ARTIST SPOTLIGHT, NEW YORK Helen Andersson

Helen Andersson, FACE Stockholm's Lead Makeup Artist and Educator, has earned international acclaim for her proficient and diverse work in all aspects of print, film, and media. It is for this reason that each and every one of FACE Stockholm's makeup artists in the US participate in training with Helen, and each comes away with not only the required skills, but a new and enlightened approach to makeup application.

Helen believes that makeup artistry is more than skin deep: a subject's mood, personality, body and mind must all be taken into consideration. "I look at makeup like sculpting more than like painting," Helen says, "When I'm thinking about someone's skin, I think about all of their features, it's more than just painting on colors."

Helen's holistic approach comes in part from growing up in the Swedish countryside, where she learned from her grandfather about the power of natural healing. From that early foundation, she went on to study herbs and natural therapies such as Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of traditional medicine, in both America and India.

This knowledge has been essential to her work as a makeup artist and the relationships Helen develops with her clients, whether they are celebrities, retail shop walk-ins or returning customers, have made her one of the most in-demand artists in FACE Stockholm's history.

Helen's bridal makeup services at FACE Stockholm are particularly sought after and her work has been featured in many publications, including Martha Stewart Weddings and Essence Magazine.

Listening to Helen talk about her favorite experiences over the span of an 18 year makeup career in New York City, most people would go from being wide eyed and starstruck to outraged at the sheer calamity that occur on a film set. Helen remembers a series of commercials for Diesel that were more like short films, so involved were their story lines and details. One of these was shot in a swamp in New Orleans. "It was a real life adventure of gargantuan snakes and poisonous spiders dropping down from the trees...we had guards with guns there to protect us from the alligators and crocodiles in case they were hanging around the set." Click here to watch. Not exactly boring stuff, but that wasn't even the commercial that got itself banned from daytime MTV because of its rating. That particular storyline involved a deserted Miami street in the middle of the night, with actor(and Madonna ex)Tony Ward, chasing a Danish model with a chainsaw. Turns out, Tony was only trying to cut the models birthday cake, but you don't find that out until the end of the commercial.

Helen is currently the Lead Educator at FACE Stockholm’s Make Up School in Rhinebeck, NY. Her professional makeup artist training curriculum incorporates a comprehensive history of makeup artistry with practical hands-on instruction for the students in technique and professional practice. Be sure to take a peek at some photos from past sessions at the FACE Stockholm Make Up School.



Click here for more information on Helen and the FACE Stockholm Makeup School.