Though experimenting with makeup, Bri Charis discovered a creative and therapeutic outlet and has rose to IG fame in the process. But as naturally talented as the self-taught teenager is, she makes sure not to take herself too seriously.

You take a more artistic approach to makeup than most. What sparked your interest in experimenting with makeup?
Traditional art forms such as drawing and painting never appealed to me and always felt like an effort rather than an enjoyable activity, so when I started playing around with my mum's makeup at thirteen, I was so excited to have discovered the art form of makeup and quickly grew a love for the medium. I found that I was able to express myself in a way that traditional art never allowed for. I started with much simpler looks, just colorful eyeshadow and such, and found it to be such an amazing creative outlet.

I started my makeup account in January 2018 and began posting said colourful eyeshadow looks. This is when I started getting to know new people in the community and discovered a whole different style of makeup that blew my mind! Put simply, I'd just call it artsy makeup. It is a form of creative expression through makeup and using the face as a canvas for art and experimentation. I fell in love with the artistic side of makeup and the groundbreaking creative freedom it gave me. I had finally found an art form that resonated with me and helped me express myself and my emotions in a therapeutic and beautiful way.

Can you describe the process of creating a look, from fresh face to finish?
99% of the time I have zero clue what look I am going for at the beginning of the process. Sometimes I'll have a product that I really wanna play around with so I will let that product take the look wherever and just base the look off of the product (e.g. an eyeshadow palette). Step one is always my base. Every single look starts off with the same base makeup to achieve a flawless but natural skin look. I start by moisturising to make the base glowy, then foundation and concealer to cover up any imperfections, and bronzer and blush to bring colour back in.

After the base is finished, I pick whatever product or idea is calling my name that day, for instance, an eyeshadow palette, a facepaint, a different eyeshadow placement shape, a new blush color, a shape I've just seen someone use in a look on Instagram, even something in real life, like a sunset or a shape I doodled the day before. To sum up my whole process of creation, I would say I let myself create without judgement.

Where do you source inspiration for your looks?
I get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. Here's a little list of things that have inspired me in the past or that continue to inspire me now:

Other makeup Instagram accounts (everyone I follow on Insta)
Tattoo designs
Nail art
Jewelry
A new eyeshadow palette
A drawing I did
A new shape I saw and have been wanting to try
Cool colour schemes
Traditional art like paintings or sculptures
Nature and its colors and shapes

But a lot of the time I just play around and just go with the flow. :)

Do you think of doing your makeup as play or work? Perhaps, a mixture of the two?
Always play. As soon as it feels like work I take a break because the best work is made when I am choosing to create as a therapeutic and recreational experience rather than doing it for another reason. If I'm stressed about numbers or money or followers or anything external, it becomes stressful and I prefer to keep doing my makeup as an enjoyable, creative outlet.

Many find the process of applying makeup to be therapeutic. Is this the case for you or does Instagram, and more specifically, your large following, put pressure on the practice?
I find makeup to be extremely therapeutic. It is such a great way for me to express myself and my emotions in an artistic and enjoyable way. I've found that my mindset towards my art is very self-centered. I do it for me, as a hobby, rather than doing it for others' enjoyment, for followers, or for money. Having this mindset gives me freedom in that I never have to stress if a look is good enough or if people will like it.

Where do you go from here? Do you plan to pursue a career in makeup or work outside of Instagram?
To be honest, I'm not great at setting long term goals, but I think makeup is something that will be with me for a long time. I loooove the idea of doing it as a job, but as I said before, as soon as there is pressure and it becomes about other people instead of something I do for me, a lot of the creativity is lost and I can get super stressed about being good enough. I'm definitely in two minds about the whole thing but I think the idea of being able to work and earn a living doing something that makes me truly happy is very appealing.