I’ve been writing about beauty for roughly five years, but I’ve been using my face as a sketch pad for about 13. As a middle schooler who spent nearly every waking hour outside the classroom in a dance studio, I became quite accustomed to etching winged eyeliner, slathering on shimmery gold eye shadow, and gluing false lashes before the curtain call. (I eventually began doing the other girls’ lashes too.) This practice soon became a ritual—one that not only centered me before a performance but also offered a creative outlet outside of the one that I turned into a competitive sport. Gone were the expectations, scores, and prospective trophies. In their place were dazzling splashes of color, mirror-ball finishes, and aptitude with an eyeliner pen.

Now, as a 26-year-old beauty editor, my makeup style has evolved after years of attending master classes with celebrity makeup artists, reporting on backstage beauty trends at New York Fashion Week, and growing my skills as a self-taught makeup artist. With an editorial point of view, this has sculpted the theatrical taste of my youth into something more refined, but still, the whimsy, color, and artistic references remain.