Doja Cat is very funny. If you’re even vaguely aware of her music and shenanigans, that won’t come as a surprise. Anyone whose career was kick-started by singing “bitch I’m a cow” likely has a sense of humour, and it comes across loud and clear in interviews. From deadpan comments that the UK’s recent heatwave, which coincided with the launch of her new MAC Cosmetics ‘Gorgeous Nude Kit’, was against standards of practice – “that was some like HR shit” – to an absurdist bit about turning her London show into a nude performance art piece, she is as playful in her conversation as she is in her art.

It’s this sense of humour, alongside her boldly creative beauty looks – from sperm brows and cat prosthetics to covering herself in 30,000 red crystals – that makes her the perfect muse for MAC’s new era under Nicola Formichetti (he of Lady Gaga meat dress and latex egg fame). From the moment she started chomping down on a MAC lipstick during the VMAs red carpet last year, it was clear the pair were going to have some fun with the partnership. Now, for the most recent collaboration, Doja has created a limited-edition lip kit inspired by her signature nude look. 

Dazed spoke ahead of her London show on Friday to chat about the launch, why she won’t be shaving her head again, and doing the splits naked onstage (spoiler: it was all a joke, she performed fully clothed).

You’re performing in London tonight – what can fans expect? What’s in store for the show?

Doja Cat: [In a bad British accent] They can expect…I don’t know! [Back in her normal accent] I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’m going to come out butt-ass naked, and then I’m going to do the splits, and then I’m going to leave, and that’s the whole show. It’s only about two minutes. No, no, matter of fact, it’s an hour and a half, but for an hour and 28 minutes I am just standing there and then the last two minutes I do the splits. 

Conceptual! I think people are really going to enjoy that performance art.

Doja Cat: I think they won’t! 

Well, I’m sad I won’t be there to see it.

Doja Cat: Stop flirting with me! I’m taken, OK?

So tell me about the new lip kit that you’ve collaborated on with MAC.

Doja Cat: We’ve done a couple in the past, but this one is a really good everyday lip kit that I think would work on pretty much everyone. We went with ‘Chestnut’ as the lip liner because – yes, it’s dark, but it’s also buildable, so I feel like on pretty much every skin tone you can blur it a little bit; anybody can really use ‘Chestnut’. And then we went with ‘Honey Love’ as the stick, which is also a universal nude. It pairs really well with ‘Chestnut’. So that’s my go-to. And then I just choose whatever lip gloss to put on top, and it changes it. It’s super versatile.

Have you always been a fan of MAC? Do you remember the first time you discovered it?

Doja Cat: Yeah, 100 per cent – I discovered it in my mom’s make-up bag. I probably put blue eyeshadow on my eyes. Or she really liked metallic silvers, because she would do these incredible smoky eyes, black and metallic silver. She had really good taste when it came to make-up.

How did she feel about you rummaging around in her make-up bag?

Doja Cat: It was like one day that I did it. Her lipsticks would always be melted because she was a working woman, so I think my biggest memory was just her melted lipsticks and the smell of that. But my own adult experience with MAC – you know, I wasn’t even an adult when I got my first products. I had the Barbie drop, there was a moment where there was green lipstick and maybe a pink one as well. But it was a green pearlescent, like glitzy green lipstick, and it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I remember seeing it on the shelf, and I was like, ‘I need to have that, even though I’m never going to wear it’. And I never wore it [laughs], but I still have it. 

If anyone could pull that off, it’s probably you! 

Doja Cat: Maybe now, but then? Nooo [laughs].

That’s what I love about MAC – where else are you going to find a green pearlescent lipstick?

Doja Cat: Yeah, exactly, no one’s doing it. There are so many really memorable and interesting moments from the vintage MAC era that I’m hooked to. I started collecting old lipsticks because back then there were cool-toned lipsticks and cool-toned everything. So I went online and I stayed up all night looking for things.

How has it been working with Nicola Formichetti? 

Doja Cat: It’s been lovely. He definitely knows what he’s doing and he’s kind of a fucking legend. I’m really proud to be working next to him. He’s also just super open to my ideas, very flexible, and he gets it immediately. You know, with the lipstick truffle moment that we did [at the VMAs], he was totally, totally into that. Me and Nicola, it feels like we’re just homies, and we’re at school and we’re just doing a school project, and it’s very fun. He’s a fun girl!

You are known for being so creative and bold with your beauty. When did that experimentation start for you?

Doja Cat: That probably started when I got to middle school. It got really crazy in middle school, but in elementary I remember during Halloween – because that’s always been my favourite holiday – I was making my own costumes and so that was kind of the beginning of it. I was also making magazines when I was little, just out of whatever I could find, and I would draw models. I actually still have the magazine that I made. I’ve always been into crafting, so ever since I can remember, I was really into that.

What’s the relationship between beauty and your music? Does it help you get into that Doja Cat persona?

Doja Cat: Not necessarily; I mean, not really. What I found is that over time, when I separate myself from my art, I don’t feel connected to it. I’ve tried that, like, ‘oh, I’m different here, and I’m this way here’. But I’m the way I am on stage, I’m like that, and I’m like that off stage. So I really think it's all just one thing.

You said that when you shaved your head, it was the most beautiful thing that you had felt. Do you still feel that way?

Doja Cat: Um, no, I changed my mind. I like my natural hair, so if I’m gonna have my real hair cut, I’ll keep it at like a couple of inches of afro. But the buzz cut? I don’t think I’m doing that again. The only way I could really do it is if I wanted a pink afro, I’d have to cut off all the damage, because I’ve already run my hair through the wringer a little bit, so I’d have to start with healthy hair and redo the colour. But yeah, I like my hair; I like having some length.

Do you think one of the reasons that you wouldn’t do it again was because people had such an extreme reaction towards it?

Doja Cat: Fuck people; I don’t care what people think. People are the last thing on my mind. The only people I care about are my people, and even if my people were like, ‘I don’t like it’, I’d be like, ‘Ahhhh, I like it, so I’m gonna do it’. But yeah, I don’t give a fuck what people think. For the most part.

Do you have any favourite beauty looks or memorable moments from over the years? Because you’ve had some pretty good ones.

Doja Cat: Oh my god, I don’t know. Right now, I’m on tour, and we have been in a flow state that we’ve all never seen before, and when it comes to doing tour runs, this is the strongest we've ever done. Japan was amazing, for this tour, which was one of my most memorable.  

One that I feel was underrated was the half-and-half makeup look from Australia. We did something in Perth, where my make-up artist Ivan Núñez did one side of my face and I did the other side. It was so fun and I loved it. I feel like it didn’t get enough flowers.