Every weekend as I’m scrolling through my feed and Insta-stalking the celebrities and influencers that I fangirl for, I come across something interesting and inspiring in the beauty space. From jaw-dropping transformations to drool-inducing hair, there’s always something that I can’t stop staring at or watching, and it instantly garners a double-tap.
This weekend I was excited and delighted by Michigan-based makeup artist Deborah Bland (@BeatsByDeb). With just two years in the game, the 20-year-old creates countless over the top and creative color cosmetics looks that truly showcase her art. In a look that she posted late July, the beauty was inspired by a pair of $1 Africa earrings and Paris-based beauty expert Amandine (@amandineyk), who did a makeup look that had the shape of Africa outlined on her face. Deb said she then did research and found that most of the flags on the continent included either red, green, yellow, or black, so she used those colors as a jumping off point for the look.
What I love most is watching her work. Though her video of how she achieved the look is only about a minute long, it doesn’t miss the precision that she has in freestyle drawing the shape of the continent, filling in all the details for it, and finishing the look with the polish of someone who has been doing this a long time.
“This look took me an hour and a half. Since I only did eye makeup for one eye, it didn’t take as long as expected,” she told ESSENCE. “It was challenging to try and draw the shape freehand, but my mom knew it was Africa as soon as she saw. That gave me more confidence to post the finished look!”
She also offers advice to anyone who wants to recreate the look, telling them to be sure to flip the image so that the Africa drawing doesn’t come out backwards.
Good to know.
“I try my best to keep my audience in suspense with looks. The over the top looks are usually inspired by other amazing artists,” she continued. “I can find inspiration from any and everything but I love to look up the hashtags, #crazymakeupand #makeupforblackwomen. I love seeing other people inspire and be inspired by makeup because it is art.”
I won’t be trying this look on my own face anytime soon as it’a quite advanced for my amateur hands. Perhaps one day I can use the video as a guide to simply try something bolder with my makeup. In the meantime I will continue to admire it and watch in awe, double-tapping and smiling while I play “Ethic” by Figa, and then Dead Prez’s “Afrika” in the background.