If you’ve spotted some of the viral beauty looks that celebs including Zoë Kravitz, Hailey Bieber, and HoYeon Jung have worn on the red carpet recently, you have makeup artist and Chanel ambassador Nina Park to thank. Her looks are nothing short of jaw-dropping and it’s easy to see why Park is one of the most in-demand makeup artists of the moment, who the biggest celebs in the game have on speed dial.
Curious to learn more about how she achieves otherworldy glowing skin, striking editorial and red carpet looks, and seriously photogenic beauty moments, I spoke to Nina Park to learn more. Park’s fascination with makeup started at a young age. “I was always fascinated by the application of makeup. In high school, I would schedule ‘consultations’ with my friends or classmates—complete with a face chart and all—and give them a makeover (which is funny because I wasn’t allowed to wear [makeup] until I reached a certain age),” explains Park. “I spent a lot of my teenage years buying makeup and hiding in my room to practice applying in a natural way, so I wouldn’t get me caught by my parents.”
After moving to Paris to attend makeup school and assisting some big makeup artists in NYC, she branched out on her own where she further developed her eye. “My aesthetic has always been less is more. There needs to be something real about any makeup look I create, whether it be editorial or on the red carpet,” Park explains. “There has to some believability to me that [the client] would choose to do this on themselves.”
So how does that play into how Park is crafting makeup looks now? “My approach is always on skin first and then accentuating the features that they naturally have—maybe it’s building out the brow more or bringing out the cheekbone—but I never want my makeup to be the first thing someone notices,” Park says. “I don’t want my clients to ever feel like they’re behind a mask, but [to] shine as who they are.” Though her approach to makeup isn’t trend-driven, ahead, Park is weighing in about the looks she’s been gravitating to most this year and sharing the products she swears by from her personal kit.
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