Every artist needs a canvas.
Kendra Springer specializes in living, 3-D surfaces.
"Putting colors together, picking out product, it's kind of like chemistry, mixing and matching,” she said. “I love it, I've been doing this since I was 18."
Springer is the owner and artist behind KLS Makeup Artistry. The Mukilteo native makes a living doing editorial shoots and weddings – she won Best of The Knot for seven years running and is in the wedding planning website’s Hall of Fame.
And now, viewers can watch her compete on season two of Lifetime’s reality show American Beauty Star. Springer was selected to be one of 14 makeup artists competing against each other in creative challenges.
"You're filming, then you're in your hotel room freaking out about the next day. Maybe you eat something, maybe you want to throw up, or die - it's so many mixed emotions,” she said, laughing. “It was a really cool experience."
She hopes the exposure leads to new opportunities and is expanding her business to California this summer.
Wherever she goes, Springer said she maintains a unique Northwest perspective on beauty.
“I love empowering women, and I think makeup is such a great tool to use as part of creating your identity. Beauty standards today are so insane,” she said. "I'm all about natural skin, and I want women to look like themselves… I don't support telling women you need to change who you are.”