NICK BAROSE

Whether it’s blue lashes, purple lipstick, or red eyeliner, Barose isn’t afraid of color — something he attributes to growing up among vibrantly hued nature in Thailand. His current client roster features a rainbow of skin tones and personalities, including Rachel Weisz, Mackenzie Foy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Zoe Saldana, Gugu MbathaRaw, Amandla Stenberg and Lupita Nyong’o. “You always want to keep it fresh and you can always push it,” says Barose, who learned from guru Kevyn Aucoin. “That’s what’s fun about makeup.”

You do a lot with color. From where have you gotten your inspiration lately?

Now, we’re seeing a return of the ’80s. That’s always going to be my thing because I grew up in the ’80s. I remember my mom wearing blue mascara and red lipstick, but she looked so elegant. … I always loved strong artistic women in music like Grace Jones or Annie Lennox, who really played with their looks and their makeup. When people think “timeless,” it doesn’t always have to mean “less.” It doesn’t have to be a natural face, it can be a statement.

How do you approach red carpet makeup?

I like to push when I do red carpet. I’m definitely not for every actress — like I’m not for people that want nude lips and cat eyes at every event. I like people that are willing to collaborate and play and change it up. I think that’s what makes it fun too, because this is year 25 of [my] doing this. You can have fun with color and texture and sometimes you can do something really beautiful, something a little odd. A big event is about being seen from a distance.

What are some of your favorite recent looks you’ve done?

Definitely Lupita at the Golden Globes with the blue lashes. When I saw the dress, the color really struck me. So I wanted to play off of that Yves Kleinblue color and then when I saw these lashes that were exactly the color, it was really spontaneous. ... The other one is Mackenzie Foy from the Chanel show. I knew Mackenzie from when she was a kid, from “Twilight.” I played with the peaches and cream because she’s really fair, but I wanted it to be more like a Renaissance painting … and then Rachel Weisz at the Gotham Awards. She’s a natural beauty, and she definitely has the best brows in the business. It’s a really natural face, but I played up the brows to make them fuller. And then the rest of the face is pretty soft with a little bit of eyeliner in brown tones.