We recently connected with Alli DuBeau and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Alli thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

My mom was a makeup lover while I was growing up. She was straight out of the 80’s with the big curly hair and jewel toned eyeliner wrapped around her eyes all blown out with metallic lips and (a little too much) blush to literally go anywhere and everywhere. I would sit in her bedroom and watch her do her makeup every morning, just completely enamored by her creativity and the choice to get up early and lose sleep to make herself feel good with the power of makeup.

She was always a Clinique lover, which is more of a “natural” brand when it comes to color but I vaguely remember the first time she wandered over to the MAC counter and I was just in total AWE of how beautiful the artists were, the amount of intense colors, textures and sparkles everywhere you looked and the overall vibe of the space. I swear, in that moment I KNEW I wanted to be a MAC girl.

My mom purchased NY Apple Lipstick & Undercurrent Pearlglide Liner and those became her staples through my teenage years. They are long discontinued, but I still have her originals and every time I come across them I remember the first time walking up to MAC and knowing that that would be my destiny!

Alli, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Alli DuBeau. I am a professional makeup artist with over 13 years of experience in the beauty world and a plus size model.

During high school, I was the girl who showed up with MAC’s Electric Eel shadow (the most vibrant neon robins egg blue) blended up to my eyebrows, giant lashes (before they were a thing, my mom would call me Liza Minelli because they were just ridiculous) and the true concealer lips (which I still love and don’t care what you think!) I would spend all of my time locked in my bathroom trying new products and techniques on myself, being the “MUA” friend that would experiment on my girls and just dreaming of turning my obsession into a lifestyle.

At 18 years old, my dad wanted to send me to college. I had absolutely no direction nor desire to go down the traditional path and he didn’t believe that just doing makeup would be a real career (to his defense at the time, this was way before makeup blew up and influencers and all of that), so we compromised by him sending me to cosmetology school because – what’s makeup without hair? I HATED doing hair, it was such a drag to me, it wasn’t creative enough and it felt so monotonous (this was before fantasy hair was booming, think the Kardashian ombre times… so boring). I made it through school by the skin of my teeth avoiding doing hair at all costs, but jumping at the opportunity for the 1 client a month who’d walk in looking for makeup. I actually remember so vividly the owner of the school, this old white man pulling me into his office at 18 years old to tell me – AND I QUOTE “you’re going to end up doing nothing with your life, you’ll be a JC Penny hairstylist if you even can manage to get that job” – I wish I was kidding, and I wish I took that serious enough to do something about but 14 years later I can say I’m doing a hell of a lot better than he ever expected and no thanks to him.

Once I graduated school, I worked for a few salons assisting but I was miserable. Between the minimum wage, the washing hair all day and having no real creativity I was dying for something more. I started working in restaurants serving and bartending while trying to break into the makeup world. I assisted my friend’s sister who was a booming Manhattan bridal MUA for about a year, and got a taste for what it was like to make someone’s big day so special. I was instantly in love, but I didn’t feel like I belonged in the traditional bridal. My head was half shaved, I had green hair, facial piercings and tattoos and I was so young! I really had to impress mother’s of the brides with how soft spoken I was and how delicate I’d be with their faces because they’d always have their guard up the minute I told them I’d be doing their makeup. I wish I could say that this wasn’t an issue anymore, but it will always be something us “alternative” people are up against.

Throughout this time, I was shopping at the MAC counter constantly. There for every launch, spending my little bit of tips on their Viva Glam collabs (how I wish I still had my Lady Gaga one ugh) and just yearning to be a MAC girl. I became friendly with a few of the artists at the counter, and I’d always show up with my face beat to the gods (so cringy now, but that’s what it was called then!) and I’d shoot my shot with whatever manager was on duty. I was turned down once by one who just couldn’t be bothered, but finally I got a call back from them asking to come in for an interview. I began freelancing the beginning of the holiday season and just felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. My mornings were spent painting my face with glitters, eye gloss, double stacked lashes and always planning what I’d wear the next shift. I was so eager to grow and obsessed with learning from all the talented artists around me, I ended up moving up the ranks really quickly. I ended by career with MAC as the counter manager with a staff of 12-20 (depending on the season) and was in the artistry training program.

After all the years of the joys of retail, I became really burnt out. The monotony of color matching and returns really got old, and I grew a small clientele while I worked there of girls who would come see me every weekend to get their makeup done. I felt like I had outgrown MAC, and wanted to branch out as an artist on my own who could focus on just making people feel beautiful without having to sell them on products. So, in 2017 I jumped ship and started bartending again while trying to become a self employed freelance MUA. The ebbs and flows of the last 7 years have been wild. Being self employed, some months I am so slammed with weddings and shoots and private clients at my studio that I don’t have a single day off, then there has been months where I’m lucky to get 2 people in my studio but that is the freedom and risk that I’ve signed up for and as difficult as it has been it has been so rewarding knowing that I did this – all on my own.

So, I am currently located in Edison, NJ in my studio that is my maximalist’s dream of halloween and valentine’s day’s lovechild. I specialize in bridal, but not the traditional white on white ballroom bridal – my brides & grooms are an eccentric mix of the non-traditional, who’s inspirations are Priscilla Presley and Lydia Deetz. All ages, all races and all genders are welcome, and I refuse to ever filter my work further damaging women’s self worth and beauty standards. When you are in my chair, I celebrate YOU before the makeup and cherish you after with appreciation and love of trusting me with your face. I regularly travel for studio days in Brooklyn for creative days with other queer artists, my celebrity clientele for their events and of course am on location for all of my weddings which is my truest love.

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

Society can support artists by promoting us on socials. I dread that that has become the main way for us to grow as artists, but we just have to fight the algorithm to keep our visibility. If you have a loved one who is an artist, it costs $0 for you to comment & share their posts and all of 30 seconds of your time. That simple thing that you’re already doing with memes could open the door for so many new opportunities.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist will forever be seeing a bride look in the mirror when her makeup is finished on her wedding morning. I am the first vendor they see morning of, and I’m with my brides anywhere from 6 months – 2 years when they book me so it just comes full circle as I am here for them throughout the entire journey. Seeing them light up, feeling like the best version of themselves and being so grateful has had me happy crying on the way home from 1 too many weddings. Pisces life, I guess.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.makeupartistrybyallidubeau.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/lovemarkbeauty (makeup) & www.instagram.com/glitterrrgrunge (personal & model work)
• Other: https://lovemarkbeauty.glossgenius.com/

Image Credits
Joanna Angel & Small Hands for Xbiz 2023 Lisa Ann for Fleshlight