Stuck for inspiration? Look no further than Alexandra’s Instagram feed, a kaleidoscope of holographic purple lids, neon pink blush and playful pops of glitter. “I’m a painter first and a makeup artist second,” she says. “Not only is it fun, it’s telling a story and creating a character using colour, texture and shapes. I’ve always said doing fun makeup feels like eating candy. It gives me butterflies and makes me feel like I’m truly painting.”

When it comes to achieving maximalist makeup, there’s plenty of brands on hand to take your glam to the next level from Donni Davy’s half magic and Halsey’s about-face to Danessa Myricks and Kulfi Beauty. Some personal faves include independent brands like Glisten Cosmetics – for easy-to-use, water-activated liners in every colour imaginable – and Violette_Fr’s newly launched Lune Liner Liquid Chrome Eyeliner.

In the years since the last creative beauty boom, there’s been an emergence of newer brands too that take beauty out of this universe – from Hylrular to Rina Sawayama and Chloë Grace Moretz’s brainchild Godmode. As artistry director of Samplr, August Sombatkamrai brings their maximalist approach to the brand’s offering. “Our make-up is made for you and built for play, we want people to have easy access to high-quality shadows and creams so they can play over and over again,” they tell Glamour. Focusing on high-quality products, customisable palettes encourage experimentation for beauty obsessives.

With the trend cycle bringing maximalism to the fore again, what is new about this era of creative makeup? “The maximalism of today feels referential to so many different eras. Imagine a beautifully carved 90s thin brow with eyes that have the contrast and colour scheme of 2016 sunset eyes, but they’re blended out and diffused in a way that is more downturned and bottom-heavy like a 20s flapper girl,” August explains. “My hope is that the maximalist makeup now will be a bit more personable and customised as people now have a bigger breadth of knowledge at their fingertips. The face is a canvas, and we’re all artists who have our own practices that should extend beyond just recreating looks from a TV show.”

As a maximalist beauty lover myself, that’s always felt like the most important thing about what ends up on your face – regardless of whatever everyone else is doing, it should mean something to you. “As a queer person who is seen as a man, a proud and unquestionable beat is a great defiance of gender roles and expectations,” adds August on their love for OTT glam. “Woke is back, or needs to come back, and maximalist makeup feels like the best armour for that.”