In honor of the 10th anniversary of Linda’s book, “Teen Makeup” (fueled by our recent violet infatuation), we here at The Art of Beauty couldn’t help but coax a couple of the ol’ Teen Makeup girls to come share some of their experiences with us. And what better way to convince them to swing by than to throw in a fun, violet evening makeup! We snagged Aziza and Suzanne from Teen Makeup to come answer a few questions, who of course were more than a little enthused to have their makeup done (and had a blast looking gorgeous together at dinner after the shoot). We asked Aziza, now a dancer, to tell us about how working on Teen Makeup influenced her as a 17-year-old, as well as today:
Q: looking back at the beauty tip related questions you answered in the beginning of the book, how has your answer to those questions changed over the years?
A: Since my ‘teen makeup’ days, I’ve gradually darkened my look, but have kept my makeup regimen relatively the same. Instead of using bright, colorful eyeliner applied under my eyes, I now gravitate to using a heavier dark mascara under my eye giving me more of a bold , clean, more “grownup†look. I’m still a pretty blush fan, but these days less rosy, more so fresh and dewy.
Q: what was your most memorable experience while working on Teen Makeup with Linda?
A: It was the day Linda taught me the makeup that I’ve used every single day since. Not to apply my eyeliner all the way into the [inner] corner of my eye, because it makes my eyes look smaller. But rather to finish the line just passed the center to make my eyes look more open and brighter. I felt SO cool getting a tip from Linda, whom I admired so much, and has done the makeup of so many icons I absolutely adored and idolized. Now she was doing mine and giving me a little makeup knowledge gold of my own!
Q: what section of the book is your favorite/most referred back to?
A: I would have to say the “sweet†section of the book. I remember at the time, it was not often that I saw other teenage girls with a soft, and delicate look. That section of the book was what taught me that it was possible to wear makeup, while not appearing as though I was trying to look older or wearing a ton of makeup. I could wear makeup and look still look fresh, young, and 17. Ten years later (yikes!), I still use what I learned from that section in an attempt to rewind time, or at least look 17 again.
Q: how would you say your teen makeup experience affected the way you do your makeup today?
A: Observing Linda throughout the teen makeup experience is the sole reason I can manage to apply makeup today, without ending up looking like some sort of swamp creature. I would have no idea what to do otherwise. Everything I learned throughout that process is everything I still do today.
Q: how would you say your teen makeup experience affected your interest in makeup at the time?
A: This experience was what allowed me to see makeup as more than just makeup, but an art and science that’s way more involved than I’d realized. It helped me to think about makeup in a different way, which has helped tremendously in several ways over the years whether I was performing or working in styling, I’ve always been able to use that experience as a tool to shape, and polish my work.
Thanks so much to Aziza for being available, and for wanting to participate (and of course, for letting me do your makeup)!!
-Thalita