Kevyn Aucoin

Biography

Kevyn James Aucoin (February 14, 1962 – May 7, 2002) was an American make-up artist, photographer and author. He authored several books with makeup techniques including facial contouring, which was relatively unknown in popular culture at the time but pioneered and used in drag culture and stage makeup for decades prior.

The first year he was in New York, Aucoin did makeup on test models for free to build up his portfolio. He and Root were broke, living in an apartment that often had no heat. Word of his makeup skills began circulating, and he was contacted by Vogue. For the next year and a half, he worked daily with Vogue photographer Steven Meisel. In the three years following his first Vogue shoot, he did a total of 18 more. In 1984, he collaborated on Revlon's Nakeds line, the first line based solely on skin tones. 

However, his Vogue cover shoot with emerging supermodel Cindy Crawford in 1986 skyrocketed his career. During 1987–89, he did nine Vogue covers in a row and an additional seven Cosmopolitan covers. He became one of the best-paid celebrity makeup artists in history. Unlike most makeup artists at the time, he would refuse to do makeup on models he felt were too young.

Aucoin's philosophy was that every woman is beautiful within, and makeup was simply his tool for helping her discover that beauty. He wrote a regular column about this philosophy for Allure. A comment he made in a 2000 column, calling members of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) "morons", drew a record amount of mail and a few death threats.

In 1983, Revlon hired Aucoin, at the age of 21, as Creative Director for their prestige Ultima II line of cosmetics. A year later, Aucoin would launch The New Nakeds (later renamed The Nakeds), a cosmetics line that was a strong counterpoint to those available at the time. 

Linda Wells, editor of Allure magazine, said of the line: "It may not seem like it, but it was a powerful moment. Before, there were makeup lines for white women and others for black women. But he worked to design makeup for all skin tones. The idea was to empower a woman by revealing her natural beauty, and not to cover her up with layers of product."

The colors, textures, and finishes Aucoin created in the New Nakeds would serve as the most influential direction of the latter part of the century and were visible as brands MAC, Bobbi Brown, and Laura Mercier all launched their version of the products Aucoin created years earlier.