James Charles Is Vandalizing the Beauty World

“I got into makeup because I loved art,” he says. “Painting, drawing, being creative. Makeup was how I made myself look cool. That’s how I saw it. It was never just about being pretty.” And while today’s beauty scene might be dominated by latte-inspired minimalism and "clean girl" aesthetics, Charles is pushing back with pure, saturated artistry. The Artistry Canvas is an open call to color outside the lines, to glam the Mona Lisa, to vandalize the classics with glitter and intent. It’s his way of bringing back the energy and excitement that first inspired him and made him a phenomenon.

“It really does feel like the beginning of a new era,” he says. “I’m not delusional. I know it won’t sell a million units like before, but I hope people who’ve been missing that energy will feel it again with this.” From the handmade campaign to the obsessive color tweaks, everything about this launch is personal. Call it a comeback, or a creative reset. Either way, James Charles is painting outside the palette, and he’s inviting you to join him.

PAPER sat down with James to discuss the new palette, King Kylie-era makeup nostalgia and how he’s reclaiming his moment.

Congrats on this palette! I watched the video and loved all the creativity. Where did the idea for that concept come from?

Thank you! I’m really glad you loved it. This one is so special to us. The video is really an analogy for the current state of the beauty community. I kept thinking about these iconic Renaissance-era paintings — works that have been stuck in "clean girl" natural makeup for like the past 700 years. Imagine how Mona Lisa must feel wearing no eyeshadow every single day. She can’t even get a lip balm! American Gothic has nothing going on. These girlies deserve to live in our current-day 2025 creative glam.

I got into makeup as a teenager because I loved art. I loved being creative, painting, drawing. For me, makeup wasn’t just about making others feel beautiful. I wanted to look cool. I saw my face as a canvas, and that’s how I started my career and made a name for myself. But over the years — with COVID, trends, prices going up — the creativity really died out. Now it’s all about the clean girl, mocha-chocolate-cold-brew-brown-café-cinnamon-doll of the day, every other week on TikTok.

So this was my way of bringing artistry back to the beauty world, by “vandalizing” these paintings. We had a bunch of ideas for the video. At first it was going to be more like a Night at the Museum vibe — a satirical conversation between me and the paintings coming to life. But we ultimately went with this version, and I think it tells the story in a really cool, fun way.

Even with ChatGPT now, real creativity is being dampened. Do creators actually use ChatGPT to come up with their captions and concepts now?

Absolutely not. I literally just used ChatGPT in a stupid challenge for my last YouTube video, but I’m really not a fan. I think it’s fine if you need a little help or a boost when you’re stuck. But in terms of actually generating ideas and being able to speak on camera — selling a product or telling a story you believe in — that will never come from a robot. No matter how good they program it.

True artists and creatives will always come out on top. God, I fucking hope. I think it’s obvious, at least I’d like to think it is, when someone really believes in what they’ve made and poured love into a product.

So it all ties back to creativity and authenticity. Let’s bring it back.

There’s no AI in this commercial at all. We literally found our Mona Lisa through a viral TikTok she had like four years ago. It was her first time ever getting on a plane, so we were so grateful to have her.

Our Birth of Venus is actually this influencer mom who makes all this content with her daughter. She’s almost 50 and looks like a supermodel. It’s literally insane. Her daughter always posts about her, and I just reached out and was like, “This is so weird, but would your mom want to do this campaign?” Like as a moment to celebrate her, it was so beautiful and so cool. And we built the entire set for the commercial. I directed it myself. That shit was all completely real, and completely depleted my bank account.

You were the creative director, the producer. This whole thing really feels like a full-circle moment, right? Almost like a remake of your original Morphe palette?

Yeah, so it’s not practically a remake. Basically, Painted has 24 shades. The original Morphe one had 39. And that palette was iconic because it was the first time anyone had ever combined neutral and rainbow colors into one. It became this cultural moment, literally in every girl's makeup drawer. It was the go-to beginner palette because it offered a full range of quality colors at an affordable price.

Now with Painted, we’re a small, independent brand. I own 100% of it, with no investors or partners, so we just can’t afford to make a 39-shade palette and sell it for $39 worldwide. But our quality is way higher. We work with incredible manufacturers, and the packaging is super custom and expensive.

Our first launch last year was the Basic Canvas. That was like the neutral half of the original Morphe palette, plus some new shades. Now we’re dropping the Artistry Canvas, just the rainbow side. What’s cool is everything is de-potable. Every color, blush, future product — it’s all magnetic and removable. So if you’re a makeup artist, a busy mom or just obsessed, we have a Blank Canvas, amagnetic empty palette. You can take both the Basic and Artistry palettes, pop them into the Blank and basically recreate that original James x Morphe experience but with 48 shades instead of 39, and at way better quality. Let me tell you.

You’ve been in the game so long. You’ve really mastered it. What did you learn from the first Morphe drop to now, especially as a creative director and founder?

I think I just learned to dream bigger. That first palette changed my life. I mean, my relationship with Morphe now? Not great. They owe me millions from the bankruptcy, which sucks. But I’ll never sit and just shit on it. That palette bought my house, my parents’ house. It changed everything.

Even back then, we were doing something cool. That acapella theme song? It’s a meme now. Those makeup looks? Iconic. Millions of people around the world recreated them. The campaign book, the YouTube video — it felt monumental.

So yeah, I’ve just learned to think bigger, to believe even the wildest ideas are possible. It takes money, planning and a killer team, but it is possible. And working on Painted has really shown me that more and more as I’ve gotten older, more experienced, more connected.

When I was in college, I had this class called Law and Performance. It was about judges and legal systems and stuff. And I wrote my final essay about you. It was right around the Tati drama in 2019. A full eight-page paper. Got an A+.

Wait, that’s so cool! You didn’t tell me that last year. That’s amazing. And yeah, it really does feel nostalgic. This whole palette moment brings me back. As you saw in the commercial, today’s just the trailer. The full reveal video drops Friday. Swatches, stories, all of it.

The opening montage is this beautiful tribute to how the original palette changed beauty history. I hope it hits people in the feels. This really feels like the beginning of a new James Charles era. I’m not delusional. I know it won’t sell a million units. The beauty community isn’t what it once was. But I do hope people add it to their collections, because the formula and shades? They’ll be blown away. And if you get all three palettes, there’s a bundle deal. I show it all in the Friday video. It’s for the makeup lovers who’ve been missing that Morphe magic.

We’re not in the King Kylie days anymore.

Seriously. And people have asked if this is a Pride palette because of the timing and the rainbows. It’s not officially tied to Pride; it just happened to come out during the month. Honestly, I feel like not enough companies are even doing rainbow icons this year. Pride’s feeling a little dark and sneaky. But yeah, this wasn’t intentional. I’m a perfectionist. My team hates me. We probably should’ve launched four or five products already, but I’m constantly tweaking things: colors, packaging, shade names, formulas. So I got this out as soon as I possibly could. And it just happens to drop during Pride, which makes me happy. Because, you know, I’m gay.

What's your personal favorite shade in the palette?

That's a good one. There’s a couple I’m obsessed with. Titanium is the white shade in the top left corner. I know that sounds boring, but making a good-quality white is really fucking hard. We worked super hard on that one to get it as pigmented as possible. I grew up on Bob Ross. He was one of my biggest inspirations as a kid. It’s how I learned to paint and get creative. So that shade is kind of an ode to him: Titanium White. I also love Winkle, our little periwinkle. It’s my favorite color in the world. And then, gosh, Firefly is really good too.

All my followers bullied me (lovingly) for not bringing back Ring Light, the OG highlighter from the Morphe palette. So Firefly is a pale yellow shimmer that’s kind of close. It’s not a perfect dupe — we’re still working on that for a future highlighter — but I think the fans will be excited.

Well, thank you so much for talking to me. I hope this palette blows up like it’s 2016 again. I’m excited for this new era.

I literally posted a video on my spam account last night just to be transparent with the brand. We talked about how much this commercial cost to produce, which was fucking ridiculous. But it was cool to see the comments, like, “I hope this blows up for you,” and, “We remember when the last one did.” That meant a lot.

Photography: ErnnaCost
Makeup: Painted
Styling: Lena Nash