Pat McGrath Says She Was Inspired By ‘Fantasy’ To Create Candy Crush Collection
Nerds who also wear lipstick unite.
First, we had League of Legends and Louis Vuitton launching a series of colorful luxury items, in game and in brick-and-mortar stores. Then there was Xbox approved Halo-themed OPI nail polish, and Razer and Dolce & Gabbana emerging on the scene with their idea of what gamers love to wear. Rihanna and Arcane? The modern-day message has been loud and clear: Gamers are no longer just a group of mostly guys, lounging in their mothers’ basements, chugging soda and mowing down bags of chips. They also like to get glam.
Yet the latest beauty brand to pair off with a video game may still nevertheless come as a surprise. Pat McGrath Labs is collaborating with Candy Crush, one of the consistently top mobile games of the past decade. On Feb. 27, the Black-owned luxe make-up brand is releasing a series of lipsticks, nail polish, and lip gloss in blue red, shimmery pink, and gold, and supposed to evoke a sense of fantasy. The graphics are Candy-inspired, and meant to make the items feel like you’ve got to collect them. There’s also a gamified raffle component to the partnership — three buyers will win a $10,000 diamond-encrusted ring. Like the rest of Pat McGrath’s products, the Candy Crush collection will be available on the site, Sephora, and Nordstrom.
Personally, as someone who played a lot of Candy Crush and hoarded Mothership eyeshadow palettes all within a few years shy of 2020, I was surprised to see the two companies knew each other.
“Makeup and gaming are becoming more intertwined, from virtual beauty filters to in-game makeup looks,” McGrath tells Inverse, “It’s an evolution I’m keeping my eyes on.”
McGrath is no stranger to geeky collabs; she’s done two Star Wars collections already. When bringing Star Wars and Candy Crush into the make-up world, she says the focus is on storytelling.
“With Star Wars, it was about tapping into the saga’s duality, the light and dark, and translating that into a collection that felt cinematic and legendary,” McGrath says.
The luxe make-up brand is releasing a series of lipsticks, nail polish, and lip gloss in blue red, shimmery pink, and gold, and supposed to evoke a sense of fantasy.
Meanwhile, Candy Crush is about the sweet dopamine hit that comes from matching a few candies, and the rush of colors on the screen as you rack up the points.
Candy Crush Saga’s players are of all ages and genders, according to King’s VP of Marketing Luken Aragon, and they would, in fact, be interested in lipstick. “Gaming, like beauty, is about self-expression,” he points out. As for whether he’s hoping more people will download Candy Crush after they pick up a lipstick, he demurs, and simply says that the shock is the point. You’re supposed to be surprised that Candy Crush is in the make-up business now and not just stuck in two-dimensions.
While most of the products are in categories that Pat McGrath is quite known for, the Candy Crush collab marks the first time the makeup artist is veering into nail polish. It’s the same shade of red as the lipstick, now converted into nail color. As McGrath notes, “Red is a power move, and Elson — our signature blue-red — has graced the lips of countless icons, including the legendary Taylor Swift.”
How does red remind of Candy Crush? The red jelly bean is one of the six main candies players are confronted with in beginning levels, and when powered up can even appear striped, veering on Christmas-themed. Then to recreate the winning feeling of stars and points accumulating, and colored candies pairing off to a smashing success, Pat McGrath is sneaking in the three golden rings, what she calls “a true golden ticket moment for beauty lovers” and “that extra layer of fantasy.”
As McGrath notes, “Red is a power move, and Elson — our signature blue-red — has graced the lips of countless icons, including the legendary Taylor Swift.”
However you feel about the limited collections we’ve seen from beauty and gaming so far, it’s clear that more and more are jumping on the bandwagon of this trend. It’s surely not the last we’ve seen and heard of nerdy team-ups. Will there be more in the future from McGrath?
“Gaming has become such an exciting space for color and creativity,” McGrath says, “I’ve always been fascinated by how digital and physical beauty can intersect. The neon-lit worlds of cyberpunk aesthetics, the surreal hues of fantasy landscapes — there’s so much inspiration to pull from.”
