We Talk to Legendary Makeup Artist Diane Kendal About Her Collection for M.A.C

Date January 19, 2017

If you ever have the pleasure of interviewing makeup artist Diane Kendal backstage at New York Fashion Week, you’ll likely notice a few things. First, she goes seemingly makeup-free. Second, she has such a soothing, gentle voice, you’ll wonder what it would be like to have her read you a bedtime story. And third, she is a master of subtlety, using techniques like applying brown eyeliner and then slightly rubbing it away with moisturizer for a lived-in look. “I never like my work to be too heavy-handed,” says Kendal. When she does wear makeup, she considers it more like grooming, with “tinted moisturizer, curled lashes and tinted balm” as her staples.

During her impressive decades-long career, Kendal has worked on countless fashion shows and campaigns. Now she has been tapped by M.A.C, along with makeup peers James Kaliardos and Kabuki, to contribute to the brand’s Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection. In dreaming up her products, British-born Kendal looked to her teenage memories of makeup from the ’70s. “I was really inspired by Biba and Mary Quant,” she says. A tin of Quant’s makeup sticks gave rise to four kajal crayons, while the deep purples and emerald greens of Biba’s eyeshadows influenced her selection of similar tones. Kendal’s lifelong preference for working with creamy textures also informed the range, which includes cream eye, lip and cheek colours, as well as highlighting sticks. “I just love how malleable and playful it is,” she says. “There are no rigid rules.”

Shop the entire Diane Kendal’s #MACMakeupArtCosmetics collection below.