Exclusive: Meet the Makeup Artist Behind Zara Larsson’s Halo-Halo Glam

Sophia Sinot drew inspiration from the Filipino dessert, using it as a reference for the pop artist’s Midnight Sun show in Manila.

Since “Symphony” dominated the internet in 2024, accompanied by its glittery dolphin visual, Zara Larsson has cemented her Y2KY2KA fashion aesthetic revived from the late 1990s and early 2000s, featuring low-rise jeans, baby tees, metallics, rhinestones, and playful accessories. Y2K style fuses nostalgia with futurism, and its returnGo to Y2K Glossary-infused pop renaissance, complete with a bedazzled, maximalist rebrand. It’s never been all about the fashion; Sophia Sinot, who has made several of Larsson’s makeup looks go viral, has made that much clear.

Originally from Amsterdam, Sinot is a London-based makeup artist who Larsson brought along for the full run of her recently concluded Midnight Sun tour. Every show was a surprise, though, as Larsson sports a new makeup look in each country, often inspired by its culture. Just over the weekend, the pop singer’s halo-halo-inspired makeup went viral because of its application and unique reference.

The idea came easily to Sinot when people flooded her DMs with requests for a halo-halo-inspired look for the Manila show. “And when I looked it up, I thought, ‘Oh god, this is so perfect!’ because it [has] such bright colors, which is basically what we need for a reference. I got really inspired by the toasted rice on top (pinipig)!”

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The beauty direction for the whole Midnight Sun tour was mainly just about having fun, she says, with enough excitement to use as much color and as many gems as possible. “We’ve never repeated the same look. And I just wanted to challenge myself and play around with a lot of different types of reference. From nature, to very Barbie-inspired, to ’80s glam.”

People may have known her for her work with Larsson, but Sinot has been in the industry for eight years and has also worked with other pop artists like Doja Cat and Camila Cabello. With years of experience creating glimmering, bedazzled looks, she has earned Larsson’s complete trust, who has given her complete freedom to play for the entirety of the tour run.

“It’s always decided very last minute,” she says, laughing. “You know, when I’m in the car on the way to the show, that’s when I start to think about, like, ‘Okay, what shall we do today?’ And she’s always like, ‘What do you want to do for makeup?’ So it’s very natural and just kind of following your creative process in your brain.”

And the question that concert-goers have been itching to ask: How does colorful makeup like this stay in place for hours? It all starts with skin prep. “We keep it very simple. I usually just cleanse her skin, put on moisturizer and an eye cream, but nothing else really. When it comes down to foundation, powders, and cream blushes and contours, there are a lot of layers on her skin, but I keep all the layers very light and minimal.”

All of this aside, Sinot is also thankful that Larsson doesn’t sweat much or get “super hot” in the face, allowing the makeup to stay in place throughout the entire show.

The halo-halo makeup may have gotten the crowd’s attention, but for Larsson and Sinot’s team, it was the Manila crowd itself that amazed them, just as one might expect from a Filipino concert crowd. 

“They really go all out with the hair and the makeup and the outfits. And I also heard that there was a group of drag queens that did a little pre-show before our show as a pre-performance. So I could just tell that the people from here were so excited, and they made sure that we felt so welcome. And they definitely succeeded.”