How does your background in editorial makeup influence your approach to your film and television artistry?
Bringing my knowledge of being an editorial makeup artist into the world of film and TV has helped a lot but I’ve also had to shift my vision and techniques. Because cameras are so good these days, I’m able to utilize my editorial eye and training in fashion and beauty to translate what’s needed. I love when, on the camera, skin can look like skin and keep its texture. I always leave some areas of realness which works for today’s storytelling style.
Letting people look like people is the closest thing I can get to defining my aesthetic.By having the beauty and editorial side of my background, I also worked in advertising where they often shoot using macro lenses. You can’t fake anything! You have to be really precise because everything is so obvious. Preciseness is my strength, because I have a way of making sure makeup translates well on screen.
Cameras truly capture everything, don’t they?
They do! My goal is for the makeup to look good from every angle. I also don’t want to limit the camera’s or actors ability to perform. The way I provide my makeup artistry to the industry is by creating looks that are consistent when appearing in close ups and wide shots. One thing I also try to do is avoid disrupting the actors with many touchups. So, I think ahead when I’m prepping the actors for makeup. I start with skincare and then send the actors to sit in hair so that while they’re hair is being done, the skin is able to absorb the serum and moisturizer that I applied. When they come back to me 20-30 minutes later, I have a very good base to start with.
The skincare process is really important to me. When you watch the show, you’ll see that at the beginning Brie’s character, Elizabeth, wears very little makeup and shows her skin. For that, I wanted to minimize the amount of makeup I used on her; instead accentuating her sun-kissed skin and freckles. Later, when Brie’s character goes on to wear more makeup as a TV show host, I barely had to touch up her look because the base I started could last. Because of that, even when I used a heavier foundation, it doesn’t actually look heavy onscreen.