Scrolling mindlessly through the Instagram beauty vortex can sometimes leave you feeling a bit overwhelmed, as colourfully made-up faces often meld into one. But every once in a while, something comes along to capture your imagination and reinvigorate you, which is exactly what many of us need when suffering from lockdown boredom.
Take for instance, a recent post by French makeup artist Cécile Paravina, in which she shows off her skills on a blue and green graded, lacquered eye look. There’s also British makeup artist Mona Leanne, whose otherworldly aesthetic will leave you feeling inspired. In fact, let Vogue do the work for you — here are six of the most exciting names in beauty to follow right now.
1. Marcelo Gutierrez
Born in Colombia, Marcelo Gutierrez and his family moved to the US as refugees when he was five. An aspiring painter, performance artist and filmmaker, it was after he began crafting wildly imaginative beauty looks for nights out in New York that he began to take makeup seriously.
Instead of going down the usual route of assisting, Gutierrez began collaborating with creatives he met along the way, including photographers Petra Collins and Renell Medrano. And it was with Medrano that Gutierrez created one of his most significant works yet: the Heron Preston for Calvin Klein campaign, featuring rapper Nas and model Ashley Graham, which Gutierrez describes as a “validating moment”.
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Inspired by a mix of queer culture, pop ephemera and nightclubs, and moulding those references around the identity of whoever is sitting in his chair (which has included everyone from Paloma Elsesser to Troye Sivan) Gutierrez uses makeup as a form of creative expression. “I like the idea of wearing a certain makeup look that’s representative of how you feel to mark an emotional era in someone’s life, how they want to be perceived and what they want to attract.”
2. Mona Leanne
Growing up in Reading, UK, as a child, Mona Leanne would spend her weekends painting her own face. “I just love faces,” she says. “Every single person’s face is different, so as a makeup artist, your canvas is always different.”
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Moved by a desire to tell stories through her work, Leanne spent four years assisting legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath, before branching out on her own. Working with musicians such as Shygirl and Little Mix, as well as brands such as Vivienne Westwood, Leanne is constantly pushing the limits of what makeup can do, which often results in fantastical rhinestone-studded or flower-encrusted creations that border the surreal. She adds: “To me, makeup is freedom of expression, self-identity, and escapism. It can also be a form of therapy.”
3. Daniel Sallstrom
Sweden’s Daniel Sallstrom has been experimenting with makeup his whole life, often transforming himself into otherworldly beings as he floated from one subculture to another, before eventually landing upon London’s queer nightlife scene. “I’ve done drag my whole life, so for me, makeup comes from this fascination of being able to change the alchemy of your body, to warp it and turn yourself into something completely different,” he says.
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Aside from his own body, he’s had the pleasure of transforming everyone from Kate Moss to Naomi Campbell, and working for brands such as Saint Laurent and Vetements. “Beauty is the key element for me,” Sallstrom says of what he is trying to communicate in his work. “That doesn’t mean commercial beauty — someone can be beautiful with red contacts and blood dripping or teardrops.”
4. Ammy Drammeh
The daughter of Gambian immigrants, Ammy Drammeh grew up in Barcelona, Spain, where she would spend her days raiding her mother’s makeup bag to recreate looks from a book she found on celebrated 1990s makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin. It wasn’t until she moved to London in her twenties that she began working on shoots, assisting makeup artist Andrew Gallimore.
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Inspired by music, pop culture, Spanish folk art and her West African roots, and often collaborating with brands such as Mulberry and Gucci, Drammeh is fast becoming one to watch. She recently landed her first cover of British and American Vogue, starring actor Thandiwe Newton and singer Harry Styles respectively. “I find beauty in the unexpected,” she says, “and in a person’s charm and confidence.”
5. Cécile Paravina
French makeup artist Cécile Paravina never thought she’d end up in beauty. In fact, she was on course to becoming a fashion designer, when procrastination got the better of her. Bored of work, she channelled her energies into binge-watching Lisa Eldridge beauty tutorials and creating whimsical looks that she’d end up wearing to school.
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“It started out as a hobby and grew on me,” she says. “It’s an endless source of pleasure to just be able to express my individuality through makeup, change my face and create my own person.”
Since moving to Paris three-and-a-half years ago, Paravina has collaborated with some of the most exciting names in fashion, from Amina Muaddi and Fenty to photographer Hugo Comte and stylist Patti Wilson. Her most recent work was in Jean Paul Gaultier’s Les Marins campaign in which she transformed Bella Hadid into a pearlescent mermaid.
6. Anthony H Nguyen
Vietnamese-American makeup artist and KVD beauty ambassador, Anthony H Nguyen grew up wanting to direct horror films. It was only when his mother’s friend bought him a special effects makeup box that he developed an interest in makeup. “My family is extremely traditional and old fashioned,” he says. “So, being gay was a hard thing, and makeup was an escape for me as far as getting into different characters and different roles.”
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Honing his craft on fashion and beauty editorials for MAC Cosmetics and Anastasia Beverly Hills, and proving himself to his family in the process, he soon moved into the world of celebrity makeup and counts Katy Perry, Adele and Dua Lipa among his clients.
Nguyen’s love of horror and creating characters is still apparent in his creations, recently working alongside hairstylist Evanie Frausto to transform Lil Nas X into an otherworldly creature for his MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) music video.
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Lead image: Courtesy Marcelo Gutierrez