Rick Baker is legendary in the makeup world. Rick is known for creating incredible looks for horror movies. His career started while working on “The Exorcist” on to win an Oscar for his work on “An America Werewolf” in London. And please don’t even get me started on him working with THE Micheal Jackson himself in “Thriller!”

I felt very fortunate to have the chance to interview Rick at the MAC store in Beverly Hills last week. I asked him when he meets people if he analyzes their faces. I compared how I did “CATS” many times in theater and how I can see cat makeup on people. He said it all depends on the project. He is usually drawn to textures. He is constantly taking pictures of people’s faces that he finds interesting.  He knows he looks at the world differently. While on vacation while everyone else is taking Christmas card moments, Rick documents the beauty of mold on a brick.

MAC + Rick Baker = Magic

This relationship was a long time coming. MAC was determined to get Rick on board but with how time-consuming the makeup process and technique is, it never seemed like the right project. Finally when working on “Men In Black 3” over dinner the idea of a Halloween “kit” was born. Rick Baker hand crafted three exclusive Halloween looks for MAC: Bride, Day of the Dead and Zombie.

Interesting story about how Rick found both of his models. He met Micheline (the bride) when she was buying one of his pieces of classic monster art. MAC wanted one of the models to be more “pretty” and he remembered Michele from their chance meeting and quick picture from the gallery. Not only is she gorgeous but she is a monster fan. Micheline is a fellow Georgia girl in fashion so we of course got along swimmingly. I loved how he threw out he wished he had known her earlier because he did Angelina Jolie’s makeup for “Maleficent” and he would have done tests on her for Angie.

The second model was an actually a waitress with his daughter. He noticed Ashley’s captivating eyes and asked her to sit down to test techniques on her. At that point she had no idea she would turn into a world campaign!

I asked Rick about his incredible experience working with MJ on “Thriller.” He said it was a time of panic. He was working with so many new makeup artists he didn’t know, hundreds of extras he had to turn into zombies…just a time crunch all around. Then late one night in the middle of downtown he heard the dance break. At that moment he realized how special this project was and to stop freaking out about the details but to be present. He was a part of an epic moment in time. Rick was such a sweet spirited soft-spoken man. I truly didn’t know what to expect when you interview the master of horror but he is truly an artist who talked about his wife and kids. What an honor and pleasure to be in the presence of this modern-day legend.  Everything you need to recreate these looks are available at MAC.  Acrylic paints, Paintsticks, Chromographic pencils, set powder, Monster FX, Penultimate Eye Liner and Chromacake are all ready for you to transform yourself. These goodies are available through October so run, not walk to MAC.

Make It Work!

xoxo, Loftiss