Monday Morning Makeup Maven featuring Kevyn Aucoin

In the makeup industry, there are hundreds— if not thousands of names that are iconic and memorable even after the lifetime of the artist. For Kevyn Aucoin, he wasn’t just iconic or memorable— he was a legend that made ripples beyond the borders of his country, gender, and industry.

Here are 5 interesting facts about Kevyn Aucoin:

Kevyn (February 14, 1962 - May 7, 2002) was an American makeup artist, photographer, and author.
At six years old, he knew he was gay and because of this— he was targeted by bullies and eventually made him drop out of high school and pursue his passion in makeup by enrolling into a beauty school.
Before he worked daily with Vogue photographer Steven Meisel, he did free makeup on test models to help build his portfolio.
By the age of 21 (1983), he was the Creative Director of Revlon’s prestige Ultima II line of cosmetics.
Kevyn Aucoin Beauty line was established in 2001 and to this day, his products are cult status: his Sensual Skin Enhancer, Neo-Highlighter and Sculpting Contour Powder are still sell-outs to this day.

Just as Tori Amos once said,
“For those like me who loved Kevyn the person, the heart now weeps as if made of water color. Earth has lost yet another light, but perhaps, he has joined the masters who paint our sunsets."
(The Tori Amos song "Taxi Ride" from her 2002 album Scarlet's Walk is a partial homage to Kevyn.)