Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lindsay Kastuk. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Lindsay thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I started with doing makeup on myself mostly! But this was a hobby at the time. It was good to learn how different products worked and worked together. Later on when I decided to make this my career I spent time on YouTube learning some basics – hygeine practices, how to do makeup on different skintones, and a natural base makeup. I wanted to make sure I was doing makeup safely and that I was able to do makeup on everyone.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Lindsay and I am a makeup artist working in NYC. I mainly work on fashion and editorial projects.
My work ranges from natural makeup to dark, avant-garde looks. It all depends on the project and if I am following a brief or I am working collaboratively.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I started my overall makeup journey around 2015. It started as doing creative makeup looks on myself, as a hobby and as a form of therapy. I then moved to NYC in 2016 and by 2017 I had gone through a horrible break up, I turned 30, and I lost my corporate job. I really did not want to go back to that career so, I decided to pivot to becoming a makeup artist. I figured it was a good time to do something I loved and that made me happy!

It was a very sudden transition, and scary, but I’ve always been extremely career focused and a problem solver. I was able to recognize I needed to practice makeup application on other people and start building a portfolio. So, I started finding people willing to collaborate and I just did makeup.

The transition was tough at first, but I enjoy a challenge. In terms of physical supplies, I had no makeup kit what so ever – I would ask my friends & friends of friends (who modeled for me) what their foundation shade was and go find foundations in Sephora that matched that. I’d get samples and use those as my kit for the day. In terms of the industry itself – I had zero knowledge on this. I had to rely on a lot of listening to my peers, being observant, and a lot of self analysis. Always observing, always learning.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Pay artist’s their rates. And artist to artist, be open about them. This way we can all win in the long run.
Also, if you’re not hiring artists, support them in other ways! A share on instagram can go a long way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lindsaykastuk.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaykastuk

Image Credits

(I included each credit at the bottom of the image for you!)