My First Make Up Guru

Dear Blushers,
Today I wanna tell you guys about my first ever Make Up guru. He's the first person to really inspire me about make up, even brought out the curiosity and passion to know and learn more about it. I can honestly say that if I didn't know about him, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing right now. Seriously. He is that influential on me. And till this very day, would you believe that I still flip through his books like my beauty bible?
So, who is he? He is none other than ... Kevyn Aucoin!

A LOT can be said about Kevyn, and it would take me forever (and hundreds of blog pages) to just gush how awesome his works are. I believe he was and is the first Celebrity Make Up Artist, a celebrity by his own right. I realise I'm not very good in summarising his life, so I took this lovely excerpt of Kevyn from Lisa Eldridge website (http://www.lisaeldridge.com):

"Kevyn became interested in make-up at a very young age. As a young, obviously gay, flamboyant boy with a passion for make-up, growing up in Louisiana in the 60’s and 70’s was extremely difficult but despite being relentlessly teased and bullied he stuck to his dream of becoming a make-up artist.

In 1982 he moved to New York where he ambitiously perused his career. Initially working for free with up-and-coming models and photographers, he was discovered by Vogue and championed by their then beauty editor Andrea Quinn Robinson. For the next year and half, he worked closely with legendary photographers Steven Meisel and Irving Penn before shooting his first Vogue cover in 1986 with Cindy Crawford – over the next three years, he did the make-up for 18 more!

Kevyn had a legion of celebrity fans from Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Sharon Stone even the late Audrey Hepburn.

He was a real style leader and truly innovative. His talent was quickly recognised by Revlon, who hired him in 1993 (aged just 21!) to be the Creative Director of their new prestige make-up line Ultima II. With them, he developed a make-up line called The New Nakeds (later renamed The Nakeds), which broke all of the trends for cosmetic brands at the time as it incorporated make-up for women of all skin tones. He also used a variety of neutral, matte, tones in his face, eye and lip products that went against the best-selling vivid colours of the time but that followed his belief that make-up should be a tool in helping people to discover their natural beauty. Kevin led the way for brands like Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier, which were also built on this aesthetic.

In a way his most enduring legacy to the world of make up was creating the original ‘Nude’ Look, and particularly his take on a look that I like to call ‘Heavy Natural’. Using neutral tones of mainly matte texture he would sculpt, define, highlight, shape and tone a face, minimizing and maximizing features like no one before him (or since!). It was a look, which has become synonymous with the late 80’s early 90’s and although he moved on from this style later in the 1990’s I think most of us will always remember and admire him for that particular vision of beauty.

Tragically, Kevyn passed away in 2002, not long after he finished working on his own brand, Kevyn Aucoin Beauty, but his legacy definitely lives on."

Such a loss for the world, to lose someone with an exceptional talent in beauty. Whether you are an aspiring Make Up Artist, an Established Make Up Artist, or just someone who likes make up, I really urge you to get his books and be truly inspired.

This is his first ground breaking book, that holds a very special place in my heart.

followed by his next inspiring follow up books

now do you believe me when I said I've learned my contouring techniques from a young age too? :D



Kevyn, you are indeed deseved to be called a Guru.


Love,
A