The most typical tools for artists to use include pencils, pastels, or oil paints; however, some artists have taken up a new medium for expressing their art, using makeup.

Alicia (Lily) Fisher, Div. 579, began her career in makeup in the 7th grade.

She describes herself as shy and introverted when she was little. In her spare time, she would draw, slowly developing her style of art into a “very cartoonish facial structure with realistic eyes.”

This led to Fisher’s transition from drawing on paper to expressing her art on her face.

“After studying the human face in proportion and experimenting with other forms of media, such as acrylic and pastels, I basically started drawing on my face,” Fisher said.

Fisher began to do art on her face using makeup.

“Doing this was a way for hundreds of people to be able to see all the work I had done that day, instead of having my pieces decorate the walls of my room for only me to see,” Fisher said.

Currently, Fisher spends time in the makeup industry working for FX, a company that specializes in professional makeup.

She hopes to one day do stage makeup for celebrities.

“For now, I do makeup casually for people that set up appointments for events like weddings, prom, graduation, Halloween,” Fisher said. “I also do more of the non-conventional look.”

The types of style Fisher creates in makeup vary from bloody stage makeup for a horror movie to the type of makeup seen on models walking the runway.

“I don’t have a preference for what kind of makeup I do,” Fisher said. “It depends more on the place you are going and the way you are trying to portray yourself. Therefore,  whatever the client has envisioned is what I try to make come to life, in a sense.”

Despite her love for both styles, she enjoys the rough and unfiltered quality of stage makeup.

Even though it’s fun to do makeup, there are serious steps that must be taken in order to ensure the well-being of Fisher’s clients. An important step is sanitation.

“Clean your hands, use disposable brushes, and sanitize them between every client,” Fisher said. “If I’m traveling around, I organize my case according to what my client has told me (what colors they want, heavy/light makeup, what skin tone they have, skin type, prone to acne).”

Good skin care for the client is as important as the makeup itself during the process.

“I give them good moisturizer, and primer beforehand to ensure the makeup will last. It also prevents the makeup from clogging their pores, leaving them to deal with treating the after effects of the makeup ,” Fisher said. “Stage makeup especially is a lot thicker, and so it’s more likely to damage skin.”

Another aspect in the steps to doing makeup is staying very social with the client.

“I try and make them feel comfortable with me being so close to their faces for prolonged periods of time,” Fisher said.

Fisher has received some criticism for her passion for makeup, namely, from her parents.

“My parents started out by taking away my makeup and my opportunities to do makeup when I would get grounded,” Fisher said. “They felt it was a sort of waste of time and money.”

Eventually, Fisher was able to get her mother back into the habit of doing makeup; her mother now enjoys makeup almost as much as Fisher does.

“Overall, I have gotten a lot of criticism from people but that’s just how it goes with art,” Fisher said. “However, I also get a lot of compliments, so in the end, it would have been all worth it, even if only one person in the world liked my work and supported it wholeheartedly.”

Iffa Batool, Div. 652, started as a makeup artist through inspiration from Youtube.

“I was really interested in makeup, and when I discovered beauty gurus on Youtube, I picked up some tips and started off from there,” Batool said.

The types of makeup Batool does is mostly natural or neutral makeup.

“I am comfortable with trying something new, so long as I have some practice in beforehand,” Batool said.

As a career, Batool doesn’t see herself doing makeup professionally; however, she has expressed interest in getting a degree in cosmetology later on in life.

“Even though I don’t consider myself a professional artist, I do consider makeup as a form of art,” Batool said. “The face is a canvas a where I can let my imagination run wild.”

Batool’s mother has always supported her passion for makeup and understands Batool’s love for it.

“My friends and family support anything I do in life, as long as I enjoy it,” Batool said.

Charlene Echeverria, Div. 660, was inspired to do makeup from her family.

“I grew up around my aunts who are about five years older than me and I used to watch them do makeup on themselves,” Echeverria said. “I thought it was so incredible to be able to bring forth the features that we liked the most about ourselves.”

Echeverria likes to do makeup mostly as a hobby, but has made money off it through her old Youtube channel. She considers it a second job.

“Many people contacted me through my Youtube channel about makeup,” Echeverria said. “However, I had to take it down after it began to take too much of my time.”

With Echeverria, she said there was no official start to her becoming a makeup artist.

“I just kind of woke up one day to someone asking me if I could do their makeup for some party, and from there, I really enjoyed doing it on others.

When Echeverria does makeup on others, she likes it when people give her an idea of what they want.

“From there, I can work so that it compliments their eye shape,” Echeverria said. “I can go from a really creative look to a very subtle, natural one. With makeup, the sky is the limit.”

Echeverria has received a lot of support as a makeup artist; initially, her mother thought she wore too much makeup, but began to enjoy Echeverria’s work. Echeverria does makeup for her friends sometimes, as well.

“Some people say that I wear a lot of makeup. Obviously, no matter what you do, not everyone will like it,” Echeverria explained.

“Overall, the people I’m surrounded with on a daily basis have either gotten used to it or they like it just as much.”

Echeverria said that it’s very important to feel confident and secure with one’s self.

“Just love the skin you’re in and embrace it,” Echeverria said. “Makeup is just another way of doing that.”