Recently, I had chatted with Margaret Kimura, a renowned makeup artist who has worked on celebrities like Audrey Hepburn, Mel Gibson, and Andie McDowell. Margaret is the founder of MKC Beauty Academy, runs an online cosmetics store called Margaret Kimura Cosmetics, and authored a book titled Asian Beauty. When I asked Margaret how she manages her time with all these responsibilities, she gave a modest response: "Luckily, I have a good staff. My husband, who is also my partner, handles the business side, and I handle the creative side. My biggest advice in management is to make sure that you work with people who are going in the same direction that you are. Work with people that you trust." Margaret offered me further insight about herself and the beauty business in our interview.

Cynthia Cheng

Your site URLs:
http://www.asianbeautybook.com
http://mkcbeautyacademy.com
http://www.margaretkimuracosmetics.com

What's your nationality?
Japanese American

Do you speak another language besides English?
Yes I speak Japanese and Italian

Did you attend college? If so, what did you study?
No I did not, I was mentored by the best in the industry from the age of 15 years. I moved to Milan Italy as soon as I graduated High School. I knew exactly what my hearts desire were, so I went for it.

What are your favorite colors?
Orange, Purple and Red as stand alone colors. For any combo colors I love Brown with either Pink (Like my book cover), Green or Blue. It really is a beautiful combo when you put those colors together.

What kind of music do you like?
My father was a Music producer, so we were influenced with great music and musicians no matter what the style is. So I have to say I do not have one particular favorite style. When I am working as a make-up artist or cooking in the kitchen I am a hard core classical music lover. Also I do love Maria Callas for Opera. I am also a huge Jazz lover like Miles Davis, Theloius Monk, Keith Jarret etc.. I also love Joni Mitchell.

Does your school train makeup artists to work with celebrities (a.k.a. beautiful people) or everyday people?
My students are trained to work with everyone.

I found Asian Beauty to be a groundbreaking publication. I don't think I've ever read a makeup or beauty book that concentrated solely on Asian women's faces. How did you decide to write Asian Beauty?
I did a 15 minute Make-up segment on a Lifetime network Magazine show called "New Attitudes" a few years back. When the producer called me to do something for them I pitched this idea to do something directed towards Asian Women. So we called the segment "Asian Beauty". As soon as the show aired I received a ton of mail and email from the viewers asking me if I had a book. They aired the show about 5 or 6 times and the response kept coming in. At that point I realized I had a much needed audience that was in need of direction and inspiration.

How long did it take for you to write your book, facilitate the photo shoots, and then organize the layout of all your models' pictures?
From start to finish about 3 years. The project took a bit longer since I was working as a Creative Director for a cosmetic company. Harper Collins pretty much gave me creative control on every image and final say of layout and art direction. I did all of the post production retouching along with my photographer Rich Marchewka,so that was painstaking, but well worth it. All in all I didn't sleep very much during that time.

How did you become interested in the beauty industry?
I have been a Professional Make-up Artist for 26 years in the entertainment and fashion industry. Since I was a child, I was in awe of visual imagery. I used to take my friends and make them up to imitate a photo in a fashion magazine and take their picture. Actually I thought I wanted to be a photographer at first, but somehow I started making money as a make-up artist. I never thought that Make-up would be my only career, since my focus was about being a image artist, so perhaps I didn't think too much on the specifics as long as I was working on creating images no matter what the medium was.

What was your first job in the beauty industry?
A catalog for a Dance wear company called Carushka? I think that is the name of it. I was 14 years old. I made $200.00 that day.

How did you start doing makeup for celebrities like Mel Gibson or Lisa Ling?
When I got back from Europe and living in NYC, I came back to LA (my original hometown) and started working more in the Entertainment industry. My visual portfolio was very strong and full of impressive work, that it was easy for me to make that transition from top models to celebrities.

Which other celebrities have you done makeup for?
My most special person I can say is Audrey Hepburn. She was truly a great inspiration. My friend & mentor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Andie MacDowell, Tom Hanks, Michael Jordan, Jim Carey, Geena Davis, Diane Lane... Just to name a few...

Do you like doing makeup for men more or women?
I like doing make-up period. My passion is about the project. the subject is part of the finial end product of the imagery. So whether it's portrait with a celebrity or a higfh fashion shoot, it's all relative.

Is there a beauty or makeup product that you can't live without?
Rather than products, I would have to say my brushes. Without them I can't do my best work.

What do you think is the #1 makeup blunder that Asian women make?
Most Asian women that have problems doing their make-up often have difficulties seeing who they really are. They focus way too much on trying to look like someone else. Part of this is attributed to the lack of Asian role models. You rarely ever see an Asian woman on the cover of Vogue. I met an Asian woman once who likes Charlize Theron and she bleached her hair blonde and taped up her eyelids. I asked her why she had to make herself look like someone completely different from who she was. My philosophy is to embrace what you have and make the most of what God have given you.

So can you tell if someone that you're working on have had plastic surgery?
95% of the time, yes. I'm trained to understand different skin types. If you've had work done, your epiderumus reacts to makeup in a different way.

Do you believe that each person's face is naturally beautiful before putting on makeup? Or do you think it's the makeup that makes someone beautiful?
I think people who have a ton of makeup on look horrible. They can be so beautiful without all that makeup. Beauty is what God made you as before the makeup. You use makeup to enhance the best of what you have. In the entertainment industry, I use make up to create my characters.

How much time do you spend on your make up when you go out?
10 minutes-max.

In your opinion, what distinguishes an amateur from a professional makeup artist?
What disinguishes a novice from a professional is
a)confidence
b)experience
c)the ability to look at someone's face prior to putting on makeup and assessing what they want to do and
d) changing the face with the most minimal amount of makeup

What do you think of makeup artists who are impatient with their subjects and pick at other peoples' "flaws?"
They're not considered professionals or artists if they can't handle a challenge. Everyone has something beautiful about them- it's the makeup artist's job to play this up.

Do you have any funny on-the-job stories to share?
Yes when I was 16 I was in LA for a month during the summer (since I was based out of Milan at the time). I was booked to do a fashion shoot with French Vogue in LA. When I met the Parisian Crew at the Beverly hills hotel they put us all in a huge motorhome (winnebago) to work and go from location to location. No one knew how to drive this huge monsterous vehicle and all hell broke loose. So being the problem solver that I am, I got behind the wheeel and took control. It was a crazy thing since I never drove anything that big. I'll never forget the thought of having French people arguing in the back trying to figure out where we should park the motorhome. They had me making 3 point turns in the middle of Pacific coast highway. It was crazy.

Was your family supportive of your goals during the beginning of your career in the makeup industry?
My family was supportive in every way possible. I owe so much to them knowing how important it is to have a positive support system.Especially your own family. I never knew the importance until recently. I opened a MKC Beauty Academy in Hollywood, and it's amazing how many parents are not supportive of their children to pursue a creative field . It can almost be devastating to the person who wants it so badly, but doesn't have the support to go for it. This is huge in my opinon.

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This issue of A-Profiler is brought to you by Cynthia Cheng.

Images courtesy of Margaret Kimura.
Copyright retained by original copyright holder.