"My looks are born from deeply personal feelings" Interview with Assia Caiazzo, maximalist make-up artist

We’ll let her introduce herself: "I’m Assia Caiazzo, a makeup artist for almost 17 years, proudly Neapolitan and deeply passionate about my craft. I spent 10 years in Milan, where I grew both personally and professionally, before opening up to international collaborations starting in 2017. My work has allowed me to travel to countless places, discovering new creative approaches and expanding my artistic vision. At a certain point, though, Milan became too small for my dreams, so three years ago I moved to Paris, where I continue to live and work, moving between international projects, always guided by my passion for beauty." Clear enough? If not, here’s an interview - the third in the Under the Beauty Radar series - to discover Assia Caiazzo, a maximalist and irreverent make-up artist.

Interview with make-up artist Assia Caiazzo

Describe your aesthetic in three words

I don’t like reducing my visions to simple adjectives, and honestly I wouldn’t even know how to describe my style. My artistic visions evolve over time along with me. Some people define me as bold, cunty, sassy or crazy, and I can recognize different facets of my personality in each of those terms. At the same time, some of my work has been very successful in minimal and essential expressions, and I can be that too. Maybe my aesthetic is able to evoke emotion: the compliment I love the most is “you can tell this is your work.” I like bringing a piece of myself into every project. Every proposal - glam, excessive or minimal - is part of an aesthetic I would personally wear and that fully reflects who I am.

Can you tell us about your professional journey and how your style took shape?

My approach to makeup began around 2009, right after graduating, almost by chance. I started working in a make-up store in downtown Naples, but at the time I didn’t know that becoming a make-up artist could turn into my career. After just a few weeks, I felt the need to go deeper and learn more, so I enrolled in a professional academy to study the basics and feel more prepared when advising clients. I’ve always been strongly drawn to makeup as a medium, to products, textures and expressive possibilities. Even during the academy, I stood out from the rest of the group: my ideas were different, I liked to take risks, experiment and move beyond what was considered basic. By immersing myself in the creative scene and Naples’ nightlife, I began meeting photographers and other creatives who, following my journey, involved me in my first shoots, events and projects.

I later lived in Milan for ten years, where I grew tremendously both personally and professionally. I was a make-up specialist for the brand Urban Decay and my style was very aligned with the brand’s image: I always wore extravagant looks, had blue hair, visible tattoos, and my managers always recognized that my image and skills were right for me to represent the brand publicly on various occasions. Since 2017, the year I became a make-up artist freelance, I’ve increasingly worked internationally, traveling and engaging with different realities, which deeply influenced my way of working. Today, my style is the result of this entire journey: not something constructed at a desk, but a continuous evolution that follows the person I’ve become over time.

What’s the creative process behind your looks? How do you build them before applying them?

My creative process changes depending on the project, but it always starts with listening and dialogue. For me, conversation with the entire creative team - photographers, stylists, hair stylists and clients - is essential. The result almost always comes from a shared idea, built together. The face plays a central role. I closely observe features, skin and proportions, and let them guide me. Makeup, for me, is never something to impose; it takes shape in relation to the face. I always arrive with a clear idea, but not a rigid one. I leave room for instinct and for what happens on set, because that’s where the look truly takes form, thanks to light, atmosphere and energy. Technically, I work a lot with layers and textures, always seeking balance between preparation, experience and creative freedom, whether it’s a minimal or more expressive look. When expressing my creativity in personal projects, I simply try to go with the flow, without categorizing ideas or actions, I start building freely until I reach a satisfying result. When I embrace this philosophy, I receive great feedback from my audience. It’s beautiful for me. Rewarding.

What inspires you? Is there a specific medium you rely on when looking for inspiration?

I’m very drawn to textures and patterns, and I can feel inspired by the shine of an Asian girl’s hair as much as by the color combinations in a seagull’s feathers. For me, everything is a source of inspiration. Of course, like many people, I use Pinterest and Google a lot when I need references on a specific theme. That said, for me that’s more of a phase of deepening and organizing ideas. I also believe I’m strongly influenced by the stylistic and aesthetic movements of the ’80s. My creative ideas often gravitate toward that imagery, whether it’s glam or punk-rock. I see myself somewhere in between those two currents, with a personal balance and twist.

What do you think about make-up trends? Which do you love and which do you hate?

Make-up trends are boring. The way I see it, makeup today is often the result of globalization: everyone does the same things, everyone copies someone else. Trends destroy authenticity, flatten creativity and numb us to discovery and experimentation. I’ve never understood why people enjoy conforming to temporary makeup looks that repeat endlessly. There’s nothing new, it’s just things that come back cyclically, always the same, but for some absurd reason we feel the need to label them with new names. Latte make-up? What does that even mean? A natural base with a bit of bronzer. Espresso make-up? A regular smokey eye. Make-up trends, to me, are just marketing. There’s nothing truly interesting there.

If you had to give advice to an aspiring make-up artist, what would it be?

First of all, I’d say truly understand whether your love for this job is real and lasting or just temporary. Being a make-up artist is not easy: often the work isn’t paid what it deserves and isn’t valued as it should be. That’s part of the journey. Without real love for what you do, it will be difficult to endure, especially in the fashion industry, where emerging and sustaining yourself is truly challenging. As a more technical piece of advice, I’ve always suggested that beginners work for a medium-to-long period in makeup retail. Before working on “perfect” models, a real makeup artist must learn to handle all types of skin. The true school of makeup starts with everyday faces: that’s where you acquire the skills of a complete artist. My advice, especially to younger people, is to work hard, not judge, stay open to dialogue, believe in your dreams and nurture them with kindness and respect, for yourself and for colleagues. Judgment hurts, while dialogue creates, strengthens techniques, knowledge and creative evolution.

In your looks we see a response to dominant minimalism. What does color mean to you today? And maximalism?

My response to dominant minimalism is a message of affirmation and an invitation to freedom of expression. Very often my looks are born from deeply personal feelings: I give shape to emotions that might otherwise remain repressed. Expressing myself through color and shapes is a way to make space for what I feel, to lighten certain thoughts or transport myself into other worlds where I’m the protagonist. I don’t assign a precise psychological meaning to my expressive forms, but I know that working this way makes me feel good. It’s an emotional response: I use colors, textures and volumes in relation to what I experience and feel as an individual. As I mentioned before, I always bring a part of myself into my proposals. Even when working in a team and placing my creativity at the service of a shared project, the process is similar: I engage with other creatives, step into the character and ask myself how I would personally wear that makeup in that context. My maximalism lies precisely in the desire to explode into color, in total expressive freedom. I don’t consider myself a boring person, and I don’t think my looks are either. After all, how many clean beauty looks do we see every day? How many shiny classic red carpet glam looks, repeated endlessly by beauty influencers and celebrity makeup artists? So many. I don’t want to be one of them, because I feel I’m something else.

Your looks are ethereal and sci-fi: are you trying to escape from something?

My looks don’t come from escape, but from choice: creating worlds, imaginaries and visions that represent me. The ethereal or sci-fi aesthetic is a language that feels mine, not a way to avoid reality, but to reinterpret it freely.

In your most creative looks, do you still aim to enhance the model’s beauty, or do you focus entirely on your idea?

Even in my most creative looks, the model’s beauty remains central. I’m not interested in imposing an idea regardless of the face in front of me: my creativity always arises from the dialogue between my vision and the person sitting in my chair. In my personal projects, where I handle both makeup and beauty direction, I don’t like to impose. I prefer to guide and bring the subject into my vision. I always try not to erase the identity of the person wearing my ideas, but to dialogue with their features, physiognomy and energy. Even when the result is bold, conceptual or unconventional, for me balance is fundamental: the idea must enhance, not overpower. In that sense, there’s no choice between beauty and absolute concept. My work lies in making both coexist, creating an image that is recognizable, coherent and believable on the face that wears it.

Is there a desire to communicate a message about beauty and authenticity that goes beyond enhancing the face?

It really depends on the context I’m working in. If there’s a narrative behind the shot or a precise concept, I embrace the theme and build the makeup according to what’s required, placing my creativity at the service of the story. In my personal projects, instead, I let myself be guided by the flow. Sometimes I create simply for the pure excitement of creating, without constraints and without the need to communicate a specific message. Other times, as I mentioned before, makeup becomes a way to interpret and shape a deeply personal emotional state. In that sense, the message is not always planned: it emerges from the creative process itself and from what I’m experiencing at that moment.

Are there make-up artists to watch right now? Can you name a few?

Beyond the lifelong icons who continue to inspire and amaze me, I also closely follow some artists from the new scene, whom I consider extremely talented and gifted with incredible artistic sensitivity. Ivan Nunez (@shablamgela), current make-up artist for Doja Cat’s tour: every one of his looks leaves me speechless. He’s extraordinary in his use of color, shapes and especially in interpreting Doja’s world, I’m a huge fan. His work is powerful, coherent and always surprising. Alona Sobolevska (@iksoxo) is, to me, a true creative genius in the field of special effects. I go crazy for every post: bizarre, unexpected, never predictable. I’m deeply fascinated by how she finds creative ideas in the most unusual things. She’s truly unconventional and incredibly interesting. Last but absolutely not least, Dina (@topblrrfc). The way she transfers art onto her own face moves me every time. I believe her ability to perceive beauty in art and transform it into makeup is a rare and incredible gift.