Using My Face As My Canvas: an Interview with Bella Adkins

Bella Adkins

[UNPUBLISHED:] Tell us about yourself.

[BELLA:] My name is Bella and I’m 19. I work with kids and I work in a little bakery. I recently got into makeup – specifically liner. I used to do very basic makeup, not dramatic. Recently I’ve been getting more into it. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How did you first get into makeup?

[BELLA:] I was into makeup for a while. In high school, I was trying it out and watching a lot of makeup videos. When the water liners came out I was like, “This is insane”. I had never done liner with a brush before. I was thinking, “I don’t know if I would be able to do that because it requires a lot more control.” With that, once you start you can’t stop and if you mess up, you fix it along the way. Eyeliner can smell fear – if you think you’re going to mess up, it’s going to turn out messy. I was testing out the water liners, trying to do a look that’s a little more dramatic than I usually do – putting spikes on the bottom of my waterline. Usually, I would think, “I can’t show up in public like this, I look insane, I look like a clown” but no, this is really hard to do and it takes me a while. Once I got into different formulas, like ones that are creamy or ones that glow in the dark, I couldn’t stop. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] What are some of your favorite makeup brands? 

[BELLA:] The liners are from Glam Vice. I found them from sponsored posts on Instagram. They’re the only ones I use right now, they’re really good. A good liner is Wet N’ Wild Megaliner. That’s how I got used to using a brush. I first started out with drugstore brands. Those are good for testing and practicing because I know a lot of people who’ve bought the expensive ones and they weren’t good. Just because they’re expensive doesn’t mean they’re good. I’ve had a lot of Kat Von D liners that never showed up on my lids but E.L.F is a good brand for beginners, I definitely recommend it. Before I found colored liners I would put concealers on my eyelids and use eyeshadow to create a colored liner. That was a lot harder and you definitely need pigment for that so I used Morphe and Maybelline palettes. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any favorite looks that you’ve done?

[BELLA:] I did a dragon one and it was really hard. I did a tail starting from the end of my eyebrow then I had it curved down and drew the face by my nose. I used a red shimmer that faded into gray and then black so it looked really cool. I’ve done butterfly looks too, I saw they were trending. I tried them a while before and then I saw people were doing it but I was doing baby wings by my eyes and I wanted to try doing them bigger. I did another butterfly one that went down to my cheeks which were moving out of my comfort zone but you don’t have to keep eyeliner on your eye. You can bring it up to your forehead if you want, or put it on your nose or your cheeks. I’m starting to do eyeliner looks that go above my eyebrow. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Where do you get your inspiration from for your looks?

[BELLA:] It’s honestly the explore page on Instagram. Once you watch one video they begin popping up everywhere. @isabellekategm used pearls for liner and I thought that was really cool. Whenever I see a video on Instagram that I think is a cool look I would follow them and more just started showing up. I would watch the videos while simultaneously trying to do the look. If you analyze pictures then when you start you know where you’re going and it’s a lot easier to recreate. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How do you think shows like Euphoria have affected the way people do makeup now?

[BELLA:] People definitely use a lot more glitter. I love Euphoria because it’s a great show and I think when it came out people became more comfortable putting pearls and rhinestones on their lids. It’s inspired people to experiment a lot more and try different shades and shapes. I love it a lot because the makeup community can be very nude and neutral. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How long does it take you to do a look?

[BELLA:] The dragon one took about an hour – that was my longest one. I kept messing up which is annoying when you spend that much time doing it. My shortest one is a liner and shadow basic look which just takes about 10 minutes. It took me a while to get there, it took a lot of practice. The more you practice, it becomes second nature.  

[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any advice for people wanting to wear super cool makeup in public but they’re worried about what other people will think?

[BELLA:] Literally just do it. You’re gonna take it off eventually. If it takes you a lot of time to do and you’re happy with it, just do it. I went out with a whole ass dragon on my face and I was like, “This took me forever. I’m not gonna take it off because you think it looks weird. This looks cool.” It’s your face, it’s your makeup. Do whatever the hell you want. Anyone who doesn’t like it can mind their own business. If you have amazing friends and they say it looks cool then fuck everyone else. It’s your face. It’s your imagination and if people don’t get it, that’s their problem. You don’t need to alter the way you do things because people have a problem with it. People are always gonna have a problem with everything. If you like it and it looks great, do it. You’re gonna get a mixture of responses so only focus on the positive ones. There’s no place for negative ones.