This Makeup Artist Transforms Himself To Look Like Celebs And The Results Are Insane
Some people love makeup, but some people love makeup with a capital L-O-V-E. Alexis Stone is the latter. The drag queen from Manchester, United Kingdom uses makeup to transform himself into virtually any celebrity — and we really mean any. From Johnny Depp to the Queen of England, there is seemingly no one Stone can’t become. Check out some of his craziest transformations and learn a little bit on how he achieves these iconic looks.
Meet Elliot Joseph Rentz, Also Known As Alexis Stone
Alexis Stone, whose birth name is Elliot Joseph Rentz, achieves his incredible transformations thanks to a mixture of makeup and some digital editing here and there. He documents his work on his Instagram, which has amassed more than 700,000 followers, as well as his YouTube channel where followers can watch detailed tutorials.
Although Stone has been doing makeup professionally for years, he didn’t start transforming himself into celebrities until the summer of 2017. It was during this time that Stone used makeup to transform himself into fellow makeup artist Nikkie de Jager (better known by her YouTube channel name, NikkieTutorials). Followers couldn’t believe his incredible transformation and urged him to try his hand at a celebrity look next.
Stone Started Experimenting With Makeup as a Teen
Like lots of makeup-wearers, Stone first began experimenting with makeup in high school. “I first started experimenting with makeup when I was 15, you know when teenage skin breaks through, and kids can be cruel," he told Beauty Bay. "I started wearing foundation and looked like a corn flake.”
It's safe to say he escaped the throes of puberty and no longer looks like a corn flake. Today, he has no problem in throwing together a look like this in under an hour. While Stone and Ellen DeGeneres are both have blonde hair and blue eyes, this transformation was still tough. To pull off the talk show host's look, he has to use strategic contouring to slim his cheeks, jawline, and nose. Add in Ellen's side-swept hair and million-dollar-smile and these two look like twins.
When Two Beauty Gurus Collide
Considering Kylie Jenner is one of the most influential people in the beauty industry, it'd be pretty intimidating trying to achieve her iconic look — but Stone nailed it. By perfectly recreating her smokey eye, high cheekbones, and signature pumped-up lips, it's hard to tell that this isn't actually Jenner herself. Stone, who has a larger forehead than Jenner, even made his hairline look lower to make this transformation completely convincing.
No word on whether or not he used the Kylie Lip Kit!
Jennifer Lawrence? Is That You?
Who doesn’t love Jennifer Lawrence? The Hunger Games star is wildly talented, and — as if we needed to even say it — drop-dead gorgeous. Clearly Stone agrees. The makeup artist posted this insane transformation to his Instagram on August 18, 2018. In his makeup tutorial, he made the routine look easy, but we doubt we could pull this look off.
To achieve J. Law’s iconic beauty, Stone concentrated primarily on the nose, making sure to contour his own features to match Lawrence’s straight nose with a slightly rounded tip. He then contoured the perimeter of his face, which helps create her soft yet chiseled look. We give this a 10/10.
Alexis Stone Looks More Like Nicki Minaj Than Nicki Minaj
At first glance, we totally thought this was Nicki Minaj, or at the very least her doppelganger. But that’s just the power of Alexis Stone’s incredible transformations. Stone spent over an hour achieving the look of one of the world’s best-selling music artists.
Minaj has a slimmer nose than Stone, so he worked on contouring his nose to make it appear slimmer, before contouring the middle and outer portion of his face. He completed the look by giving himself a cat eye with liquid liner, as well as false eyelashes, a wig, and contacts. Oh, and we can’t forget those perfect eyebrows!
Cardi B Would Say Okurrr
Cardi B is known for her number-one singles “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It.” The stripper-turned-rapper was named of one Time’s most influential people and snagged two Grammy noms. Transforming into Cardi B is more than just about achieving her distinguishable look — you’ve gotta have the attitude to match. We think Stone pulled it off!
Stone used skillful contouring to slim his face down, and used tinted eyeshadow to make his nose appear slimmer. He added dark eye makeup and a set of thick falsies to create a dramatic eye. Finally, he donned a wig with Cardi B’s signature long black locks and topped everything off with a bold red lip.
A Royal Transformation
Stone says that after seeing Mrs. Doubtfire for the first time, he was fascinated with dressing up as a woman. Naturally, he got into drag. From there, his interest in dressing in drag grew, until he started transforming himself into celebrities. But Stone doesn't just stick to the hottest names in Hollywood.
A UK resident, Stone paid his respects to Queen Elizabeth when he posted this royal transformation on his Instagram on her birthday in April. At 92 years old, Queen Elizabeth has a few wrinkles which Stone recreated with the help of strategic eyeliner and eye shadow. He finished the look with a white wig, and of course, lots of jewels.
Zayn Was One of Stone's First Celebrity Transformations
One of the first celebrity transformations Stone took on was Zayn Malik in 2017. Stone made himself look almost identical to the former One Direction member by donning faux facial hair, wearing brown contacts, and of course, mimicking Zayn's long lashes.
Stone shared this photo on social media — a tool that he credits for his success. “It’s really surreal how things are now at the touch of someone’s finger. In a world where we never thought we could connect with these people, now we can," he told Beauty Bay. "That for me is so exciting, and that my work is not only appreciated by people around the world but by the people who I transform into.” We wonder how Gigi Hadid feels about this one!
Christina Aguilera Is One of His Idols
As he was learning to do makeup, Stone became more interested in the transformation process, rather than the makeup itself. "For me, the interest isn’t so much the makeup but the transformation process — whether I’m becoming a woman or transforming myself into a celebrity," he told Beauty Bay. "As soon as I started focusing all of my time doing drag, that’s when my passion for makeup really started.”
Today, Stone has transformed himself into nearly 100 celebrities, including Christina Aguilera, who he says is one of his idols. Stone transformed himself into the Liberation star in August of 2018, noting that he loves the minimal look she's be rocking lately.
Let's Just Hope Alexis Stone Doesn't Smell Like Post Malone
Alexis Stone uses makeup in unconventional ways to achieve the looks of iconic celebrities. This was especially true with his transformation into Post Malone. Stone turned himself into the rapper’s lookalike, tattoos and all, with a mixture of Revolution Pro foundation, MAC Cosmetics pressed powders, Jeffree Star’s Celebrity Skin, and a handful of eyeshadows and eyeliners.
Nailing the contouring to mimic Malone’s bone structure was already impressive, but Stone took it to the next level by perfectly recreating the star’s bushy brows, mustache, and neck and face tattoos. In his video tutorial, he painstakingly drew on the “Rockstar” singer’s body art with liquid eyeliner, and user eyeshadow and eyeliner to give the appearance of fuller facial hair.
Jocelyn Wildenstein Loved Stone's Work so Much She Flew Him to NYC to Meet Her
Stone does an amazing job transforming himself into other celebrities, but often times you can still tell it isn't actually the celeb when you really look. But not in this instance. With his full cheeks, sharp chin, and cat-like eyes, Stone looks like a carbon copy of Jocelyn Wildenstein. The makeup artist is a long-time fan of Wildenstein and uploaded this photo to his Instagram with the caption: "I wish. My mother, my queen, my everything. Jocelyn Wildenstein."
In an interview with Beauty Bay, Stone said, “I prefer doing the slightly older characters, like Jocelyn Wildenstein who I’ve always admired from afar." He added, "That was probably the most game-changing transformation for me. She reached out to me after it, and I flew to New York to meet her.”
MUA Turned Comedienne
If Amy Schumer needs a stunt double, she doesn't have to look far! Stone pulled off yet another flawless transformation when he recreated the comedienne's signature look. Using precise contouring, Stone mimicked Schumer's heart-shaped face and pronounced chin. He also emphasized her strong nose and smaller lips with the help of foundation and bronzing powder.
He topped the look off with a bold smokey eye and blonde, beachy waves.
Johnny Depp's Doppelganger
This transformation is truly insane! To achieve the look of Johnny Depp, Stone masterfully contoured his face, starting with a shading the area from his cheek to his mouth and jaw. He then carefully added several wrinkles on his forehead and eye area. Depp look wouldn't be complete without the scraggly facial hair, which Stone mimicked using a fine-tip liquid eyeliner pen.
Stone said this was one of his favorite transformations to do so far, and we can see why!
Stone Recreated Frida Kahlo's Iconic Look With the Help of Reference Photos
Stone proved he doesn't just transform himself into mainstream celebrities when he posted this surreal photo of himself as Frida Kahlo. The makeup artist turned himself into the late Mexican painter after studying her features in a series of photos.
"The first thing I’ll do is I’ll make sure I have about ten HD headshots of the subject in different color variations, he said in an interview with Beauty Bay. "Black and white is always a good starting point for me because it shows up the contrast between the light and the dark." When he uploaded this him to his Instagram, he noted that "Shadows were added to replicate my reference image."
Cameron Diaz's Long-Lost Sister
A long-time fan of actress Cameron Diaz, Stone posted this transformation in July 2018 with the caption, "One of my favourite transformations. We have relatively similar features so this wasn’t a hard one!"
While this may not have been "hard" for Stone, something tells us that achieving this look isn't exactly easy. Stone strategically contoured his nose to make the bridge slightly more pronounced. He also contoured his cheekbones to match Diaz's. he finished the look with a sleek blonde wig and classic red lip.
The Supreme
Transforming yourself to look like a celebrity becomes even harder when they a few decades older than you, but Stone says these are his favorite type of transformation to do. In honor of Jessica Lange's return to American Horror Story, the makeup artist recreated her iconic look.
Using primer, foundation, powder, and blush, Stone was able to mimic Lange's high cheekbone and square jawline. He used eyeliner to add fine lines and a few wrinkles (hey, she is 69 years old!) around her eyes and on her neck. With a blonde wig and pink lip to top the transformation off, we give this look a 10/10.
Stone Was Accused of Being Racially Insensitive For Certain Looks
In late 2017, Stone posted his transformation into Will Smith. While some loved the look, others claimed it was racially insensitive. Stone was quick to make right by his fans and clear up any confusion. He took to his social media accounts, saying, "From now on all [of] my race change celebrity drag transformations will be done like this without darkening my foundation shade."
Stone later posted a photo of him made up to look like Nicki Minaj with the caption: "I’m [very] pale in comparison being I am white. I didn’t darken my foundation shade as I don’t want to offend anyone."
Alexis Stone or Lisa Rinna?
This transformation in particular is so fascinating because Lisa Rinna has such a unique look. Rinna, an actress who now stars on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, is known less for her acting and more for her lips. The reality star famously had lip injections with Juvéderm in the mid-'00s, and has said that using the product was a mistake.
Stone is a big fan of Rinna and recreated her look by contouring his nose with foundation and bronzing powder. By using a generous amount of lip liner, lipstick, and foundation, he came pretty close to looking almost exactly like the former Days of Our Lives actress.
Stone Meets Samantha From SATC
Stone looks so much like Kim Cattrall in this photo, we can almost hear the confident SATC character Samantha Jones giving us relationship advice!
Stone posted this spot-on transformation of Cattrall on his Instagram in the summer of 2018. You can see he used a darker foundation on his jawline to make his face appear slightly smaller and more feminine. He finished the look with a subtle smokey eye and a blonde bob with wispy bangs.
Stone Loves Watching His Characters Come to Life
Stone may do makeup for a living, but he's still constantly inspired by the end result. “Whenever I do a transformation I always love the end result. Being able to sit in front of the camera with the wig on, that’s when the character really comes to life," he said in an interview with Beauty Bay. "I joke saying I hate makeup, but I do still get excited about products.”
His excitement is apparent in his transformations, which always look surreal — like this one of Iggy Azalea. To achieve this look, he relied on his typical mastery of contouring, while making sure to include her subtle features like the three beauty marks on her cheek and chin.
