Kevyn Aucoin

[RoRo]

Kevyn Aucoin born (February 14, 1962) in Shreveport, Louisiana, died May 7, 2002 was a make-up artist and photographer who was well known for catering to the laywoman's need to feel beautiful
He worked with hundreds of A-list celebrities like Cher, Janet Jackson, Tina Turner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Courtney Love and Vanessa Williams. He became a highly in-demand makeup artist, often acquiring $10,000 per session for photo shoots or award shows.
As a published author (The Art of Makeup, Making Faces, and Face Forward), he was fond of taking celebrities (and various other men & women, including his mother) and using makeup and costume (and sometimes prosthetics) to make them look like other celebrities, or like other people entirely. He transformed Tori Amos into Mary Queen of Scots, Celine Dion into Maria Callas, Liza Minnelli into Marilyn Monroe, Christina Ricci into Ã?dith Piaf , Hilary Swank into Raquel Welch, Winona Ryder into Elizabeth Taylor, and Martha Stewart into Veronica Lake, among others.
In October 2001, just one month after launching his own cosmetics line, Aucoin was diagnosed with a rare pituitary tumor. He had been suffering from acromegaly resulting from the tumor for much of his life, but it had gone undiagnosed. He died in May 2002 of kidney and liver failure due to Tylenol toxicity, due to an addiction to prescription painkillers used to treat the extreme pain from his condition. A musical homage, called "Taxi Ride," was written for him by longtime friend Tori Amos.

[lisalouver]

I remember him. I thought I just saw something about him in one of my Glamour mags. Is his makeup line still available?

[BigBootyJudy]

OMG I was just going to do a thread on him !! I love him , he was brillant with cosmetics and I use his products daily and they are my favorite. His life story is on his website and he endured so many things as a young gay man in the South. He truly saw the beauty in every woman.
http://www.kevynaucoin.com/personal/?personal

[erin]

my biggest dream in life was to travel to new york to be mentored by kevyn aucoin. that dream died, of course, the day he did. he was truly the most talented makeup artist and seemed to have a way of making any woman feel absolutely gorgeous. if it's possible to miss someone you've never met, it would be kevyn for me.

[cherryghost]

Did he work on Nicole Kidman and did oprah do a great interview and show on him! He worked on Madonna too ya?

[motherogod]

Wow, just when I thought I knew everything-- I had NO idea he had died! So long ago, too! He was fabulous in his craft. Thanks for honoring him with this thread.

[MagneticElectric]

I LOVE Kevyn Aucoin! He did some amazing work. I have two of his books and he in one, he completely transformed the way people looked. There's one picture of Demi Moore as Clara Bow I think and it looks nothing like Demi Moore. I was very shocked when he died. He was so young.

[hoxharding]

Allure Magazine used him every month- that is how the make-up artist column got started.

[Mrs F]

He was amazingly talented at what he did. I loved his books. I am awful with make up but he seemed so sweet and watching segments he would do on the Style Network (a secret guilty pleasure of mine) I found myself experimenting more with my looks.

[RoRo]

Glad to see so many others cared about him!!

[BigBootyJudy]

I remember him. I thought I just saw something about him in one of my Glamour mags. Is his makeup line still available?

Yes Lisa ! You can order a few items at Sephora and then the full collection on his website www.kevynaucoin.com I use quite a few pf the products and I love them all!!

[Grungegirl83]

I loved his columns in Allure, and he made a cameo on Sex and The City! He seemed so nice, and he was so talented

[VSA]

He was such a gifted artist and seemed to have such a big heart. I have all of his books and I do remember his Allure columns.

[pryncssdeb]

WIKI:

February 14, 1962 in Shreveport, Louisiana; died May 7, 2002) was a make-up artist and photographer who was well known for catering to the laywoman's need to feel beautiful. Aucoin grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, to parents Thelma and Isidore, who adopted him as an infant.[1] He had three siblings, Carla, Kim, and Keith. He struggled his way to the top of the professional makeup industry by emphasizing the beauty within. His motto was that it was far more important to help a woman feel beautiful no matter what, and that makeup was simply his tool for helping her discover herself. A proponent of the philosophy that every woman is beautiful within, he was one of the best-paid celebrity make-up artists in history.

He worked with hundreds of A-list celebrities like Cher, Janet Jackson, Tina Turner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Courtney Love and Vanessa Williams. He became a highly in-demand makeup artist, often acquiring $10,000 per session for photo shoots or award shows. As a published author (The Art of Makeup, Making Faces, and Face Forward), he was fond of taking celebrities (and various other men & women, including his mother) and using makeup and costume (and sometimes prosthetics) to make them look like other celebrities, or like other people entirely. He transformed Tori Amos into Mary Queen of Scots, Celine Dion into Maria Callas, Liza Minnelli into Marilyn Monroe, Christina Ricci into Ã?dith Piaf, Hilary Swank into Raquel Welch, Winona Ryder into Elizabeth Taylor, and Martha Stewart into Veronica Lake, among others.

Aucoin lived with his partner, Jeremy Antunes, whom he married in an unofficial ceremony in Hawaii in 2000 and thereafter referred to as his husband. He had also previously been romantically involved with Eric Sakas, who after their breakup remained close friends with him and became president and creative director of Kevyn Aucoin Beauty.


In October 2001, just one month after launching his own cosmetics line, Aucoin was diagnosed with a rare pituitary tumor. He had been suffering from acromegaly resulting from the tumor for much of his life, but it had gone undiagnosed. He died in May 2002 of kidney and liver failure due to Tylenol toxicity, due to an addiction to prescription painkillers used to treat the extreme pain from his condition. A musical homage, called "Taxi Ride," was written for him by longtime friend Tori Amos.

Kevyn's last name is pronounced Oh-Kwenh.





I remember him, too. I always saw him on tv, and liked him right off the bat. He seemed very genuine, as genuine as one can in front of the camera. And I was OMFG he's on SEX AND THE CITY!!! I saw that one when it first aired. I knew he had died, I just didn't know when or how. I hope wiki is right!


deb

[JestersKiss]

[SIZE=4]Kevyn Aucoin 1962-2002[/SIZE]

here is a little site about Kevyn

[Lucy Furr]

Kevyn Aucoin wrote the bible on how to use make up to not only accentuate our personal best, but to create a whole new person when we wished.

What a talent!

[Morty]

I was just thinking about him the other day...so sad when I saw he had died, I loved what he did with cosmetics

[joplinfrk]

I knew that he passed, too. I just didn't know when or how. Thanks.

[Fancynancy]

Kevyn Aucoin born (February 14, 1962) in Shreveport, Louisiana, died May 7, 2002 was a make-up artist and photographer who was well known for catering to the laywoman's need to feel beautiful
He worked with hundreds of A-list celebrities like Cher, Janet Jackson, Tina Turner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Courtney Love and Vanessa Williams. He became a highly in-demand makeup artist, often acquiring $10,000 per session for photo shoots or award shows.
As a published author (The Art of Makeup, Making Faces, and Face Forward), he was fond of taking celebrities (and various other men & women, including his mother) and using makeup and costume (and sometimes prosthetics) to make them look like other celebrities, or like other people entirely. He transformed Tori Amos into Mary Queen of Scots, Celine Dion into Maria Callas, Liza Minnelli into Marilyn Monroe, Christina Ricci into Ã?dith Piaf , Hilary Swank into Raquel Welch, Winona Ryder into Elizabeth Taylor, and Martha Stewart into Veronica Lake, among others.
In October 2001, just one month after launching his own cosmetics line, Aucoin was diagnosed with a rare pituitary tumor. He had been suffering from acromegaly resulting from the tumor for much of his life, but it had gone undiagnosed. He died in May 2002 of kidney and liver failure due to Tylenol toxicity, due to an addiction to prescription painkillers used to treat the extreme pain from his condition. A musical homage, called "Taxi Ride," was written for him by longtime friend Tori Amos.

That had me really nervous several years back--thye diagnosed me with a pituatary tumor as well. I had surgery which is endioscopic(sp)? in which they insert the instrument thtough the nostril to extract the tumor. Turned out I had something called Rathke's Cleft Cyst. My doctor said that it was clear in substance and she didn't know what it was and they sent it to the Mayo clinic. It is a congenital condition that I had from the time I developed as a fetus and hopefully won't grow back!!

[Old Soul]

I love Kevyns work... he was a beautiful genius artist.

[Elizabeth]

What a talented man he was.....he made make-up magic.....RIP Kevin

[Dane]

I used to follow his column in Allure religiously and tried as many tips as I could. As a result, I was actually pretty glam in college. I just loved him to death.

[John Connor]

I loved his columns in Allure, and he made a cameo on Sex and The City! He seemed so nice, and he was so talented

That was the one where Carrie is in the fashion show and considered the perfect episode. Poor dude, he must have been in so much pain all the time.

[LemonPopsicle]

I love his work! I miss his Allure columns
I even miss his old website, I hate how they changed it. I made alot of friends on there.

[Elizabeth]

That was the one where Carrie is in the fashion show and considered the perfect episode. Poor dude, he must have been in so much pain all the time.

Exactly!! He makes Sarah Jessica look absolutely fabulous!!! That is the one where she becomes a model, falls down on the catwalk and Stanford says "Oh my God she is fashion roadkill!!!" LOL

[sherry326]

That episode of Sex in the City was too funny! I have his books and they have really inspired my daughter to want to have a career in makeup. She's created the makeup for several school plays and is halfways through getting her cosmetology degree and she's still in high school!
He was amazing! Here's a pic of Martha Stewart that he made into Veronica Lake:

[sherry326]

Let's try that with a smaller pic this time!

[MagneticElectric]

Here's an interesting article about Aucoin's life and death.

http://nymag.com/nymetro/urban/gay/features/6236/

[John Connor]

Here's an interesting article about Aucoin's life and death.


http://nymag.com/nymetro/urban/gay/features/6236/

Interesting article. The mother does sound like a hypocrite and the reporter makes a good point about if the boyfriend/spouse was a woman he would automatically get everyrthing. I highly doubt the mother is surviving on Social Security. Aucoin must have had a bit of coin. Strange he didn't have a will.

[cherryghost]

Everyone has so much good to say about him! I think I saw him on Oprah here in Australia a few times and he did his magic!
Beautiful work!

[KCBee]

Let's try that with a smaller pic this time!

That's Martha Stewart? OMG! That man was a genius.

[John Connor]

That's Martha Stewart? OMG! That man was a genius.

I give more credit to photoshop than I do make-up. I mean, come on.

[Grungegirl83]

I LOVED his column in Allure magazine. I looked forward to it every month.

[Lush]

i want him to be alive again and do my make up! i look so dowdy these days.

/bow to kevin.

[MorbidChrissy]

Just thought of him for some reason. I didn't know his mother died 5 months later. I always wanted him to do my makeup, but that will never happen. *sigh*

[MinLynn]

I own Face Forward (bought it ages and ages ago before he passed) and I've gotta tell 'ya......girlfriend was a frickin' genius! I don't credit photoshop at all! He really and truly knew the art of makeup and I learned quite a few tricks from the book and still practice them to this day. If you ever come across any of his makeup books, snag them!

[atomicbettie]

I LOVE his work he was an amazing makeup artist. More like a makeup magician! I have 2 of his books and I reference them all the time.

[MorbidChrissy]

Seriously, he was amazing. I always thought the cover to "Face Foward" was absolutely amazing. Two women of different color, side by side and they look almost identical! His transformations were crazy. I really loved the Linda Evangelista transformation. He made a MAN look JUST LIKE her!!

[NewYorkDoll]

Making Faces is the holy grail of makeup application. RIP kevyn.

[FooFoo Shnickens]

He was such a talent. I bought all of his books back in the day and still love them - timeless. They cost a pretty penny on amazon last time I looked, though.

RIP!

[philbert_wormly]

He had a very true gift. His books are still on point even now.

[Oogie Boogie]

Kevin Aucoin did some makeovers for Allure magazine in the early nineties and I was struck with how different the subjects looked before and after. One of the things he did was bleach out their eyebrows with Jolen Cream Bleach.

"Hey", I thought, "I can do that!" So I did. And the look did not work on this brunette gal with thick black eyebrows! They turned this light orange color! So I had to draw eyebrows on everyday for a couple of months.

Don't even get me started about the black eyebrow roots...

[MorbidChrissy]

lol Oh no!! You should've dyed them? At least you had eyebrows. When I was younger, I plucked almost all of them out! Luckily I discovered Minoxidil and they've grown back.

[Oogie Boogie]

lol Oh no!! You should've dyed them? At least you had eyebrows. When I was younger, I plucked almost all of them out! Luckily I discovered Minoxidil and they've grown back.

Oh my gosh, I did that over 20 years ago and when I read your post was the first time dying them ever occurred to me! lol I will keep that in mind for if my daughters ever have bleach mishaps!

I'm happy your eyebrows grew back for you; I know someone who went to town tweezing and those babies are gone for good