"Beauty can be everything and its opposite" Interview with Flavie Delobbel, face slayer

Under the beauty radar goes whimsy, but the good kind. Our new installment after the hot hot summer is dedicated to Flavie Delobbel, face slayer, makeup artist and hairstylist. In her words, her vision of makeup and beauty is always changing and evolving, and has its roots in creativity and art, in things you can do with your hands. Here's what she told us.

Interview with the makeup artist Flavie Delobbel

How would you define your aesthetic in 3 words?

Surreal, graphic and experimental.

Can you tell us how your journey began and how you found your creative expression?

I have always worked with my hands for as long as I can remember. I have loved drawing, painting, and sculpting since I was a kid. I grew up in a really creative family who let me explore art from a very young age. I always knew I would work in the creative and art field. It was a part of my identity; I felt it in my soul. I started playing with makeup around eight years old, stealing products from my mom’s vanity. I really loved the bright pink lipstick she was applying every morning. At 11 years old, I started drawing makeup looks, doing research, and looking at fashion shows… And from there, it just grew sporadically around me. I was dreaming of becoming a makeup artist in Paris, working on shows and campaigns. After high school, I spent a few years studying art in Paris, both plastic arts and theory. After that, I took a regular retail job. At 22, I finally stepped out of my comfort zone, quit my boring retail job, and committed to a makeup school in Paris (DMAI Paris). I graduated and started my business. Best choice I have ever made in my whole life. I am now working full-time in the fashion field; a dream come true.

When you start creating a look, what comes first: the face, the idea, the mood, or the product?

For me, it always starts with the story I am working on. The first step is understanding what purpose the makeup is going to serve, and what feeling I need or want to convey. But I’d say I’m really the kind of person who goes with the feeling in my gut.

Where does your inspiration comes from? Is there a particular medium (film, music, art, literature etc.) that has especially influenced the way you see beauty?

My inspiration comes from all sorts of things. I am a really visual person; I love observing details. I’d say I take a lot of inspiration from nature (landscapes, insects, fauna and flora) but also from art in general: paintings, films, sculpture… I studied art for a few years at university, which I think really influenced the way I see things and approach any form of art. I’m really into analyzing things.

What’s a makeup memory that still feels special to you, even if it has nothing to do with your work as a makeup artist?

Something I love to remember is my mother getting ready really early in the morning. I would step out of my room, the house still in the dark. Only the warm light of the bathroom was pulling me out of my sleep. I would just follow the light to say good morning to my mother. And there she was, packing on a ton of Guerlain Terracotta to feel “tan” and applying loads of black mascara, followed by a thick layer of bright fuchsia lipstick. I can still remember the smell of the powders mixing with her perfume. I think it really started here.

Is there a makeup trend you don’t feel connected to, and one your particularly love?

I think I’m really one of those people who says, “Just have fun with makeup.” I don’t really care too much about what’s on-brand or what isn’t. I just think the best way to do makeup is to have fun and play with it. So just go for it. Go grotesque, go minimal, go invisible, go full-on… as long as you feel good. And if calling your makeup “Matcha Latte” or “Clean Girl” makes you feel good and empowered, you’re already winning.

Looking ahead, where do you see your creative journey taking you? Is there someone you’d dream working with or a project you’d love to bring to life?

I hope to meet even more creative minds who challenge my own. There is no better feeling than that. Twisting minds to create beautiful, and sometimes twisted, beauty. And of course, I would love to work with some amazing photographers like Nadia Lee Cohen, Petra Collins, Elizaveta Porodina, Kévin Drelon… And many, many other cool people.

Your work feels quite far from traditional ideas of beauty. What does "beauty" mean to you now?

To me, beauty is an empowerment to the people who pronounce it. Beauty has no lines, shapes, colors, or forms. Beauty can be everything and its opposite. Beauty is truly designed by everybody, everywhere, in everything. Own it; feel creative with this concept. Beauty is what you want it to be. Beauty is a conversation, a glance, a thought. Not something that you look at, but something that you feel.