Makeup Artist Pat McGrath Used Cocoa Powder as Foundation When She Couldn't Find Makeup for Dark Skin

Modern makeup artistry has a mother and her name is Pat McGrath. But before she was a legendary makeup artist and the head of a billion-dollar beauty brand, McGrath was learning about makeup from her own mom.

In a new interview with BBC's Desert Island, McGrath shared formative moments in her childhood when she was a burgeoning beauty boss. As PopSugar points out, McGrath's early DIY beauty sensibility was born from the lack of products for dark skin tones. Her mom's mantra? "If you can't find it, you can't buy it. Make it!"

Often her mother would do just that. "She even used cocoa powder," McGrath explained. "She came in from the kitchen with cocoa powder all over her face and she was like, 'This is the right tone of powder.' She dusted it on her face and looked amazing."

Soon after, McGrath started making her own DIY products, starting with a moisturizer for herself and her toy dolls. "I mixed oil and water together, whipped it, put it in the fridge, and it looked like a cream. I celebrated for months with my own cream that I had made. I packed that over my face, and I was shining like a Belisha beacon for months," she says.

McGrath may have grown up in a world with, as BBC interviewer Lauren Laverne said, the "skinny and white bias of the fashion industry," but McGrath's storied career is helping to change that bias and McGrath is relishing the progress.

"I am so happy to see the changes that I'm seeing now," McGrath said. "We have models from all different social backgrounds, different weights, body types, different religious backgrounds, shows that are over 50 percent women of color, and it wasn't there for such a long time. And now it's just so fantastic to see."

Now read up on how Pat McGrath changed the beauty industry:

• 24 Times Pat McGrath Proved That She Is the World's Most Influential Makeup Artist

• Pat McGrath Just Outdid Herself With the Feather Lashes and Floral Face Paint at Valentino Couture

• Why Self-Made Boss Pat McGrath Is an Invaluable Asset to the Beauty World

Now, watch three makeup artists turn a model into a Van Gogh painting:

Originally Appeared on Allure