Pics Of Melania Trump That Prove Her Makeup Should Never Be Photographed Up Close

It's no exaggeration to say that makeup is an integral part of Melania Trump's signature look. During her modeling days, Donald Trump's wife sometimes stepped out almost entirely makeup-free, with her preference leaning more towards natural-looking glam at the time. However, Melania's makeup evolved over the years into her much more "done" go-to style: well-defined brows, smoky eyes, nude pink lips, bronzed hairline and temples, and contoured cheeks and jawline. This full glam look doesn't always work for casual or daytime appearances, resulting in some of Melania's worst makeup fails yet, but for evening events and red carpets, it indeed makes her the star of the show.

By now, the first lady and Nicole Bryl, the makeup artist she's been working with for about two decades, are like a well-oiled machine, with the latter knowing exactly what will make her client look good on camera. In January 2017, Bryl explained the reasoning behind some of Melania's makeup choices, such as her intense eyeshadow and copious use of bronzer. "Lighting is everything, and if it's too dark without enough flash, a face can get lost in the shadow. Because of this, I often smoke her eyes up for events, so that the camera, under any circumstance, will not fade her out," she told The Telegraph, later adding: "Looking pale isn't a makeup vibe I would ever create on Melania. It's just not her style."

Despite the level of thought that has gone into Melania's makeup preferences, it doesn't always hold up in front of the camera. From cakey foundation to overdone bronzer, here are pics of Melania Trump that prove her makeup should never be photographed up close.

When she issued a statement about Ukrainian war orphans in October 2025, Melania Trump's makeup was almost perfect. Her eyebrows were just the right blend of groomed-but-still-natural. Her smoky eye, eyeliner, and lashes made her eyes pop without looking overdone. She completed her look with a gorgeous satin pink lipstick. Unfortunately, she might have skimped on her skin prep or used too much foundation, because her base makeup wasn't up to par. The combination of foundation, concealer, and possibly a matte finishing powder emphasized and added to her skin texture rather than smoothing it out.

When Melania Trump attended a picnic for military families in July 2025, she nailed the chic summer style with her white shirtdress, but we can't say the same regarding her makeup. From afar, her heavily lined eyes, smoky eyeshadow, and thick falsies already looked way too intense for the daytime gathering. However, a close-up of her face revealed her smudged eyeliner, lopsided false lashes, and messy eyeshadow, making Melania look like she had just spent hours dancing at a concert or the club rather than enjoying a fun and relaxing picnic.

Melania Trump spent the entirety of an NBC town hall in 2016 serving face and proving that her modeling roots were far from forgotten. However, photos from the event captured something a bit more distracting than her gorgeous appearance: her bronzer. While it did indeed help create her sculpted and sun-kissed look, the contrast between Melania's deep brown-orange bronzer and actual skin color was so obvious from up close that she gave her husband Donald Trump, who sported his signature blotchy fake tan, a run for his money.

False lashes can bring any evening glam to the next level, drawing more attention to the eyes and boosting the overall drama of the look. However, wearing the wrong set of falsies can have the opposite effect and ruin the look instead of elevating it. That's exactly what happened to Melania Trump when she accompanied Donald Trump to the Governors' Dinner at the White House in February 2017. The first lady's false lashes were so thick, voluminous, and clumpy that they looked unnatural and clownish in the close-ups of her face. 

Melania Trump wasn't having a good makeup day when she supported her husband, Donald Trump, during a Republican presidential debate in November 2015. As seen in photos from the event, the future first lady checked all the boxes for the 2010s makeup style: bold smoky eye, fully lined eyes, intense bronzer and contour, and thick, harsh eyebrows that might have inspired Kimberly Guilfoyle's signature look. In addition, her foundation appeared to have separated in certain areas, resulting in a textured instead of a smooth base.

Melania Trump's signature dark smoky eye made her stunning blue eyes pop when she hosted a White House gathering in connection with her cyberbullying campaign back in March 2018. But the glamorous look lost some of its luster when the camera zoomed in and revealed a rather shoddy blending job filled with harsh lines and patchy application instead of a flattering gradient effect. The first lady's black eyeshadow and heavily lined eyes also clashed with her bubblegum pink lip, making them seem like they were meant for different events.

Melania Trump might have tried to get into the holiday spirit by taking makeup cues from rosy-cheeked cherubs for her appearance at the 2019 national Christmas tree lighting ceremony in President's Park, Washington, D.C. However, she went a little overboard with her blush, which appeared to be a warm brownish orange shade, managing to out-Cheeto her husband, Donald Trump, during the event. The intensity of her blush likely wasn't noticeable for people in the crowd, but in close-up photos, Melania looked like her cheeks were raw with sunburn.

When it comes to eyebrows, Melania Trump typically prefers hers well-defined and filled in. However, she might have been in a hurry when she had her makeup done for the final day of her and Donald Trump's state visit to the U.K. in September 2025, because her brows looked unfinished. While getting a tour of Frogmore Cottage courtesy of Catherine, Princess of Wales, the first lady was photographed with patchy brows, with the tails looking much lighter and less defined than the heads.

Melania Trump's eye makeup looked far from pretty when we saw it up close in this photo taken of the first lady during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House in 2018. Her left eyelid was all black eyeshadow and zero blending, while her right one looked like her makeup artist had simply applied the remaining powder on the brush, resulting in an uneven, patchy mess. This was topped off with a pair of ultra-thick strip lashes that seemed like a toned-down version of Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi's iconic falsies.

We thought Melania Trump had leveled up her eyebrow game in 2025 when she started regularly stepping out with fluffy, natural-looking brows, which softened and complemented her sculpted features. However, in November 2025, she once again sported her usual ultra-defined, thick, and heavily lined eyebrows when she was photographed outside the White House awaiting the arrival of the official Christmas tree. Coupled with her eyeliner and smoky eye, the former model's look screamed mid-2010s, and not in a good way.