The road to her history-making turn at the BRIT awards has not been an easy one for singer Raye. Despite being nominated in seven categories (which makes more nods in one year than any previous artist, ever), she has been open about the struggle she faced with getting the recognition she deserved.
Having gained success writing chart-topping songs for other artists, including Beyonce, Rihanna and Ellie Goulding, the singer had to part ways with her former record label Polydor after they refused to release her own album for years. Speaking out on social media in June 2021, Raye, who had been signed to the label since 2014, revealed she had "albums on albums of music sat in folders collecting dust.” She insisted: “I have worked and waited and hustled and given EVERYthing I have and if I am going to suffer I am NOT going to do it in silence anymore. I’m done being a polite pop star. I want to make my album now, please that is all I want.”
So, call it karma, but when Escapism – one of the first releases from her debut album, My 21st Century Blues, overtook Taylor Swift's unstoppable Anti-hero to top the charts at the start of last year, it was divine intervention. “This is proof [you should] back yourself, no matter what,” she told the Official Charts.
Her song went on to become the biggest-selling single by a British artist in the UK of 2023, and as mentioned, the rest is history(-making).
In a pre-interview on the Brits Instagram feed, Raye looked to be lapping up her night. “It feels emotional, it’s deep, it’s beautiful, it’s a miracle. If you’d have seen how heartbroken I was [when she broke from her record label], it’s just a joke. Miracles happen,” she told a Sky reporter.
But to guarantee she felt top of her game, she made sure she looked and smelt good, too. After being told she smelt great on the BRITs live Instagram feed, she didn't gatekeep the details. “I always douse myself all over in perfume,” said Raye, “and it's the same perfume I've been wearing since I was a teenager," she continued, revealing it's “Penhaligon's Empressa, if anyone wants to know.” The clean floral opens with notes of peach and mandarin, before the warmth of brown sugar, vanilla and amber makes its way through the base. Sweet, but with depth, it sounds like a scent that's fit for our queen.
She leant on her glam squad for a stunning beauty look, too. Her hair stylist, Alex Price, ensured her signature '60s rolled bob looked glossy and perfect. Meanwhile, her makeup artist Lan Nguyen-Grealis has been working with Raye since the singer first started on the scene. The two collaborated on an eye-catching smoky eye with striking Cleopatra liner, which Lan told GLAMOUR was: “inspired by Hollywood Glam with a modern ‘90s twist and nod to Elizabeth Taylor.”
The look was “all about the graphic liner and shimmer lilac base shade with taupes to structure and lift for a cat eye effect.” Lan told us. She added a smouldering kohl liner (Pat McGrath’s Permagel Eyeliner in Extreme Black) in the waterline, then finished with a liquid liner for structure (Trish McEvoy's Lash Enhancing Liquid Liner Pen), and completed the eye look with a fluttery lash slightly lifted in the outer corner, using the Ardell Wispies Lashes for extra oomph. As for lips, Lan used two lip liners, combining Charlotte Tilbury's Lip Cheat in Foxy Brown and Makeup by Mario's Ultra Sculpting Lip Pencil in Tan to give a nude brown ombré effect.
An award-winning look for a very deserving artist.
For more from GLAMOUR's Senior Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk
