High-Definition Pictures Of Taylor Swift's Cakey Makeup Are Jarring

Taylor Swift's gorgeous style transformation has gone through two decades of reinventions and aesthetic overhauls. Overhauls that make every era (or in more conventional non-Swiftie terms, every album release) unique and memorable in its own way.

The singer might feel comfortable in her skin right now, but she's had a long history of struggling with her looks under the unforgiving limelight of stardom. In fact, Taylor Swift's most candid confessions about struggling with body image are one of the things that make her so relatable to millions of young fans around the world. In her documentary, "Miss Americana," she lamented, "... if you're thin enough, then you don't have that ass that everybody wants. But if you have enough weight on you to have an ass, then your stomach isn't flat enough. It's all just f—ing impossible."

That kind of self-acceptance is hard to attain, but it's also why Swifties are not shy about keeping it real when something's off. Taylor Swift has always been gorgeous through and through, even when some parts of her aesthetic aren't pulling their weight. There have been times even Taylor's killer legs couldn't save some awful outfit choices, and there have been times when her makeup looked like it was applied in a moving vehicle en route to the award show. In the case of the latter, the photographic evidence tells a rather interesting story.

Taylor Swift's appearance at "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in December 2025 showed that even the short walk between your car door and the studio entrance can be too overexposing. 

In this photo, we catch a glimpse of Swift looking very ... creamy? If the goal was to embrace a light all-over sheen, then it didn't work, as it just looks like Swift applied a generous portion of liquid and cream products with nothing to finish it off. Plus, her false lashes aren't even close to the inner corner of her eye, and even her thick cat eyeliner can't hide the even thicker strip of lashes.

Speaking of "Midnights," we have to talk about the night when the album was announced. The 2022 MTV VMAs was supposed to be the singer's triumphant return after a two-year absence, and in a lot of ways it was, as she walked away with three awards. 

Even the makeup had a lot going for it, especially with the crystal-winged cat eye and the "red lip classic thing" that we like. But makeup artist Pat McGrath's efforts fall short. The eye look is cool and unique, but everything else looks like an afterthought, with the foundation base appearing flat and almost monochromatic.

Taylor Swift's 'fit for the 65th Grammy Awards was pure "Midnights" magic, but above it was a different story. The foundation is thick, and the shadow, liner, lipstick, and blush on top all look even thicker. 

Rather than highlighting one feature with heavy makeup, Swift goes for heavy everything. The smoky eye looks overdone, and the red lip steals attention from the rest of the look, though given how the blush is making her face look sunburned, it turned out to be not such a terrible choice after all.

In 2016, Taylor Swift helped co-chair the Met Gala, and the way she appeared at the event had everyone wondering if this was what the designers had in mind when they came up with the "Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology" theme.

But what made the presentation even more dramatic was the heavy-handed makeup, consisting of a dark purple-black lipstick slapped on a heavily powdered base. Swift was clearly going for dramatic color contrast, but the blush/bronzer also looks orangey-brown rather than whatever hue she was aiming for.

At the 2013 Golden Globes, it seems the singer decided to let her dress do most of the talking and leave her makeup in state of puzzling neglect. Her face was clearly over-powdered into submission to hide all the pores, but it didn't so much result in a smooth finish as it did a chalky look. 

There's also visible forehead creasing, which means there was so much product layered on that Swift's expression lines got stuck in the makeup. For a star of Swift's stature attending her first Golden Globes, the glam team should've brought their A-game.

Arriving at the French talk show "C à Vous" in Paris in October 2014, Swift seemed to be embracing the Parisian ingénue look. In those days, the singer was busy promoting "1989" and making her industry-breaking transition from country music to pop, so there must have been a lot of trial and error, especially in her aesthetic reinvention. 

At least, that might explain the excessively heavy foundation, or the cat-eye liner and spider lashes that are sharp enough to make an undesirable juxtaposition with the otherwise soft and romantic look she was going for.

By now, Taylor Swift knows all too well that her public outings will be an occasion for the press to document her every move. This January 2025 dinner outing at Nobu Downtown with parents Andrea and Scott Swift proved no exception to this rule. 

Her foundation looks laid on thick, except it seems like it may have worn off on the tip of her nose (or she just went too heavy on the highlighter). Her false eyelashes are also extra noticeable, probably because they look like basic drugstore strip lashes that aren't even long enough to cover her whole lash line.

For the 2013 Met Gala's "Punk: Chaos to Couture" theme, Taylor Swift's makeup looks less "punk rock" and more "Viking queen" on her way to a raiding party. That description is mostly courtesy of her dramatic black smoky eye, so aggressively overdone that it's swallowing her features entirely. 

And that foundation, applied with such a generous hand that it has pushed way past the cakey territory, makes everything worse, leaving her face bare and washed-out in comparison to her ultra-dark eyes.

The transformation of Taylor Swift's signature bangs over the years practically begs its own retrospective, but they were doing some of their finest work at the 2019 Billboard Women in Music event. Swift was the first-ever recipient of Woman of the Decade, but her makeup was falling behind yet again.

Swift employs a standard tactic to brighten up the area around her eyes, but the pearlescent sheen of the makeup in her inner corner and on her under-eyes goes from shimmery to full-on reflective under the bright red carpet lights.

Taylor Swift has had a stunning transformation over the past two decades, but even the most awe-inspiring evolution has its blind spots. For Swift, one such blind spot has been her makeup.

Take this December 14 outing for Swift's 34th birthday in New York, where she was photographed with very thick makeup on — there's creasing underneath her eyes, while it looks like the foundation is completely gone from the tip of her nose. Plus, it looks like she omitted a liner from her classic red lip, so her lipstick is starting to bleed beyond her natural lip line.