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Hung Vanngo believes in staying caught up. “I will not go to sleep unless my inbox is zero,” the makeup artist told Glossy.
And that’s no small feat for someone whose work is seemingly everywhere. Vanngo has spent much of 2025 zigzagging across the globe to create makeup looks for everyone from Halle Berry at Cannes to Padma Lakshmi on the cover of Vogue India. But perhaps no look drummed up more excitement than his makeup for longtime client Selena Gomez at her September wedding to music producer Benny Blanco in Santa Barbara. Vanngo’s Instagram post showcasing Gomez’s bridal beauty received more than 100,000 likes.
And the booked and busy makeup artist has never been shy about showcasing his work and technique to his followers — he has over 4 million followers on Instagram and 600,000 subscribers on YouTube, where he posts in-depth tutorials on his red-carpet looks.
“I don’t believe that [my work should be] a secret, because everyone has different eyes. I can give you the same products. That doesn’t mean you create the same way. And I want to create a legacy for myself, as well,” said Vanngo. “Sharing is caring, because I want the next generation to understand what I’ve learned from.”
As of 2025, Vanngo’s work has a bigger reach than ever before. After decades as an established makeup artist, Vanngo launched his namesake beauty brand at Sephora in September. In doing so, Vanngo joined the ranks of many legendary makeup artists with a proprietary line, including a new generation of artists like Mario Dedivanovic and Mary Phillips, who have made their name with the help of social media.
“People are really excited about makeup artists’ brands, but we each have a different vision,” said Vanngo.
Though beauty has favored neutral glam and glossy lips in recent years, Vanngo stuck to his love of color for the debut collection of his namesake brand. The launch centered on bold, matte lips and candy-colored eyeshadow palettes.
“A lot of people were surprised I didn’t launch foundation first, because they know I’m all about complexion and luminous skin,” he said. “But we didn’t do foundation first — we did colors — because I thought that was lacking in the market.”
Indeed the look Vanngo created for Gomez’s wedding exemplifies much of what has made him such an in-demand artist: softly sculpted, smokey eyes, atop glowing skin. But the fiery orange “Vanngo Red” lipstick from the debut launch has become a top-seller at the brand, Vanngo said.
Even while it bucks the current trends, Vanngo’s vision has legs, according to the beauty industry. The brand has already received backing from True Beauty Ventures and Unilever Ventures, and it hired former Tarte CMO Samantha Kitain as CEO in 2025. For Vanngo, who is used to working behind the scenes, receiving the attention usually bestowed on his celebrity clientele is still something to get used to.
“I just got back from Paris Fashion Week, and I would walk in the street, and people recognized me,” he said. While Vanngo may be modest, his work earned him accolades and interviews with the likes of New York Magazine and Ssense even before he launched his namesake brand. “It still feels really strange, because if you ever see me on social media, I rarely post pictures of myself. Even my team has said, ‘Please, we want to see your face more.’ But I like to be behind the scenes.”
