YOU ARE A BABE
KATY SMAIL, ILLUSTRATOR
APRIL 18.2012
by AIMEE BLAUT
"I work as an Illustrator and I went to school for that. I have been working freelance for about four years now. I moved to New York three years ago from Scotland, which is where I’m from. I guess it really took off once I moved to New York, it developed pretty organically with a lot of interesting people that I was meeting that are designers and photographers. I do a lot of different projects, which I love. I’m naturally drawn to working with literature. All of my personal stuff is taken from characters in books; I lean towards a kind of melancholy, old-fashioned aesthetic with tragic female characters, like Tess of the D'urbervilles [laughs], Anna Karenina -- the really sad stories. I like to take sad stories and try to make something beautiful for them to preserve it and retell it in that way. I’ve also been doing a lot of fashion and photography work, which has been really exciting. I feel like there is a new place for illustration in editorials and magazines. I’ve also been doing a lot of kids work recently, which is something I never thought I would do. I finished illustrating my first children’s book for Anthony Crane that will be published this year. He wrote a very magical old-fashioned story that rhymes; it was such a treat to get into that world. I feel very very lucky to be able to dedicate all of my energy to my work."
“I’ve transitioned all of my products to organic skincare over the past six months. I’ve become really aware of what I put on my skin. My face wash is a really gentle one called Melvita; it’ss very moisturizing. I have dry skin so I don’t like to scrub it too much. There’s this incredible brand called Kahina Giving Beauty, it’s Argan oil based and the lady who runs it is amazing. She gives twenty percent of her profits to women in Morocco who harvest the Argan oil… it’s an interesting brand and her products are so wonderful. They have this Toning Mist that I love. I used to use rose water but I felt like it didn’t do anything. This stuff smells divine and really perks up my complexion.”
“My favorite moisturizers are by Dr. Hauschka. I use her basic moisturizer in the summer and the Rose Day Cream in the winter because it’s much thicker and feels like it’s giving me a barrier. Rose is one of my favorite smells. My grandma used to use a lot of rose as well.”
“Makeup I love. I’m a big makeup junkie, though most days I have a pretty natural look. I have more fun playing up my lips than my eyes. I’ve got small eyes that tend to disappear when I smile, so they can’t take that much makeup. Sometimes I do a smokey brown eye though. I love Lancome Définicils Precious Cells for mascara. I have pretty fine lashes and their brush is pretty delicate and thin. I’m having a harder transition into natural makeup products. I just bought this amazing concealer by RMS, Uncover Up. It’s moisturizing and it doesn’t cake, so it goes on under your eyes in a lovely way.”
“My biggest makeup vice, though, is lipstick. I have so many. Recently I have been into Armani lipsticks for my natural color days. They have a smooth texture and are moisturizing but not too shiny. Then for bright colors, I like the NARS pencils. There is something really cool about it being a chunky pencil [laughs]; it looks like my colored pencils. Red Square is my favorite. Revlon also has some great colors. And Tom Ford, I have a couple of those that my husband bought for me. I adore the packaging; it’s so beautiful and they smell gorgeous and feel luxurious. They remind me of my mom. I rememeber the first time I went traveling by myself and my mom bought me a little pink lipstick and told me, ‘you should always have a pink lipstick with you.’ And now I have bowls of lipstick everywhere.”
“I’m quite a stressy, anxious person most of the time. I’m always buzzing around so I try to have a bath everyday. They really calm me down and are so relaxing. I make my own bath salts with lavender oil and epsom salts. My newest thing is using pure coconut oil to shave your legs — it’s amazing. I make my own body scrubs as well with essential oils and sugar.”
Photos by: Aimee Blaut / Illustrations by: Katy Smail
Tags: Kahina Giving Beauty, Katy Smail, Lancôme, Melvita, nars, Revlon, RMS Beauty, Tom Ford, you are a babe
