Inside the Wacky, Wonderful, Whimsical World of Andrew Dahling, Chappell Roan's Makeup Artist
Unless you're deeply invested in the beauty world, you might not recognize Andrew Dahling's name at first glance. But just one look at his work would have you, your technologically stunted parents, and even your radio-loving grandmother gasping in recognition. No, you may not know his name right now, but you saw his handiwork littering magazine covers, award-show red carpets, and every popular social media platform over the past year on the canvas that is Chappell Roan.
Born Andrew Karrick, Dahling came up in rural Kentucky, and "visions of grandeur" took up more mental real estate than his parents would have liked. The glittering grit of fashionable city life called to him from miles away. His free time was spent watching '90s VHS tapes of the New York City club-kid scene on YouTube, sketching fashion designs onto models with stamped-on mugs, and practicing makeup in secret. Dahling seemed predetermined for greatness, and he allowed the self-described "psychedelic current" of creativity to carry him through his first six years in New York City before transforming the Grammy Award–winning artist into a blunt-smoking Statue of Liberty for her headline-making performance at the 2024 Governors Ball. It was their first collaboration, might we add.
There's an air of quiet confidence around the spellbinding makeup artist when we meet during a video call. A mannequin looms at his window for sewing projects, and archival magazine covers and bespoke fashion sketches paper the walls—a reminder of the end goal, the mountain to summit next. "I've always felt like I'm some sort of vessel. I'm supposed to be doing something important," he tells Who What Wear. "My life has always felt like it belongs to that."
Ahead, take a peek inside the mind of the artist helping craft the makeup looks of the industry's favorite Midwest princess, see the products that changed his artistry for good, and learn about the dreams left to manifest for this enthralling talent.
Your clientele and the art you create together are so celebrated, but I want to turn the lens back on you. Can you tell me a bit about yourself—your childhood, your family, where you're from?
I grew up in a really small town in Kentucky. Not much going on there. We were the first neighborhood on this long road. It was just very quintessential, all-American childhood, you know—around a lot of family, cookouts, super close to my grandparents. It was very sweet, but it stopped serving me.
It didn't really nurture my creativity in any way, and nobody in my family had ever met somebody like me before. They didn't know what to do with me. I was the black sheep, so I felt a little angry, and just had a rough time with the teenage/early adult years. I didn't see anyone around me that I was like, "Oh, I want to be like them."
