The 11 Worst White House Press Secretary Makeup Fails We Can't Look Away From

The public-facing role of the White House press secretary entails addressing rows of journalists, photographers, and camera crews on a regular basis. With so much exposure to the public, the individual filling that position finds themselves under nearly constant scrutiny, so mistakes never go unnoticed, including makeup fails. Americans have been noticing press secretaries' makeup missteps across multiple administrations — no one is perfect, especially when one finds themselves on the business end of a camera multiple times a month to speak on behalf of the president. Such mistakes include an unflattering color choice, misapplication of products, faux pas, and missing patches of foundation. We've all been there, but chances are that the everyday American isn't having their bad makeup day broadcast across the country. 

Since the installation of the first female press secretary in 1993, the public has been assessing not only the information being shared in White House press briefings but also the professional presentation, turn of phrase, personality, and physical appearance of some of the most visible women in the United States government. However, the stakes are even higher since President Trump's first and second terms, as for the first time in United States history, taxpayer dollars were used to employ a full-time makeup artist for the White House. With the hard-earned money of everyday Americans in use for such purposes, it's no surprise that the bar for perfection is set high for these women who are charged with being the voice of the administration. 

Many of Karoline Leavitt's worst makeup looks precede her role as White House press secretary for the second Trump Administration, but few of those unfortunate cosmetic mishaps elicited the level of backlash that followed her first press briefing on January 28, 2025. Starting with her base products, Leavitt's ultra-matte, high-coverage foundation made her complexion appear unnaturally flat and pale. She attempted to add some of that lost dimension with the use of contour, but it was applied below her cheekbones, which drew her features downward and gave her cheeks a muddied, sagging appearance. Her eye look, though characteristically heavy-handed, didn't miss the mark too badly, but her lips drew attention for the wrong reasons. In stark contrast with her base, her lips were almost bare. It is common practice to wipe away any foundation that might have migrated to the lips during the blending process, but in Leavitt's case, she appeared to have cleaned her lips and simply glossed over them without adding the necessary lip liner or lipstick that would have balanced that portion of her look with the rest of her full-coverage application.

In response, TikTok users produced hundreds of satirical makeup tutorials to show their viewers how to achieve Leavitt's debut look, including creators like Lisandra Vazquez, who followed the popular "Republican makeup" trend format. In her TikTok post, Vazquez layered on heavy stage makeup to mimic Leavitt's thick, matte foundation, as well as her underlined lips and misapplied contour. The comedian also emphasized harsh frown lines to emulate how Leavitt visibly aged herself through her choice of makeup application.

Simple makeup mistakes happen all the time — lipstick often smudges after lunch or a cup of coffee, and mascara tends to migrate to the under-eye area after a long day. In many cases, people can overlook these little mistakes. However, when it's your job to face a room full of journalists and cameras to speak on behalf of the president of the United States, it really pays off to take a second glance in the mirror before stepping up to the podium.

In January of 2021, former Trump Administration Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany faced the press in the White House briefing room without a stitch of makeup on her upper lip area, leaving a bare patch of skin from just under her nose to her nude lipstick. This is one of McEnany's many well-documented makeup fails. The reason why McEnany's upper lip was completely wiped clean of foundation was unknown, but it's a mistake that lives on in hundreds of photos and videos of that day's press briefing. To ensure that foundation and complexion products stay put throughout the day, it is important to set liquid and cream products with powder and lock in the look with a setting spray intended to firmly keep makeup in place. This method helps to decrease the risk of makeup transfer and unintentional removal as you go about your day.

Kayleigh McEnany clearly missed the 'no-makeup makeup' trend that took the internet by storm amidst the COVID-19 pandemic when social distancing procedures kept people indoors and masks rendered heavy makeup looks impractical, if not invisible. McEnany's makeup for the July 16, 2020 White House press briefing would have been better suited for the dance floor of a high school prom in 2016 than a briefing that took place in the middle of the day. The eye look was familiar to anyone who lived through the prime of beauty guru YouTube — a dark outer corner that faded into an off-white inner eye, complete with thick black eyeliner and gigantic false lashes that weren't really meant to see the light of day.

The blended cut crease of rust tones and deep browns harken back to the glory days of Anastasia Beverly Hills' Modern Renaissance eyeshadow palette — a 2016 staple, but a bit out of place amidst 2020's more toned-down trends. Overall, McEnany's makeup choices read as overly dramatic and pageant-like, especially given the severity of the topics she discussed during the press briefing. When applying makeup, it is important to remember the time and place. In professional settings, it's often more appropriate to wear a less distracting, more natural-looking makeup. 

Karoline Leavitt's brows underwent a few unfortunate iterations over the course of her first few months as White House press secretary. During her first briefing after being installed as press secretary for the second Trump Administration, Leavitt's brows were a bit blocky and flat, much like her complexion product application, but they were at least a passable color and somewhat symmetrical. Her brow application technique took a steep decline in March of 2025, when Leavitt decided to channel her inner Lauren Boebert and draw on her brows dark, thick, blocky, and too far apart. The end result was distracting and theatrical, drawing viewers' attention to her forehead rather than her eyes as she spoke.

Leavitt's brow application would benefit from a few tweaks: First, she should follow her natural brow shape more closely to avoid over-drawing. Second, selecting a pencil or pomade shade closer to her hair color would give her brows a softer, more seamless look. Third, she should utilize small, hair-like strokes of product to fill in sparse areas in the brow shape rather than covering the entire area in one even wash of color.

Dana Perino served as the White House press secretary from 2007 to 2009, so she found herself in the spotlight in the years following the damaging '90s brow trend. While skinny, over-plucked eyebrows were all the rage during the grunge era, the style fell out of fashion as preferences shifted back to fuller, bushier brows in the mid-2000s. "If you pluck your eyebrow hair every day, you're doing damage, maybe even causing scarring. Then, the hairs won't grow back," dermatologist Dr. Shilpi Khetarpal told the Cleveland Clinic to explain the risk that comes with over-plucking.

A person with habitually over-plucked brows can give themselves the appearance of fuller, thicker brows by darkening and filling in sparse areas with makeup; however, it can be difficult to cultivate new hair growth in the brow area without medical intervention or topical treatment. During a White House press briefing in 2008, Perino's brows showed the telltale signs of being over-plucked, as her brows were exceptionally thin and sparse around the tails. Perino chose to use very minimal makeup for this briefing to compensate for the lack of brow hairs.

Despite enjoying the benefit of having a makeup artist on the government payroll for the first time in history, Sarah Huckabee Sanders' makeup was too heavy on the bronzer during the White House press briefing in April of 2018. Usually, bronzer is used to bring a warm, healthy glow to skin that is made unnaturally uniform with foundation and to add some structure to soft, rounded features. Ideally, the product is applied at the perimeter of the face at the forehead, temples, cheekbones, and sometimes at the jawline to add dimension and color. However, there can be too much of a good thing when it comes to makeup. 

When over-applied, bronzer can appear muddy, and its purpose becomes completely negated. Instead of bringing life-like dimension to the skin, bronzer can make a person's complexion too artificially warm and uniform in tone. Such is the case for Sanders's White House bronzer blunder. To avoid this mistake, use bronzer sparingly around the perimeter of the face, instead focusing on the cheekbones. Be sure to choose a bronzer shade that complements your skin tone, as a color that is too warm can appear orange, and a tone that is too cool can look grey and sickly. 

When applying makeup for professional obligations, less is more. Jools Lebron sums up societal expectations for makeup in the workplace in her viral TikTok post when she says, "I don't come to work with a green cut crease. I don't look like a clown when I go to work. I don't do too much. I'm very mindful while I'm at work." Sarah Huckabee Sanders overlooked this common rule during a White House press briefing in 2018 when she wore a dark grey and black smokey eyeshadow look.

The smoky eye application is a technique traditionally reserved for nighttime events since it is inherently dark and dramatic, so wearing it in the daytime is quite the makeup faux pas, especially in a professional setting like the White House. Sander's smoky eye look was so attention-catching that comedian Michelle Wolf mentioned the look in her roast at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2018. Wolf said, "I think she's very resourceful. But she burns facts, and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye. Like maybe she's born with it, maybe it's lies. It's probably lies." Even though Wolf didn't make any derogatory remarks about Sanders' appearance, instead alluding to the veracity of claims made during her time serving as press secretary under the first Trump Administration, Republicans chided Wolf for her comment, stating that she was degrading Sanders for her looks.

At 27 years old, Karoline Leavitt is the youngest person to ever serve as White House press secretary. With so many beautiful facial features, youthful skin, and great bone structure, poorly applied makeup is keenly noticed and an immense disservice to Leavitt's overall appearance. Makeup that is applied too heavily can settle oddly on the skin, enhancing texture and draining the skin's natural, lively glow. Likewise, applying product in the wrong places on a younger person can distort the features negatively and age them, which is exactly what happened during a White House press briefing on March 17, 2025. 

Leavitt's contour was applied too far beneath her cheekbones, and the opacity of the product was too intense for her diamond-shaped face. These mistakes dragged her cheeks downward instead of lifting them up, making her appear older than she is. Leavitt's cheekbones are already naturally defined, so a light wash of a cool-toned contour shade applied directly to the cheekbones would accentuate the shape she already has without overpowering or changing it. 

There are multiple ways to pull off a balanced monochrome look, but during the June 29, 2020 White House press briefing, Kayleigh McEnany regrettably missed the mark. The challenging aspect of going monochromatic with makeup and fashion choices is making sure that the colors of each piece of the look are close enough to avoid conflicting with one another. Such was the issue with McEnany's ensemble — her dramatic peach-pink eyes and lips clashed with her vibrant hue of her dress, which featured an altogether different shade of peach, causing the overall look to appear disjointed.

To her credit, McEnany's eyeshadow and lip shade are highly comparable, but when coupled with her outfit, the cool pink undertones of her makeup were more obvious compared to the warm yellow undertones of her dress. The mistake would have been less noticeable if McEnany had selected a neutral lip shade and made her eyeshadow the only peach aspect of her makeup. The distance between her dress and eyes would serve as a buffer, so the difference in undertone wouldn't be as obvious. 

Figuring out your skin's undertone is a major factor when deciding what makeup looks best on you. Warmer complexions favor makeup with a yellow base, while cool complexions look best accompanied by pink-based products. Of course, there are no laws when it comes to makeup, and anyone can wear any colors they want, but if the goal is to enhance one's natural features or add radiance and harmony to their look, understanding how undertones impact the overall appearance of makeup can be a game-changer.

Karoline Leavitt's makeup color choices for the White House press briefing on April 1, 2025 were made without much regard for her undertones. The warm, sepia tones of Leavitt's makeup for this occasion were a far cry from the cool or neutral pinks that best suit Leavitt's fair, cool-toned complexion. Her muted pink-beige lipstick and eyeshadow made Leavitt appear sallow and washed out under the intense lights of the briefing room. If her goal was to achieve a subtle, neutral makeup look, Leavitt would benefit most from blue-based pinks and ethereal, shadowy taupes to complement her eyes.

Jen Psaki kept her makeup low-key during her stint as White House press secretary during the Biden Administration. Unlike certain members of the Trump Administration, Psaki didn't rely on a makeup artist to prepare her for the lights and cameras of the briefing room. She kept it simple, using tips texted to her by a makeup artist she worked with while she was a commentator on CNN. Using light-coverage complexion products, a neutral eye, and muted lip colors, Psaki's signature look was simple enough to avoid most mistakes — but not all. 

Due to her use of black eyeliner and fake eyelashes, Psaki's eyes often appeared weighed down and overly dark. Coupled with her hooded eye shape, the heavy application of eye products made her look tired and imbalanced, especially when compared to the light and natural qualities of the rest of her makeup. Instead of jet black eyeliner across the entire lash line, a neutral brown liner at the outer third of her upper lash line would define the eye without minimizing the space between the lashes and her crease. Also, replacing the thick eyelashes with more natural lashes — alternatively, a light coat of brown or black mascara — would accentuate Psaki's naturally light lashes without giving them an overpowering look. Using softer browns in place of black would not only make her overall look more cohesive, but it would also complement her fair skin tone and gorgeous red hair.