My Experience at The MET Gala 2024

A Billionaire flew me to NYC for The MET Gala

Let’s get straight to it…I was flown to New York to do the makeup for a VIP attending The MET Gala 2024. The billionaire philanthropist, Sudha Reddy wanted me to do her makeup for the most anticipated fashion event of the year, The MET Gala. This is every makeup artist’s dream - to have the opportunity to do the glam on someone attending the MET. Although it’s always been a dream of mine, I didn’t think it was going to happen anytime soon.

So let’s fast forward to my time in New York. On the 5th of May at The Plaza hotel, we had our first MET fitting which means the entire creative team got together with the client to have a run-through of the entire look. When it comes to the makeup, on a trial I wouldn’t necessarily do the entire look, I would get everything matched up, such as foundation, concealer and finalize tones for blush, etc. This way when we get to the main day, I don’t need to mess around with figuring out what matches the client’s skin tone. The stylist and designer ensure the outfit is fitting right and if any changes need to happen it’s done that evening.

I don’t think I got back to my room until 8.30 pm that evening, so the first thing I did was order some food and do my evening skincare routine to get an early night. At this point, I was still struggling with jetlag so I was waking up without an alarm anywhere between 2-4 am. On the 6th of May, after getting ready and getting some work done, I headed out to meet my assistant for breakfast so we could fuel up for a big day ahead. I was scheduled to start at 1.30 pm so we had some good time to relax before we started. We had breakfast at Sarabeth’s Central Park and sitting right next to me was Celebrity Makeup Artist, Etienne. Obviously, I had to tell him how much I admire his work! After breakfast, we headed over to The MET to see how the preparations were coming along and to see if it would be worth heading over to see the evening’s red carpet. We decided against it as there were already so many people camping out at 11 am! We made our way back to The Plaza through Central Park for a scenic walk.

It’s now 1.30 pm and myself and my assistant get set up for the hair and makeup. It was a pretty fluid and easy session until we hit 4.30 pm when we needed to get the client into her outfit. At one point I remember there were five of us working on her simultaneously! Once we finally had her ready, we headed down to a ballroom within The Plaza for a photo shoot, followed by the floral staircase within The Plaza near the Champagne bar. The last stop was the red carpet outside The Plaza. This was a crazy experience and she hadn’t even got to The MET yet! There were so many people outside waiting for her! My client was so sweet, she called me over to get a picture with her on the red carpet - as you can see I have my makeup brush in hand!

Once my client had left for The MET, I headed back into the hotel and realized that all the other celebrities staying at our hotel were about to make their entrance down The Plaza floral staircase! Designer, Prabul Gurung introduced several celebrities that were all dressed by him for the event. Dove Cameron, Simone Ashley, and Demi Lovato were just a few of them.

The overall experience was amazing. It reminded me why I do what I do and how much I love the hustle and bustle of such events. I love working with creative teams that gel together to create an amazing look.

I’ll never forget this experience and can’t wait till next years MET!