Meet MAGA women’s nightmare version of a drag mother

This story originally appeared on Them.

If you’ve ever looked at women with “Mar-a-Lago face” and wondered who’s apparently teaching them to apply foundation with a concrete trowel, wonder no more.

It seems that MAGA has their very own, somewhat cursed equivalent of a drag mother, and her name is Adrienne Gray. The former Fox News commentator turned “makeup artist” — scare quotes ours — now finds herself catering to Trump’s elite circle of blonde women, including former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Bettina Trump, Lara Trump (reportedly her most regular client) and more.

Gray was recently profiled by the Wall Street Journal in an article documenting a makeup “masterclass” course she taught to 60 MAGA big wigs at the Trump National Golf Club in D.C., during which she admitted that the looks she creates for MAGA women exist in a “niche” nowhere near the clean-girl, barely there faces that currently dominate the beauty landscape.

According to the Journal profile, she apparently uses blushes from Patrick Ta (an openly gay man) and bronzers from Charlotte Tilbury (a well-recognized and major LGBTQ+ ally in the beauty space that donates to the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s Rocket Fund). As a beauty editor, I can most definitely vouch for these products' exquisite abilities to perform — yet Gray’s execution with these vanity staples unfortunately leaves something to be desired. The Journal even reported that there were “various degrees of unease” in the audience as she painted conservative lifestyle brand founder Jayme Franklin. Gray also claimed that the look is “all in the blend” — or, we might add, the lack thereof. Oh, girl, we know…

As we’ve seen up close and personal in Vanity Fair’s now-infamous photoshoot with Trump’s inner circle, the classic MAGA makeup beat is often cakey, unblended, and creasy, consisting of heavy matte foundation, dramatic concealer, spindly lashes, ultra-lined eyes, dark shadow, and an intense dose of rosy-cheeked blush. This attempt at uniformity among conservative women seeking Trump’s favor has come under scrutiny in the form of online memes and the MAGA makeup trend on TikTok, which features users creating over-the-top makeup looks that mimic these novice drag queens who haven’t yet learned the importance of a sharp-cut crease and a smooth, dewy (read: even) complexion.

Gray is perhaps most known for her years as a panelist on Fox News @ Night, Newsmax, and FOX5 DC according to a May profile in right-wing lifestyle publication The Conservateur. Apparently in early 2026, Gray decided to re-enter the makeup industry, which she had worked in before her stint on sensationalist right-wing news shows. (Funnily enough, Jayme Franklin, who offered up her face to Gray at the masterclass, is a founder of The Conservateur.)

Of her career shift back to beauty, Gray toldThe Conservateur, “I wasn’t looking to become something new. I was looking to come back to something that always felt natural to me.”

Natural is one way to put it.

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