-expression and liberation. Leaning into what makes you feel sexy, confident and alive. Spaces like the block party invite freedom. They encourage people to express their most exuberant or daring selves through beauty. As an artist it becomes about creating looks that can exist within energy and movement and community. Makeup in that context is not just visual. It becomes part of a shared cultural experience. What I love about YSL Beauty is that the products genuinely straddle both worlds. The same lipstick that sits on a celebrity’s vanity before a red carpet can be in someone’s back pocket at a block party, and it should be. That’s not a contradiction, that’s the point. Glamour is a feeling, and it belongs to everyone.
BS: Daytime partying has a surreal energy, sunlight, music, people slightly undone. Is there a type of makeup look you love for that moment?
SV: It’s one of my favourite canvases to work with. You have the raw honesty of sunlight mixed and movement. It’s a moment where you want to look like you’ve been caught in time- slightly undone, glowing, and completely liberated. Slightly melted lipstick, smudged eyeliner. It’s lived in, it’s real, it’s perfect.
BS: Madrid is first, then New York and London. How do you adapt beauty and products for different cities, climates, and tastes? Especially for products that are so global and made to be universal?
SV: While YSL Beauty products are formulated to be universal, the way they live on the skin changes based on the humidity of Madrid, the grit of New York, or the mist of London. To keep a look alive, I treat each city like a different lighting setup, but most importantly like a different emotional frequency. Madrid has a warmth and an openness that invites more colour, more heat in the skin. New York demands a certain edge, a precision. London has this effortless, slightly undone cool that I love. The product stays the same but the intention shifts.
BS: A nude lip sounds simple, but it’s often the hardest and is different for everyone. What’s the secret to keeping it modern and bold?
SV: The secret to a modern nude lip is realizing that “nude” is not a disappearing act, it can be a statement. In the past, nude meant erasing the lips to match the skin. But it’s all about enhancing now. Using a nude that is slightly deeper or more vibrant than your natural pigment to create a boldly effortless look. To keep it modern, you have to play with contrast and texture. A flat, beige matte looks dated; a blurred, dimensional nude looks alive.
