AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MAKEUP ARTIST SABINE LEMMENS
MAKEUP LOOKS CREATED & PHOTOGRAPHED BY SABINE LEMMENS
INSTAGRAM - @sabinelemmens_makeupartist
WEBSITE. - sabinelemmens.com
OPALUS: Sabine, your macro makeup looks caught our eye and we fell in love immediately with macro world you create with your use of colors, your glossy designs, and the style in which you photograph them. Tell us about your background….
SABINE: I am currently located near San Jose, California in the United States. Last year I was located in London in the UK for one year, but I am originally from the Netherlands, where my makeup career started 7 years ago. Before that, I studied graphic design and game design, but soon felt it just wasn't it. So I gave up those, took a makeup artist education and went the editorial route with some commercial and wedding makeup along the way.
OPALUS: What is your process when creating a look? Do you just see where the inspiration takes you, or do you have a thought out look before you begin?
SABINE: Good question. For me, there are two ways to approach this. The first one is that I start with a certain kind of feeling I want to capture for a specific look. The second one is where I want to catch an existing texture and translate that into a makeup look. With both ways I will then look for the right colors, textures and materials to work with which accentuate the right kind of feeling or texture of that look. But it's all more of a guidance than an actual plan, it just grows when I create, with the things above in the back of my head.
OPALUS: What makes a photographable makeup look?
SABINE: Ooh, hard one, because I always just trust my gut feeling with this part. But I think it is possibilities. The possible angles, all the different tiny details that scream for attention and depth in the way of texture, saturation and use of color.
OPALUS: What brought you to this point where you are creating makeup looks and photographing them yourself?
SABINE: I have always been interested in the tiny details in life, which translates to my makeup looks as well. When I created makeup looks for shoots, I was always fascinated by the closeups photographers sent me. So I started to try and capture those details myself and it evolved along the way. I am also able to let my creativity go by creating these looks, as it is not something that has to be shared with styling, hair and sets anymore. It is the subject, it is there to be photographed in its best way.
Is it safe to say that you are a GLOSS ADDICT?
Hmmm, yes I think you can say that, haha! It's such an interesting product to work with and every type of gloss has it's own viscosity, which determines how it will interact on top of the skin. Most important of all is that it gives shine, lots of it and that is my true weakness most of the time, haha! It creates such a clear view of the actual makeup underneath and gets rid of all the tiny unwanted irregularities on the skin as well (if used enough), which is a huge benefit when retouching.
What are your opinions on popular and trending beauty imagery and where your work fits into the scope of beauty today?
I think beauty is bigger than it ever was. So many individuals create the most inspiring things by letting their creativity go, to get a message across or to express themselves in their own way and I think that's what beauty is about. Do what suits you, what makes you feel good. I hope my work inspires others to approach beauty in a more conceptual way.
You created this orange look just for OPALUS “beauty”! Tell us how you created this look?
When I moved to the United States, I came across a lot of new insects and flowers. The first thing I remember seeing was the Bird of Paradise with its bright orange colored, kind of mean looking flower. So a mood was born. The weekend I created the OPALUS look I had just bought a book about insects in North America, in which a Black Swallowtail caterpillar was pictured. Instant creativity boost with its black and yellow dots, kind of slimy green looking skin, yikes! These things combined were the inspiration for the OPALUS look.
What inspired this “distressed” look? (right)
Frustration. Haha. No really. Do you know that moment when your makeup looks flawless and you try to put on mascara but totally mess it up? I took this negative aspect and wanted to turn it into something good. So I took the mascara smudging as a reference and created the look based on that.
The question that so many ask... What is beauty?
Beauty is... A way to express yourself. For me it is a way to vent my emotions and creativity, and it reflects in my work. I can be very happy for days when a look turned out as good as I hoped it would. By doing more creative looks I have learned to play more with makeup, to explore more and that it doesn't have to be perfect all the time, as long as I feel good about it.