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The Expert Edit features interviews with specialists about the products they swear by in their chosen field. For the latest installment, we spoke with professional makeup artist and creative consultant Kasey Spickard, who previously built the Beauty Ad Sales team at Pinterest, about his top product recommendations in makeup and skincare.
Getting glam from Kasey Spickard, aka Face by Kase, was honestly my favorite part of New York Fashion Week this past season. Not only did I feel more confident in pulling off my street-style looks, Spickard also made me laugh through his authentic and honest approach to doing makeup. When you’re sitting in his chair, you just feel relaxed, which is notable for me since I’m personally intimidated by most beauty products. But Spickard doesn’t mind taking a teaching approach when it comes to his craft.
After building the Beauty Ad Sales team at Pinterest and working closely with L’Oréal on its global partnership, he went back to school in 2017 to pursue makeup full-time. “My partner was doing drag, and I started dabbling in drag and makeup artistry,” he tells PS. “After I finished a short two-month program, I started assisting some celebrity artists, and everything kind of grew from there.”
Spickard has gone on to work with some major celebrity clients — he calls style icon Jenna Lyons gracious, kind, and thoughtful; Tefi Pessoa hilarious; and Bravo’s Ciara Miller a dream collaborator. “She always has new inspiration for a look and is down to try new things,” he says of Miller. “We’ve done faux bleached brows, blocked eyebrows, thin brows, bold lips, smoky eyes, and soft girl. Literally, she’s down for anything, and her face loves makeup.”
After chatting with Heather McMahan’s tour manager at a birthday party, he booked her for both the Emmys and the Oscars, which he considers to be one of his greatest career accomplishments thus far. “I’ve watched those carpets for years, and getting to be on them myself and seeing my work on TV was so surreal,” he says. He also traveled to Nice, France, with Lyons for the Jacquemus show, which he calls a “pinch me” moment and credits his ability to network as the driving force behind these achievements.
Since one of the first qualities I recognized about Spickard was his genuineness, I wasn’t at all surprised to learn how much he values a client-artist vibe. “The relationship between me and my clients is the most important thing,” he says. “I’ve turned down huge celebrity clients because I’ve felt like the vibes were bad or off after working with them once.”
Spickard keeps himself sane by watching Bravo shows and lifting weights to reduce his anxiety, and that positive self-care is reflected in his extremely organized and clean makeup kit. Find out exactly what’s inside and the products he swears by for success every time after the jump.
