Lady Gaga’s Glam Team Dish On Her Las Vegas Residency Beauty Looks (2024)

The most glamorous spot in Vegas right now is Lady Gaga’s Jazz & Piano residency. Channeling the days when her friend and collaborator Tony Bennett reigned supreme, the show is a decadent ode to Sin City’s most fabulous days. A showcase of her range and talent, Gaga uplifts her love for well-known jazz standards including “Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)” and “It Don’t Mean A Thing.” alongside soulful piano renditions of her biggest hits like “Poker Face” and “Born This Way.”

Naturally, her beauty looks also channel this iconic and glamorous era, with perfectly-coiffed hair, bold red lips, and nails manicured without flaw. Her glam collaborators on the residency are the team that works with her on virtually everything—hairstylist Frederic Aspiras, makeup artist Sarah Tanno, and nail artist Miho Okawara.

Here, we chat with each artist about how the residency looks came together, the products they’re using to achieve the looks, how they work with one another, and more.

Of course, this is just the beginning of the beauty for the residency. Aspiras confirms looks could change as early as the next performance. She may never do the same song twice or wear the same look, which makes it not only exciting for her glam team, but also the audience—especially the super fans that see the residency multiple times.

The makeup

“I am extremely passionate about the rich history of makeup,” says Sarah Tanno, who is also the Global Artistry Director of Gaga's Haus Labs. “I spent time researching iconic eras and drawing inspiration from classic jazz music, particularly the early days of the Vegas strip with the Rat Pack. I envision her residency makeup enduring the test of time.”

And when you have Gaga’s own makeup line, Haus Labs, at your fingertips, it makes achieving timeless makeup looks that much easier. “Our products are all made for high performance, so I can rely on them during the show,” Tanno says. She leans on the Tricone™ Skin Tech Foundation and Concealer for Gaga’s base, as they’re long-lasting but deliver a skin-like finish.

Makeup highlights of the show include extended, crystal-embellished lashes and Gaga’s signature red lip—created by using a Haus Lab innovation called Atomic Shake Lip Lacquer that’s a “high-shine, transfer-proof and long-wear lip product,” according to Tanno. “It has changed show makeup for us forever,” she says. “I no longer have to worry about her lipstick transferring on the costumes, her microphone, or her teeth. It stays perfect for the entire show with zero need to touch it up.”

Tanno also divulges that Gaga is extremely educated on skin health and all things skincare science. It’s why she wanted to infuse Haus Labs complexion products with the brand’s patent-pending Fermented Arnica that calms and soothes any redness or irritation during wear. This ensures her skin is calm and maintains moisture post-show, though Tanno spends time after every performance washing her face, reapplying her skincare and using Gaga’s favorite mask before she goes home each night.

And if you’re wondering if Gaga is wearing any not-yet-seen Haus Labs creations while onstage during her residency, the answer is yes. “We consistently utilize the stage to rigorously stress-test our latest innovations,” Tanno reveals. “During this residency stretch, we will be testing several new products that we can't wait to unveil and share with everyone.”

The hair

“Freddie from Hunters Point in San Francisco never could’ve dreamed that one day I’d be working on a residency with Lady Gaga,” Sebastian Professional Global Culture & Creative Director Frederic Aspiras tells Vogue. “When we first started doing this residency about five years ago, she was one of the first to bring the format back. A lot of people were saying negative things, but now we’ve proven it can stay successful. When we do a show, we put everything into it and we work hard.”

Aspiras’s pre-work includes a ton of research to really channel the eras of the songs Gaga is singing, along with hours and hours of testing to ensure that the hair is not only respecting the music, but also contributing to the art form. He names Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald as inspirations for the looks onstage, but also the looks in the film they shot which is showcased to the audience on the big screens in Gaga’s outfit and beauty change moments. He says, “We’re paying homage to a legacy of great artists and jazz musicians and that comes from her relationship with Tony Bennett and her love for jazz.”

To kick things off properly for this residency round, Gaga wore a two-tone black and platinum wig with super cropped bangs and a wrapped, bluntly-cut ponytail—reminiscent of a style Aspiras had first created for her about fifteen years ago. “I was inspired by my mother who is a hairdresser and Shanghai Express,” the Oscar-nominated hairstylist says of the style. “It’s graphic, yet elegant. It represents where Gaga is right now.”

It’s all about movement onstage—not just Gaga who is performing, but also for the hair. The only time Aspiras relies on major hold is in a moment when the hair needs to be slick like it was last night. But there’s also a delicate balance, as her ponytail needed to bounce and shake with her onstage flow. So it’s mostly about lightweight and airy formulas like Sebastian’s Shaper that gently holds the hair’s memory. “It doesn’t leave any residue on your hair, so there’s no flakiness and I can brush through it without it looking like there's a ton of product on the hair,” he says.

Though she often keeps her hair laid in wigs, Gaga has own hair underneath, so hair health is of prime importance. “I use shampoos and conditioners that are treated for colored hair because her hair is blonde,” he says. “When I’m wrapping her hair under the wig, it’s super important that her hair has protective products in it, I like a product called No Breaker from Sebastian.” Gaga masks her own hair multiple times a week to keep it hydrated and healthy and Aspiras shampoos and conditioners her hair weekly himself.

For Gaga’s custom-made wigs, weekly washes and conditioning treatments are standard, as well as minimal products (mostly just a soft cream to tame flyaways). “A lot of preparation goes into the setting of the hair, with setting lotions and light gels to keep the hair in place with memory hold that keeps any curl in there,” he says. “I don’t want to overheat the hair, which destroys the cuticle layer, so the curl doesn’t hold. So I use a mousse to blow out the hair that creates a protective barrier and then I finish it with a hairspray.”

The nails

Though she’s in Japan for the duration of the residency, Miho Okawara did Lady Gaga’s nails right before the show—a fiery and bright apple red gel set that evokes the crooning sirens of the 1940s and 50s and creates an incredible contrast with her fashion looks.

Gaga and her styling team of Sandra Amador and Tom Eerebout usually share their overall concept and all the fashion looks with Okawara. From there, she creates the best nails that can work across outfits and all the elements of Gaga’s performance. But there are cases in which the entire glam team gets together to brainstorm, inspire each other, and coordinate holistically so the nail designs are an effortless part of each ensemble.

To maintain the health of Gaga’s nails not just during the residency but overall, Okawara applies treatments to her nails every few weeks. She forgoes sanding to fill Gaga’s gel nails without damage and recommends it to nail art lovers everywhere for their own maintenance. She also massages Gaga’s hands to strengthen her nails and boost nail growth, as well as treating her cuticles with oil for hydration.

And if you’ve ever seen Gaga perform, you know she’s bound to break a nail or two as she’s passionately playing the piano or owning every inch of the stage. So Okawara makes press-on nails for her if something happens as a precautionary measure, as well as having her assistant on hand (literally) for any necessary fixes.

Working together

“The Haus of Gaga is a well-oiled machine,” says Tanno. “We have been together for over a decade now and have been friends and collaborators for so long that we are usually aligned before we even begin. Our approach is in-depth—working closely with Gaga, we meticulously prepare for each event as if it were our most significant yet. It is an honor to be able to work with people you love and respect and who have become part of your extended family.”

Aspiras considers Tanno a sister because there’s such a great amount of trust between them. “When Sarah and I work together, we collaborate a lot on how to say something with the makeup and hair,” he says. “Is it modern and fresh or is it reminiscent of the past? Or is it both? How does it work with the costumes and how does it vibe with her now?”

The duo examines the lighting, angles, the fashion looks more as they dissect everything from the front of the stage with surgical precision. And it’s truly a workshoping experience with Gaga: Sometimes they go through a ton of changes and present to her for her final touch, or there are times when they give looks to her and she wants to do her own version of them.

Working with the stylist team is also a fruitful and important collaboration, as Gaga is known for her bold, daring, and oft-provocative fashion looks. “I always feel like I have to bring something good or else they’re going to look at me,” Aspiras jokes. “It’s a good challenge because it entices you to make something better.

“What you see on stage becomes magic and that doesn’t happen until she puts it all on,” Aspiras says. “Gaga is such an amazing leader and I really do mean that. She’s extremely passionate about her love for her art and making people feel something: happiness, sadness, joy, love. Making them feel like they’re worthy of their lives and special things like this.”

Their favorite Gaga beauty moments

“There have been so many ‘favorite makeup moments’ from our decade of work together,” says Tanno. “Sometimes it's the looks that have a really personal story behind them or about the creative process it took all of us to get there. Some of my favorites would be The Countess from American Horror Story, Gaga's Superbowl performance, The Chromatica Ball, and our first Haus Labs campaign together.”

For Aspiras, he warmly thinks back to Gaga’s Monster Ball tour in Mexico City. “It was pouring and she was in this yellow wig,” she says. “There was blood everywhere because there was fake blood in the show and I kept that wig exactly how it is. When she came off the stage I just went bloop and placed it back on the mannequin head.” Now the wig lives in the Haus of Gaga museum at the Park MGM—a literal symbol of Aspiras’s blood, sweat, and tears over one and a half years on that tour.

Okawara can’t possibly choose between her favorite Gaga nail moments, so instead, she gave us four. The Metallic logo nails she did for the 2017 Grammy Awards, cutting pieces from Gaga’s wardrobe for her custom “Rain On Me” music video nails, the literal claws she created for Gaga’s Dom Pérignon campaign film and imagery and the work they did together when Gaga played Elizabeth “The Countess” Johnson for the fifth season of American Horror Story are in her top moments.