Margot Robbie's "Polished Skin" and Glitter Nails Is Hands Down Her Best Barbie Era Look Yet

With the Barbiecore trend still running rampant, it’s officially a Barbie world—and Margot Robbie is our Barbie girl. Robbie plays the titular character in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, and throughout the film’s press tour, Robbie has been tapping into various retro looks. She just hit the nail on the head at the Barbie premiere in L.A., where she wore a stunning red lip and a Barbie glitter manicure. We tapped her makeup artist Pati Dubroff to get the inside scoop on what went into the look.

On July 9, Robbie arrived at the premiere wearing a custom Schiaparelli gown that’s an exact replica of 1960 Barbie’s Solo in the Spotlight look. The gown features a strapless midi silhouette with black rhinestones running throughout, as well as a flared tulle mermaid hem with a single red rosette. Like the retro Barbie, Robbie held one pale pink chiffon handkerchief and wore black velvet opera gloves. Her stylist Andrew Mukamal paired the look with black patent leather Manolo Blahnik slip-on heels, and diamond earrings and stacked diamond choker necklaces by Lorraine Schwartz.

Throughout the film’s press tour, Dubroff has balanced Barbie and Robbie’s makeup styles. “Margot’s personal style is all about clean, fresh, polished, healthy—so that’s the baseline,” Dubroff tells Byrdie exclusively. “On top of that, adding some subtle and not-so-subtle touches to help lean into the Barbie image of it all.”

The Solo in the Spotlight Barbie wore blue eyeshadow and a red lip—yet, to align with Robbie’s polished makeup style, Dubroff admits, “For the L.A. Premiere, I stripped the makeup back—instead of going full retro, the look is a more simplified, doll-like face. I took just one element of the doll, the red lip to her red flower, to keep it modern and fresh.”

Dubroff used Chanel Beauty products to get the look, first evening out Robbie’s complexion with the Les Beiges Healthy Glow Foundation Hydration and Longwear and the Les Beiges Water-Fresh Tint. Says Dubroff, “Margot takes very good care of her skin so it gives me an amazing foundation to work off of. To enhance that glow, I use foundations that are sheer and buildable, never heavy and never a lot of powder—only the lightest touch.”

To further enhance the actor’s glow, Dubroff applied the Les Beiges Healthy Glow Bronzing Cream and added a flush to her complexion with the Joues Contraste Powder Blush in shades Malice and Jersey. She then set everything with the Poudre Universelle Libre Natural Finish Loose Powder before adding a finishing dewy touch with the Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick in shades Sculpting and Transparent. “I applied Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick in Transparent across the tops of the high bones—the top of the brow bone and center of the lid,” says Dubroff. “Then, I applied Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick in Sculpting to add more strategically placed, champagne-like highlights to the face. 

Then, Dubroff defined the brows with the Le Gel Sourcils Longwear Eyebrow Ge and then lined Robbie’s eyes with the Stylo Ombre et Contour Eyeshadow-Liner-Khôl in Nude Éclat and Electric Brown. After applying the Le Crayon Khôl Intense Eye Pencil in Clair to the waterline, Dubroff used the Les Beiges Healthy Glow Natural Eyeshadow Palette in Tender to add a reflective pink to the actor’s lids. Finally, she finished off the eyes with the Le Volume de CHANEL Mascara.

“The lip has a base stain—I used N°1 de CHANEL Lip and Cheek Balm in Red Camellia," says Dubroff. "I pressed it into the lip and blotted it with a tissue and then used the liners after. This helps the lip pencil slide onto the lips better.” Dubroff achieved Robbie’s perfect red lip by alternating the Le Crayon Lèvres Longwear Lip Pencil in shades Rouge Cerise, a blue-red, and Rouge Tendre, an orange-red. Dubroff continues, “The Rouge Cerise liner helps to give shape and definition, and Rouge Tendre liner lends a pop of brightness.” Finally, she used the Rouge Allure L’Extrait High-Intensity Lip Colour in shade 854 to complete the lip.

Hairstylist Bryce Scarlett has been the mastermind behind all of Robbie’s looks since the film’s press tour began, and the styles have been modern renditions of vintage Barbie hair looks. This time around, Scarlett created a ‘60s Barbie updo with a 2023 side-swept bang. “I was inspired to do this doll-like ponytail from the 1960s to coordinate with her stunning 60s-inspired custom Schiaparelli gown,” says Scarlett.

Scarlett first prepped Robbie’s dry hair by detangling it with Tangle Teezer’s The Wide Tooth Comb and then washed the actor's hair with Redken’s Acidic Bonding Concentrate Shampoo. Scarlett followed that by distributing Redken’s Acidic Bonding Concentrate Lightweight Liquid Conditioner with Tangle Teezer’s The Ultimate Detangler. After washing and detangling the hair, Scarlett applied Redken’s Quick Blowout Heat Protectant Spray to decrease blowout time and add heat protection and Redken’s Big Blowout Heat Protectant Jelly to add volume throughout the strands.

He then blow-dried Robbie’s hair in large sections, setting the strands in Velcro rollers. After Robbie’s hair cooled, Scarlett sectioned out a ponytail with Tangle Teezer’s The Ultimate Styler, leaving out a two-inch section at the top of her hairline, and then secured the ponytail with hair ties. After that, Scarlett added two-inch curls in the ponytail and the hairline and then brushed the curls out once her hair cooled. Finally, Scarlett shaped the bang area for a sleek, swooped finish and then set the entire look with Redken’s Max Hold Hairspray.

Robbie’s long-time nail artist Tom Bachik created a classic Barbie pink manicure, first prepping her nails and creating a medium-length round shape. Bachik then painted her nail beds with the perfect hot pink to emulate the doll and topped the entire manicure off with a layer of chunky silver glitter.