Erika Kirk Has Fallen Victim To Some Serious Makeup Fails

Thrust into public prominence following the death of her husband Charlie Kirk, Erika Kirk has become a champion of the conservative movement. The new CEO of Turning Point USA is a particular friend of President Donald Trump and his inner circle (some might say a bit too good of a friend, with Kirk's gushing over JD Vance seeming highly sus to skeptics). Her prominence in the world of MAGA women has included an embrace of their beauty aesthetic, too.

Kirk's online throwback pics show just how far her makeup routine has slipped; unfiltered photos from years prior show the former beauty queen playing up her natural looks with a light hand. Today, Kirk makes public appearances in heavy products similar to those preferred by  Kristi Noem, Lara Trump, Karoline Leavitt, and other presidential insiders. The effect is the same: masking their features rather than enhancing them. 

We found a number of instances in which Kirk's cosmetics choices fell short of perfection, either from overuse, poor application, or other mishaps. Looking at them, we long more than ever to see her return to a less manufactured profile that would highlight her inner beauty. 

By the time Erika Kirk began making the rounds of media interviews and rallies following the death of Charlie Kirk, she had wholly immersed herself in the shady "Republican makeup" trend of heavy foundation, severe eyebrows, and dramatic eye enhancers. Seen here during a Fox News interview, Kirk displayed the look to full effect, having seemingly rushed her beauty routine to do so; one of her brows even appears to be darker than the other. The asymmetry continued with her uneven blush application, which could have used more blending.

One of Turning Point USA's major annual events is the Young Women's Leadership Summit. During the multi-day event, guest speakers inform their college-age audience that women are only truly happy when they embrace the tradwife life. Erika Kirk was the main coordinator of the 2025 summit, and apparently she hired the president's stylist to get her ready. The wildly uneven foundation — note the pale spots around her eyes and the dark patches on her forehead — is reminiscent of Donald Trump's worst makeup fails and tanning disasters.

This sweet 2023 pic of Erika Kirk holding her baby daughter GG is just a bit soured by her jarringly dark eyebrows. We give her total credit for effort; most new moms can barely find time to shower, much less summon the energy to fix their face. But Kirk's apparent heavy hand with the brow pencil makes her expression severe and spoils the whole "simple-beauty-of-motherhood" message. She would have been better off going totally bare-faced this time.

The only thing that shone more brightly than Erika Kirk's joyful spirit at the 2025 10X Growth Conference was her face. No doubt it was hot that day — she was in Las Vegas at the time — and perhaps she'd been busy speaking right before the photo was taken. Nonetheless, surely a former Miss Arizona carries powder or blotting papers in her bag for quick touch-ups before posing for photos. On the plus side, Kirk was far more judicious with her makeup than her fellow speaker, leadership influencer Elena Cardone. 

In February 2024, Erika Kirk took to Instagram to model some of the products from her clothing brand, PROCLAIM, which features Biblically-inspired symbols and Christian messaging. She advised fellow entrepreneurs to "dig deeper" into the reason behind their businesses in order to succeed. It seems she dug a little too deeply into her powder compact, creating a washed-out look that made her almost unrecognizable. It even appears she put powder over her lipstick, which didn't help matters. A darker shade would have worked more nicely here.

As long-time supporters of Donald Trump, Charlie and Erika Kirk were naturally elated to see the president re-elected in 2024. "Welcome home 47," Erika posted on Instagram. The couple were honored guests at both the swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural parties over the weekend. For one such event, Erika used a pale palette that emphasized her eyes while leaving the rest of her face looking ghostly. She also seemed weirdly puffy, possibly from recent cosmetic injections. Between that and her severe, pulled-back 'do, Erika's whole aesthetic seemed to age her, making the five-year age gap between her and Charlie look even wider than it actually was. 

This 2021 pic shows Erika Kirk in what appears to be a modeling shot and somehow not artificial intelligence. It's certainly attention-getting, but not necessarily in a good way. It's hard not to notice Kirk's clumpy lower lashes — you just want to come at them with a lash comb. Then there's the overly dark foundation, which, combined with her platinum blonde hair and unflattering brown lipstick, made her appear older. The overly-smoothed filter effect only added to the artificiality of the image. Followers on Instagram were divided. Some thought her look was "stunning," but one called it "Barbie face," while another suggested Kirk "stop getting fillers."