Meet the alternative makeup artist breaking beauty moulds
A self-described “makeup artist freak queen”, Stearns’ popularity is growing heavily in her hometown of LA and further afield. She doesn’t shy away from gore and horror, frequently working with fake blood to model supernatural type make up looks. By layering facial prosthetics and everyday make up she creates eerie looks that can’t be replicated by CGI (something she’s personally not a fan of). Alongside this, her work especially appeals to drag performers so she consequentially opened an Etsy shop where she sells a few of her handmade prosthetics. From starting with selling plump prosthetic lips, she now also sells flower nipple covers – a useful item for combatting the female nipple band on Instagram. We caught up with the artist to chat to her about her work process.
Most of her inspiration comes from wanting to try something new
“There is so much to learn in the world of make-up and prosthetics and I’ve really only touched the surface of it. I often watch or listen to instructional videos on mold making supply companies and find a process I want to try in my own style. Some times my ideas come from jobs I’m working. Some one will want a kind of prosthetic I had never thought of making before and then I have the opportunity to get paid to create it in my own way. Most of the time I think I see something and think how I would want to alter it to match my aesthetic.”
On the ownership of ideas when posting on social media platforms
“The sad part of that is when I see a hard working artist get their designs or ideas flat out stolen by a much larger artist or company and profiting off of it. We all borrow from each other and its best when we are inspired by each other, but flat out stealing someone’s art makes me sick.”
You can find her creepy-cool prosthetics on Etsy
“It was actually not something I planned on, it just sort of happened that way. I believe it started with the huge lips I made. I kept applying them to myself and filming videos in them that went on social media. I was getting quite the response and realized other people wanted them. My market is mostly drag performers. It makes sense considering they already have a knowledge of makeup and I’m seeing a lot of more prosthetics come into that world. There are also a bunch of halloween-ish items up because most stuff I make for myself and then sell is on the creepy side. I’ve been trying to make an effort to get a whole line of different lips up in the next few months. It’s in the works for sure.
On collaborating with artists in LA
“I did recreate one of Parker Jackson’s pieces (you can view more of his work here). I absolutely adore his work. Its really sync with my personal aesthetic. It always fills me with inspiration and I just immediately see it in a real life makeup in my head. I want to recreate all of them but the one I chose was on a whim knowing I could do it without prosthetics. I have been wanting to collaborate with him on a project. We have talked about it before and I hope it happens in the future.”
She’s weary of the future of beauty
“As far as the future of the makeup industry goes I think it’s definitely changing. Technology is changing processes all the time. Life casting will be a thing of the past, as we just start 3D scanning people. There is definitely more CGI happening in movies which I’m never really a fan of. You can always tell and practical effects are much scarier. The cameras are getting better and better too which means we have to keep getting better and better at our jobs because every little pore shows. Maybe one day we will just have a little box that puts makeup on for you like in the Fifth Element.”
