Just over 30 years ago, MAC launched the original VIVA GLAM lipstick and 100 percent of all proceeds from the MAC VIVA GLAM lipstick went to supporting the HIV/AIDS crisis, a cause close to the hearts of MAC founders Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. Fronted by RuPaul, the initiative created the MAC AIDS Fund. Since then, they’ve raised over $545 million globally, served more than 60 million people, and expanded the VIVA GLAM family in more shades and finishes. The likes of Kim Petras, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Dita Von Teese, and more have graced the iconic editorials. It’s the largest philanthropic initiative in all of beauty today. Today, VIVA GLAM gets a new muse: Chappell Roan.
She became MAC’s Global Ambassador in December 2025 after partnering with the brand for years on her avant-garde makeup looks. It’s easily one of the most fitting celebrity beauty partnerships we’ve seen, so it only makes sense to bring her, a young queer artist, into the VIVA GLAM fold now, too.
“I think [VIVA GLAM] represented people who weren’t afraid to associate themselves with something gay and something feminine,” Chappell tells MAC. The collection, featuring three brand-new lip colors co-created by Chappell herself, launches today. Made for “the girls, the gays, and the theys,” the collection follows in the footsteps of VIVA GLAM's past, donating 100 percent of all proceeds to charities geared toward sexual, gender, racial, and environmental equality.
The three shades are all inspired by the world Chappell has created with her music. There’s Roan of Arc (a nod to Chappell’s iconic 2024 MTV Video Music Awards performance), a shiny hydrating mid-tone plum lipstick; UnNatural Red Head, a deep-cherry matte lipstick inspired by Chappell’s own hair color; and Damnsel Lip Glass Air, a lightweight sheer red-plum gloss with gold shimmer.
“This campaign is meant to be inclusive and represent a different type of glamour,” Chappell says of the campaign, featuring her in drag done by her go-to makeup artist Andrew Dahling. “I hope the weird art kids and people who are down to be different, dramatic, and bold all see themselves reflected here, but all are welcome.”
At its core, VIVA GLAM was developed to support the queer community. “Makeup and queerness in a lot of ways are intertwined,” Chappell says, noting how special it feels to launch this collaboration during Pride Month. She hopes this campaign will be a shining light for LGBTQIA+ youth. “Remember that there are queer people everywhere,” Chappell says to Cosmo exclusively. “Even if you may not know they are there, if you are brave and look for them, you may be surprised how a community can exist no matter where you are.”
Chappell joins a legacy of iconic queer artists to join the MAC VIVA GLAM family. “I feel a responsibility to uphold what people expect but also to honor the people before me,” she says. But if she could give anyone a VIVA GLAM makeover… it’d be “the queer green alien woman” from Lilo & Stitch, Pleakley.
Everything Chappell does—from working with MAC to creating music to launching her own charity, The Midwest Princess Project, that supports trans youth and LGBTQIA+ communities—is an extension of her “vision to help bring people together from all corners of life and to advocate for change,” she says. In honor of this collaboration, MAC is making a $300,000 donation to the Midwest Princess Project and its partner organizations, including the Ali Forney Center in New York City; TransLatin Coalition in Los Angeles; the GLO Center in Springfield, Missouri; and the Campaign for Southern Equality in Asheville, North Carolina.
As for the one tip Chappell would give Cosmo for Pride Month? “Tip your queens.”
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers skincare, makeup, hair, nails, and more across digital and print. She can generally be found in bright eyeshadow furiously typing her latest feature or hemming and hawing about a new product you "have to try." Prior to Cosmopolitan, she wrote and edited beauty content as an Editor at The Everygirl for four years. Follow her on Instagram for makeup selfies and a new hair 'do every few months.
