In order for an artist to begin crafting their masterpiece, a perfect canvas must be sought out. A canvas can come in many shapes, sizes and materials and while this part doesn’t seem that important, to a seasoned artist, the canvas is the work’s foundation.
However, there is a special type of canvas that cannot be found in a local craft store. In fact, it can be found everywhere. Wandering on the streets and sidewalks in array of colors and features, and the great thing about these canvases is the stories they already hold.
A makeup artist’s job is to bring that story to life. The skin is the canvas with the cosmetics as the paint. Their skill can be emulated in YouTube videos and Instagram posts from around the globe, but the talent is found in a good and fateful few.
Meghan McGee is on the track to becoming part of this significant club of artists. Wearing her signature black from head to toe with, surprisingly, no makeup on.  Her natural look is accompanied with a messy bun. It doesn’t take long to pick up on the fact that McGee has “It.” The cool girl aura only read about in books or seen in movies. However, this vibe is accompanied with a welcoming charm, making her more relatable and, undoubtedly, cooler than ever.
However, it wasn’t always that way.
Born and raised in Baton Rouge, her dad is an engineer and her mother, who use to be a travel agent, is now a stay at home mom. Growing up, the cool girl semblance was a bit lackluster.
“I was chunky, not popular, never had a boyfriend, had a lot of acne and people would only talk to me if they needed help with their homework,” she confessed. “So I totally didn’t peak in high school.”
However, McGee was able to be friends with just about everyone during high school, she didn’t just belong to specific clique. She did try to participate in athletics for a short period.
“I did tennis for about a year and I was just like ‘no,’” she said, smiling wide at the memory. “I don’t like being outside in the heat and running.”
On the course of memory lane, McGee couldn’t help but touch on her own beauty mistakes while she was trekking the halls of high school.
“I had black hair and bangs too,” she admitted. “And it made my face so much more fatter and I have no idea why I did that.”
Her journey as a makeup artist started in the most unexpected place: as a hostess at The Little Village.
“When I got my first job as a hostess I really loved dressing up and I would always do a winged liner with lashes and a red lip,” McGee said. “I would always go to MAC and get that. Everyone would compliment me and whenever I went to MAC they always wanted me to apply and I think that was when I starting thinking ‘okay, I’m okay with this maybe I should try it out,’ and the rest is history.”
When McGee started working at MAC, she realized that this new job was more than just a job, but a whole career. Balancing work and school helped McGee realize this even more.
“When I started working at MAC and I was in school at the same time, I didn’t want to be in school anymore. I still don’t want to be in school,” she said. “But working at MAC showed me that this could be a career and that was so weird to me.”
McGee scored the coveted job during the summer going into her sophomore year, and the new job couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
“I had gotten hired at MAC and then I had a boyfriend at the time at the job I still had and then he broke up with me, it was tragic. I had to quit the other job. But working at MAC and being with all of those women was so perfect, I couldn’t have a more perfect job at the time.”
Being surrounded by all of those women gave McGee a bit of a sanctuary.
“It’s like girl’s corner, it’s so much fun,” she gushed.
The journey to becoming a MAC makeup artist is a complex and tedious one to say the least. The process is so overwhelming to the point where McGee was hesitant on even applying.
After filling out an application, three spoken interviews followed with each of the managers over the course of two weeks. After that, the applicants are asked to bring in models and design a look based on a magazine tear of the employer’s choosing. This process is timed and precision is key. Once that part of the process is over, applicants are expected to wait for at least another week before finding out if they landed the job.
Intimidating hiring processes aside, McGee is well aware of the power and influence MAC has over the makeup industry.
“A lot of successful people that I know have gotten their start at MAC. Kim Kardashian’s makeup artist used to work for MAC, Rihanna’s makeup artist worked at MAC. The brand itself and the name MAC gives so much validation to someone’s work.”
Another aspect of the makeup giant McGee is in favor of is the creative freedom the artists have.
“Working there, you can do anything you want. You can do your makeup however you want, there’s no rules and they really stress that too. MAC is the makeup authority.”
A big part of the world of makeup is keeping up with the latest trends. Delivering new ways to bring out the best parts of their client’s features and making sure their canvas is a sight to behold. However, not all trends are beloved by makeup artists.
“I think the concealer brow needs to die,” she stated. “Because there is absolutely no need for it and it’s so ugly and people don’t know how to do it right and it annoys the shit out of me.”
For McGee, there isn’t an everyday beauty trend that stops her in her tracks.
“I would say that I’m more timid of special effects makeup,” she declared. “But with beauty makeup, not so much. Beauty makeup used to intimidate me, but not anymore, especially winged liner.”
In the past year there has been one trend that has been sweeping across pages of social media and celebrities alike: contouring. This new art form within the world of makeup literally transforms the shape of your face with the flick of a brush and with the help of strategic placement. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian have made this fad a modern staple. Meghan McGee has a very strong opinion about this new phenomenon.
“I think a lot of influential YouTubers blow it out of proportion and that causes the mainstream makeup addicts to create makeup that is not on trend,” she said. “Highlight and contour has always been on trend, but now it’s at a drag level that the everyday woman doesn’t need.”
“Makeup is meant to be beautiful and natural not literally changing the shape of your face.”
For those who want to get it right, McGee suggests it’s best to know your face shape and see which celebrity closely resembles it and then see how they look on the red carpet.
A true artist knows that the search for inspiration is never ending and there are always new places to obtain experience. Meghan McGee is well aware of this philosophy and believes MAC is always presenting new opportunities.
“There’s always something new, there’s always a new trend and there are always new people coming in,” she said.
McGee is also well aware of the benefits that come with being one of the newer artists.
“Because I am one of the younger people working there, I feel like [the artists] ask me how to do this or what products to use and it’s good to feel so comfortable to the point where I can help new artists.”
Eventually, McGee found herself working her first photoshoot, by herself. However, it was within that moment when something within her clicked.
“I knew that I loved MAC but I didn’t want to stay in the store forever,” she said. “I wanted to do something else, still with makeup but I knew I wanted to do film and photography. [The photoshoot] was more fun than anything I’ve done at MAC.”
The outside experience has really helped McGee evolve her work and stretch her abilities as a makeup artist.
“It’s definitely more creative, more editorial and more fashion driven than your standard MAC makeup application. I’ve definitely been experimenting more with textures and placement.”
Learning experiences don’t always appear in a makeup palette or from a senior artist. In fact, the most memorable learning experiences can come from the clients themselves.
McGee’s learning experience has been generating overtime with the more clients she sees.
“Not everyone is the same,” she declared. “Not everyone likes the same things and everyone has their own style of makeup, even though they don’t wear makeup everyday. Whenever someone comes in and sits in my chair, it’s a new experience.”
These experiences overall remind McGee of the best thing about being a makeup artist, and it’s way more than making people beautiful.
“Making art,” she said, smiling. “Making art and making something come together. Whether that is doing someone’s makeup for their wedding or prom or a date, it’s all about making an experience.”
However, working in such a creative atmosphere can have its downfalls.
“Being around multiple creative people at one time,” she said. “Who have a lot of vision and a lot of creativity but sometimes it’s hard to come out with one concept. The process is difficult.”
Every seasoned makeup artist has their own special arsenal. A set up cosmetics and tools they can’t live without and has undoubtedly become an extension of them and their work.  
For McGee, her magic wand is mascara.
“If you don’t have mascara on you look dead. Like I probably look dead right now,” she said, waving her hand around her bare face. “I feel like you can do a whole beautiful face, but if it doesn’t have mascara, it looks incomplete.”
A special collection of products is something every woman should have, not just a makeup artist. McGee didn’t hold back when the time came to give fellow makeup lovers everywhere advice on how to create their own special look.
“A lot of people don’t moisturize their face, like beforehand,” she said, straightening her posture. “Moisturize your face ladies and gentlemen. I would say moisturizer is essential. Mascara is essential, some sort of lip product because if you have cracking lips that’s nasty and eyebrows, some sort of eyebrow pencil or gel because it frames your face and bronzer.”
When sitting in McGee’s chair at MAC Cosmetics, McGee can work her magic on any canvas in about an hour.
“I usually start with skincare first and then I’ll do foundation and concealer,” she started. “Highlight, contour, blush, because I feel like getting all of that soaked in is essential. After that, I’ll shape the brows to see where the eye is and then do all the eye makeup. Finally, lip. That’s the MAC face.”
McGee’s personal style ventures far from the MAC drama and vibrancy.
“I like clean lines and I like clean modern clothing and makeup. I’m torn between that and like messy, dirty and grungy. The look that’s really worn in. I wanna look like that girl that went to a rock concert and never washed off her eyeliner.”
However, McGee says her signature look involves dewy fresh skin, shaped brows, mascara and then a bold lip.
When many people think of art, they think of painting or sculpting or photography, leaving the makeup industry ignored and undermined. However, McGee disagrees.
“I think makeup used to be underrated,” she said. “People use to reject that art form because it was just a drag queen thing and a big part of the gay community, but the more of a big deal it became, the more it was considered an art.”
“You have to know a lot about color theory and how to place things,” she continued. “It’s already on a 3D surface and it’s so much time and effort and skill. I get sad when I have to wipe off my makeup, that’s like creating piece of artwork on a canvas and cutting it and throwing it in the trash.”
The only thing that is better than learning about the artwork is learning about the artist. What makes them tick, what inspires them and how they are like when they aren’t busy making the world beautiful.
Meghan McGee is inspired by everything, what’s in fashion magazines and pop culture and her environment. She looks up to Joyce Bonelli and wants to branch out her empire just like her, by starting out locally. She wants to conquer fashion week at least once, but her ultimate goal is to do makeup for Saturday Night Live.
She’s bold and honest and has a dry sense of humor anyone would love. When she talks about makeup and the profession, her expression lights up as if she could go on forever.
A perfect canvas isn’t complete without the artist’s satisfaction. McGee has completed many canvases of her own and will no doubt conquer many more. In fact, it won’t be long before many people across the country can get their own up close look of Meghan McGee’s artwork.

Gallery • 1 Photos

Hye Jung