Catching up with YSL Global Makeup Artist Sam Visser before Madrid Block Party

Still in his twenties, Sam Visser, the YSL Beauty Global Makeup Artist, navigates between old Hollywood references and a more contemporary, fluid vision of beauty, where men approach beauty with their own sense of identity and aren’t afraid to push it further. Visser first appeared on our radar when he was behind the makeup for our Conan Gray cover several years ago, a moment that captured his ability to make beauty feel emotional. It’s this same instinct that carries through everything he does, whether he’s working backstage, on a campaign, or, in this case, preparing for YSL’s Madrid Block Party, where the brand is tapping into a new kind of energy around masculinity, nightlife, and self-expression.

Catching up with him just before the event, Visser is exactly as you’d expect: equal parts obsessive about product and deeply intuitive about people. He speaks about Touche Éclat with near-mythical reverence, treats lip liner like a transformative tool rather than a finishing touch, and, most importantly, sees makeup on men not as a statement but as an extension of who they already are.

If you had to narrow it down, what are three products you genuinely cannot live without, either for yourself or in your kit?
That’s really hard! My number one would be Touche Éclat, for sure, if I don’t have Touche Éclat, I’m like freaking out, and also in my kit. If we have five minutes to go, we’ve got to do something fast and look really awake. It is great. Then, I would also say the clear Candy Glaze. This is an amazing product because it’s so multi-use. You can use it on the lips. It’s super moisturizing. You can use it on the cheeks to give you a glow. You can use it on your eyes to create a wet eye look. When you turn your face, there’s more of a three-dimensional luminosity to the skin. The last one I can’t live without is the new Kiss Shaper. Lip liner has been a part of my makeup; I have always used lip liner. It’s been my favorite thing since I can remember. I think it was the first makeup products that I saw really transformed someone, and also many different people in my life used it, and I saw the impact like. I remember having friends who would just use a pencil, and I thought that was so cool how it would transform their entire face and confidence.

What product has surprised you the most?
Again, to the Touche Éclat, this is the best product ever. I have been using it for over a decade. I have many stories of going on holidays with friends where someone forgot it, and we had to hunt it down in a new city. Everybody on the face of the planet, from yourself to a celebrity, a makeup artist has used that product. It has so much history and lore to it, it’s just iconic for a reason because it works. It’s almost like magic; it does something. Every time I put it on in the morning, I’m like, “This is gonna make me feel great”, and it’s a sure thing. It’s one of those things for me where I’m like, “Oh, thank God I have it, I’m gonna look like I didn’t just get three hours of sleep”.

What’s one product you use in a completely unexpected way? We talked about lip liner. Have you used it on any place besides the lips?
Lip liner on the eyes and especially the Shaper is amazing because we have a lot of different tones. We have warm tones, cool tones, and neutral tones. For me, I love using them on the eyes. I love creating an eye look with this. It creates definition, lip colors tend to be human lip shades so when you put it on the eyes, there’s something very natural about it because it has these subtle kind of skin tone undertones to them, but they’re also in different, like mauvy, pinky, kind of shades or cool tone so it mimics some sort of shadow that looks very real.

Sam’s Picks: Kiss Shaper, Touche Éclat, Candy Glaze

When you’re doing your own makeup, is it different from how you approach a client, and what’s your personal everyday look?
Yes, I am way more gentle with my clients. I mean, I think I’m also way less slapping my own makeup on in the morning. I can do my own, almost not looking in the mirror, because I just don’t care. Whereas with my clients, all the attention is on them, and I want to make sure every detail is considered. So that’s a very different approach. When you do your own makeup, it’s almost like a routine; you know exactly what your needs are, and you know what’s going to make you feel great. Also, when I’m putting on my own skincare on, I’m really going hard, massaging everything, being really aggressive. Anything with a client, I’m trying to be gentler on them.

Looking at men right now, is there like one style or aesthetic that you really enjoy?
I love that men are wearing makeup, and I think that it’s so cool, seeing guys wear smoky eyes, that’s such a vibe. As a kid who was super into makeup and always feeling really kind of uncomfortable, being a boy that wanted to be into makeup and wanted to wear it and kind of felt like I wasn’t allowed to in a way, now, seeing that, having the power to do that, it’s almost like my rebellious side being. I think that’s something really cool that I’ve been noticing.

I’ve noticed it too, especially guys wearing dark nail polish.
I’m into this. It’s just like embracing those things that also make you, because I think that makeup on men doesn’t necessarily have to feel feminine. It can feel masculine as well, because they’ve done a lot of makeup on men where they look in the mirror and see that they look hot. It’s not about feminizing the face, it’s about creating a different kind of power. It’s just about enhancing their beauty, advancing it, bringing something out.

Editor’s Pick: All Hours Hyper Blur

What’s one small technique that completely transforms a face, but often gets overlooked?
I think that a lot of people need to exfoliate their lips. This is a huge thing that I see a lot of people, especially when I’m working, backstage, on set, are people having dry lips, and there are a lot of different ways to exfoliate your lips…I think that is overlooked, people living with dry skin on their lips. And it’s fine, but especially in a photograph, you notice it. I’m always trying to exfoliate the lips with a wipe or with a scrub or something, and keep them really moisturized. Once you do it, and you’re like “oh my God, it looks so much better”.

That’s a really good tip! Everybody needs to be reminded to exfoliate it. I brush my lips after brushing my teeth. I’m going to ask you a big question now: what mark would you like to leave as Global Makeup Artist at YSL in and in the industry?
The mark I would like to leave is to continue doing bold, daring makeup and feel really unapologetic about it, and anyone can be a part of that conversation. I think that I come from a time a peak time, in between being accepted and not being accepted, and we’re risking it, not being accepted again. It’s like keeping that fight alive and keeping that narrative. Being pushed further and having it become something that is just accepted, no matter what, is so important to me. I like the idea of leaving a mark in the beauty industry knowing that maybe I pushed that conversation a little bit further along where anybody can embrace any side of themselves that they want without having to apologize for it or feel like they can’t, because being a kid and feeling condemned by society is a crazy feeling and I feel lucky because I think personally I don’t ever.

Last question, what are you looking forward to in Madrid, and how do you find the city?
I love Madrid, and I cannot wait to go to this block party tonight and see what it’s all about. I never get to go out in Madrid, so this is fun for me. So, yeah, my first night out in Madrid is with YSL, so you know I couldn’t be any luckier.