Spotlight: Carly Lim
Deep diving into imaginative worlds through tiny knick-knacks and arty things, Carly has always relished in the satisfaction of handcrafted items. When she was a pre-teen, she loved drawing characters from her favourite books to try and solidify what they looked like on paper; what they wore, their hair, and every little detail.
Faces are endlessly fascinating to Carly, so it only makes sense that she paints them for a living. Spending the last decade thereabouts dedicated to understanding the intricacies of makeup artistry, we sit down with Carly to learn more about her journey.
Your makeup artistry work is a mix of editorial meets creative play, painting faces like canvas and pushing the boundaries on your creativity. Tell us about how you come up with ideas and designs?
This is going to sound very underwhelming but sometimes the reason for the design can be simple as “just because I want to use this colour/product” and I build it around that. Or maybe a technique I want to try.
If it’s a fashion shoot the clothes undoubtedly help dictate the makeup, and it is also when there is a certain kind of character we need the model to embody. The colour story is very important in this aspect too, figuring out what will look harmonious on camera.
I have always been inspired by revealing someone’s potential to transform. I think that is a big reason why most makeup artists choose to do what they do. I remember poring over Kevyn Aucoin’s Face Forward when I was a tween and being so amazed at how he transformed Winona Ryder into Elizabeth Taylor, Gwyneth Paltrow into Faye Dunaway (and James Dean!), and Christina Ricci into Edith Piaf. What a fun book that must have been to work on. That book lives rent-free in my brain.
What would you say your signature style of makeup is? How did you find this style?
Cliché but I don’t think I have one. I feel like I am still trying to make sense of what it is, but according to my peers apparently, there is a style there. Currently, I am more drawn to doing makeup that is about embodying an interesting character and being expressive as opposed to looking pretty. While I do enjoy making people look their best, I seem to enjoy tapping into something that maybe the person hasn’t yet realised is a part of their personality more so. That is where the real fun begins.
I don’t remember who said this, but I read once “The ugly can be beautiful. But pretty, never”, which is perhaps how I like to approach things. It doesn’t always happen though, sometimes the client brief is to make the hot person look even hotter, which is a very Sydney/maybe very Australia-centric thing. Like I get it. You know, the weather is hot and we just want to look hot. But for the record – I also cannot complain about that! But I just hope that my style will always include the strange, subversive, and a sense of wonder on some level. Sometimes when things are too pretty and perfect, they seem to lose their soul.
Lately, I’ve stumbled on the concept of style archetypes that David Kibbe has famously written about. In hand with that is style essences which is a concept dating back to the 1930s I believe. Style essences is about creating a look that is harmonious with a person’s natural line and physicality, how they shine the best – not to be confused with symmetry and ‘looking thin’. Kibbe’s work is based around looking at a person’s body archetype through a yin/yang lens (that is, not to be confused with looking masculine or feminine but more based on shapes or elements with opposite energies like round v.s. sharp).
These ideas have been great in guiding me when I get stuck. Ultimately it helps me pause and think about the person’s overall style essence and the energy their physicality brings, to then find what direction the makeup needs to go in; whether I go the harmonious route or try to highlight an element that normally sits under the surface and bring that to the forefront instead.
You think that certain events will change everything, but the reality is…not so much. At least in my case, I still had to figure out how to pay rent, work a part-time retail gig and freelance and adjust to a new city. It’s little events that somehow end up being the real life-changing ones I suppose.
What was your first major breakthrough in the industry?
I was very lucky to be on Ash Barty’s first Vogue Australia cover shoot for January of this year. It was also my very own first cover! The breakthrough seems to imply that my life and career improved drastically, so I don’t know if I can really claim that one as such - but it counts as a major highlight for me.
I also somehow forget this all the time (it was probably too surreal of a day) but I booked a shoot with supermodel Erin O’Connor when I was living in London. I had only just moved a few months earlier, and it was completely out of the blue. Life is so weird like that. You think that certain events will change everything, but the reality is…not so much. At least in my case, I still had to figure out how to pay rent, work a part-time retail gig and freelance and adjust to a new city. It’s little events that somehow end up being the real life-changing ones I suppose.
What have you worked on lately?
I did a shoot with my friend Anne (@annethupham) and her friend Michael (@michael.yxz) who is currently doing his masters at Parson’s NY. It was the first time I did hair, makeup, and nails and the first time in a long while that I was genuinely happy with all three elements.
This week I had a shoot where I styled and did the hair and makeup, and I am truly so excited to see the final edits. My friend Myles (@photomyles) nailed the photography. The creative direction/styling side of things is exhausting but a great deal of fun, I might myself doing more of that for my personal projects down the line.
I also have a shoot coming out with Amelia Dowd which I am ecstatic about, we shot with the insanely divine Mia (@succubusmami), and I dabbled in some body painting, cannot wait to share that one too. Lots of exciting work in the pipeline.
