82 WSJ. MAGAZINE
WHAT’S NEWS
WITH WSJ.Three boundary-pushing makeup artists discuss their distinct perspectives on beauty.
—F i orell a Val d esol o
- What was the fi rst
fragrance you wore?
Probably something
horrible from Hollister. - What’s the fi rst
makeup item you
remember purchasing?
MAC Fresh Brew Lustre
Lipstick and Carbon Eye
Shadow. - What do you do to
unwind?
Look at books and listen
to music. - What’s your favorite
beauty supply store?
Nigel Beauty Emporium
in Los Angeles or Alcone
Company in NYC. - What’s your favorite
getaway?
A couple of nights in Morro
Bay [California, shown]
and a trip up to Hearst
Castle for the day. A
long-term getaway would
be somewhere like the
Maldives. - What’s your signature
fragrance?
Byredo Oud Immortel. - Who are your beauty
icons?
Lana Turner, Billie
Holiday, Anna May
Wong, Elizabeth Taylor
[shown], Rita Hayworth,
Marilyn Monroe, Diana
Ross, Pat Cleveland,
Grace Jones, Sophia
Loren, Amanda Lepore. - What’s your go-to
hotel?
The Plaza Hotel in NYC,
the Ritz Paris [shown],
and the Sunset Tower
Hotel in West Hollywood. - What are the most-
used items in your kit?
Elizabeth Arden Eight
Hour Cream and
tiny cotton [swabs].>
“Glamorous.... I want it to feel like every-
thing has a lacquer coating,” says Sam
Visser, 21, of the hyperpolished aesthetic
that has become his signature—the
trademark look has already appeared on
the likes of Bella Hadid, Mariah Carey,
Ariana Grande, Lily-Rose Depp and Kim
Kardashian West. As a teenager, Visser
trained with makeup artist Sharon Gault,
but it was Kris Jenner who gave him his
fi rst big break. She tracked him down after
seeing his work on Instagram, and as a
sophomore in high school, he was doing
Jenner’s makeup on a near-daily basis.
Visser mixes an exhaustive knowledge of
makeup history and old Hollywood with
a 21-year-old’s vision of what the future
should look like. “Look at the 1960s; every-
thing from the ’40s and ’50s was thrown
away...and reinvented and rethought, and
I think that’s what’s happening now,” says
Visser, who, in his photography practice,
has shifted his attention from celebrities
to street-cast models, fi nding anonymous
faces to be far more compelling.
SAM
VISSER
56573481(^9) CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF SAM VISSER; STEVE MEDDLE/SHUTTERSTOCK; MAC COSMETICS; IMAGEBROKER/SHUTTERSTOCK; JULIA HIEB
AUM/ALAMY
STOCK PHOTO; COURTESY OF BRAND ELIZABETH ARDEN; © VINCENT LEROUX; GETTY IMAGES/STRINGER; COURTESY OF BYREDO; COURTESY OF ALCONE
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