Behind the beauty

Liu Yuhan, the foudner of YUHAN STUDIO, has been working in the field of make-up for 9 years.

"The first time I put make-up on others was when I was around 6. I was living in the countryside. And I penciled my friend's eyebrows with a charred wooden stick. That was the first time."

Now that little beautician has become a professional, working with stars, for MTV, but recently became famous for her "audition look" make-up.

This concept comes from students auditioning for entrance to art institutes such as the Central Academy of Drama who want to look like natural beauties.

"A student told me examiners would sit no more than 2 meters away. That means no made-up look seen face-to-face. It'll need the appearance of a just washed face, neat and clean."

"Those "nude looks" on magazines are the work of Photoshop. And what I'm doing is Photoshop her face with my hands."

Mission accomplished. Who says being bare-faced is a hundred times better than a lot of make-up? You must've applied it wrong -- like many Chinese girls who are prone to favor the-fairer-the-better approach and end up looking like they're covered in flour.

"As is said by many professionals, the color of foundation should be the same as your skin. It's not "the fairer the better". We should have two liquid foundations, a darker one applied to the whole face, a fairer one for T-zone to look more translucent."

Another extreme of outshining others is to speak out loud that you are wearing make-up. And this has to be much more than shadowed eyes. Make-up on the T-stage will soon hit the streets as people are becoming more open-minded and eager to be unique.

"I think nothing is strange for a city like Beijing. For example I got myself a shaved head years ago and people just glanced at me, then walked away. They were not staring."

"I wanted a shaved head so much then and just followed my heart. It was my hair but I did ask for my mother’s permission. I lied to her that I had blotches on my head so I had to shave all my hair for treatment."

"Follow my heart." It sounds like quite a free and easy thing, to be a make-up artist, and as it is regarded by almost everybody, very profitable. But is it really?

"If you want to get money, go for another job. Being a make-up artist is not something you can make a fortune in. Honestly I've spent all the money I earned on make-up again."

"There was a time when I lived in the basement. My friend asked me to go back home and said she’d open a studio for me. And I said "I'll break off with you if you ever ask me back again". "Don't pull me back." "We don't think alike." It was hard then, but everything would be fine if you make it through."

"I'm taking the long-term view. My first teacher is still working in the make-up field even though he's over 70. Our hands may be steadier than his, but we should learn from his generosity and communication skills with students. "

Yuhan said she'd like to work in the field of make-up as long as she lives. What will people put on their faces by then? Nobody knows. But let's check out what we've got now -- the Chinese Paris Hilton.

Video: Christie Lee

Photograph: Sun Peng

Special thanks to YUHAN STUDIO