When I saw Rihanna’s video yesterday for “Where Have You Been?” I was slightly meh about it. Then I learned the makeup was done by my old friend Kabuki and NOW IT’S MY FAVORITE VIDEO IN THE HISTORY OF MUSIC VIDEOS, OMG, YAY! There’s a fun interview with him on MTV.com in which he discusses the making of the video and the inspiration for the different looks (think: “primordial jungle” meets “A Thousand and One Nights” meets “’70s fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez”). Oh, and here’s a fun bit of trivia (and a really cute idea):

Did Rihanna give a lot of creative input on these makeup looks?

Yes, she absolutely did! She approved everything. It was great when she would be excited about a specific look. And the look with the gold on her face? That was actually her idea!

No way! We were wondering what that metallic mask thing was!

Yes! The manicurist had some tiny gold symbols that were, you know, meant for nails. Rihanna picked out the Chanel logos, the crucifixes, and the dollar signs, and she had this idea for me to make this mask on her. I painted the shape with Spirit Gum, this clear liquid cosmetic adhesive. I knew this was going to be a bit of a mess, so we put some paper towels down around her face as she laid on the couch in her room, and I just kind of poured all these symbols on her face using a paper plate. I had to do it a couple times for it to stick and fill out, but that’s how it was done! [Laughs] There were a few of them on the floor afterwards, but most of them ended up where they needed to be.