All About Beyoncé's Black Panther Style Tribute at the Grammy Awards

Beyoncé did not come to this year’s Grammy Awards just to slay, she came to make a statement.

While the event didn’t ultimately mark the singer’s return to a major red carpet since the birth of twins Rumi and Sir in June, the nominee still managed to command our attention from the audience. Slipping in with daughter Blue Ivy, Beyoncé paired a turtleneck, cold-shoulder gown with a sculptural hat (both by Nicolas Jebran), monster Lorraine Schwartz earrings and a purple lip that gave us “No Angel” vibes right off the bat. And while her eyes might have been concealed behind Alain Mikli sunglasses, we got the inside scoop on her meaningful ensemble straight from her pro, L’Oréal Paris Celebrity Makeup Artist Sir John.

Be sure to check out PEOPLE’s full Grammys coverage to get the latest news on music’s big night.

Sir John reveals that Beyoncé’s look tonight is in continued support of the Black Panther Party. “It started with Super Bowl last January, and here we are a year later,” he explains. In fact, Bey’s been making a sartorial statement all weekend, he reveals.

“If you look at the beret from yesterday, the turtleneck part of the dress tonight – its sculptural silhouette. It was a really strong, powerful moment. This is something that is representative of love and solidarity for her people,” he says. (Beyoncé managed all the statement-making details of her look, right down to the custom Judith Leiber clutch in the shape of a black panther, which Blue Ivy is holding on her lap in the photo below.)

In keeping with the serious tone of her look tonight, Sir John opted for a powerful makeup look.

Sir John applied Glossier Skin Tint (a combo of Dark and Deep) as a base, followed by L’Oréal Paris’ Infallible Total Cover Concealing & Contour Kit to create dimension, and Glossier Cloud Paint in Beam and Haze on the apples of her cheeks. (He also used a yet-to-be-revealed Glossier product on the star earlier in the weekend, which caused fans to go insane with anticipation.)

He then went ahead and gave her a striking eye look, despite knowing that she’d be wearing Alain Mikli sunglasses with her ensemble (“When I found out she wanted to wear [the sunglasses], there was a huge tug of war between us!” he says). “I created a cat eye using a black liquid eye liner, and added a rose gold eye shadow (A yet-to-be released Glossier product. Yes, she’s that boss.) on the center of her eyes. And underneath the eye I used a brown kohl, because brown is less aggressive,” Sir John explains, adding that he then brushed a little Glossier Boy Brow through her arches to set them in place.

For her lips, Sir John used a combination of two matte colors: YSL’s Tatouage Couture Liquid Matte Lip in Fuchsia Intime and Carmine Encounter. (Pro tip: He used a lip liner to line and fill her lips first to ensure her lip color didn’t budge).

Lastly, the pro created a custom glow for his longtime client. “I DIY’d an illuminator by using L’Oréal Paris’ Glowtion mixed with a tiny bit of foundation and lotion. I lacquered that all over her body, then I took a tiny bit of the same product and tapped it on her cheekbones. And then I used a powder highlighter on top of that.”

With the Queen’s look complete, he gave his much younger client, Blue Ivy, a touch of lip gloss. “Blue looks so amazing and fresh in white! She does makeup better than most makeup artists, I hate to say it.”

With the two out the door, Sir John reflected on another symbolic moment with the music icon. “Exactly a year ago she was pregnant! We had a great day then, and I think today was great as well.”