Who Is Amaury Guichon? The Pastry Chef Behind Doja Cat's Edible Lipstick

Grammy award-winning rapper Doja Cat had an eye-popping moment on the MTV Video Music Awards red carpet when she took a bite of her signature lipstick, Lady Danger by MAC Cosmetics. At least, that's what it appeared to be. But MAC soon revealed that Doja actually ate a chocolate replica of her lipstick, created by a chef who's famous for virally popular desserts. 

Amaury Guichon, sometimes known as The Chocolate Guy, is well known across social media for elaborate desserts, including massive chocolate sculptures. Over the past decade, Guichon has amassed over 65 million followers across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, where he posts some of his extravagant creations. 

Although Guichon does have an online store with limited chocolate options, fans hoping to devour one of his massive sculptures will be disappointed. Expensive commissions notwithstanding, Guichon's chocolate sculptures are not for sale. Not only that, but Doja Cat's edible lipstick was an outlier: Most of the chef's chocolate artworks may be edible, but are not meant to be eaten.

Amaury Guichon's professional story began at 14, as a chef's apprentice on the French coast of Lake Geneva, where he first became interested in desserts. After completing another apprenticeship in Geneva itself, he acquired the necessary experience to attend Maison Lenôtre, a prestigious pastry school in Paris.

From there, Guichon entered the world of reality television, finishing third on a French cooking competition. He used the experience as a springboard to move to the United States; originally intending to stay for just a year, it soon became his home. Guichon landed a job as a pastry chef in Las Vegas, but more importantly, started posting his desserts online. 

Guichon rapidly built a social media following with his impressive dessert creations. Soon, he had founded his own business, and in 2019, he launched a pastry academy in Las Vegas with fellow pastry chef Michel Ernots. Guichon still posts his culinary artworks to social media, but his full-time job is teaching at his academy, where he also displays many of his sculptures for educational use — or melts them down for reuse.

Doja Cat's edible lipstick is one of Guichon's latest chocolate sculptures, albeit smaller than his usual works. While the base appeared to be the usual MAC product, the lipstick itself was entirely made of a reddish-pink chocolate filled with melted caramel. Guichon then hand-carved each lipstick to match the real thing before inserting it into the base.

Guichon's chocolate artworks wouldn't be possible without a particular type of chocolate. Couverture differs from compound chocolate in that its fats come almost entirely from cocoa butter — whereas compound chocolate contains other fats like palm oil, which change how the chocolate handles. This purer nature means that couverture chocolate is prized by chocolatiers for its easy pouring for intricate details, and easy tempering for glossy finishes.

Tempering is also why quality chocolate has a telltale snap when broken. As the chocolate is heated, stirred, and cooled, its cocoa crystals stabilize, resulting in a firmer chocolate with a smoother texture. This makes for a satisfying mouthfeel, or in Guichon's case, a sturdy building material.