SOMA Magazine SOMA Fall Fashion Issue Oct 15 | Page 22

Style

Beauty is Boring
Robin Black

TEXT BY JENNIFER RICHARDSON-MOULAISON
PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBIN BLACK

There’s beauty in simplicity. Or is it the other way around? Robin
Black, a notable and seasoned creative force in makeup artistry
is the author of the distinctive blog, Beauty is Boring. There
she provides a literal, dictionary-derived definition of beauty,
describing it as “The quality or aggregate of qualities in a person
or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts
the mind or spirit.” Suffice it to say, this sterile explanative
negates the complexity that is the concept of beauty in today’s
society, which is precisely the point for Black’s blogging endeavors. Through image after image of artistically composed faces,
Black uses cosmetics as her medium for a bold commentary on
beauty. With a sporadic compilation of subjects ranging from
musicians to actors, models, friends and even strangers, her
photographic story is told with modernity and relevance. Her
images reflect anything from seasons to mood, and essentially
whatever her hands feel like doing in the moment. Black’s blog
also includes a section titled “27 Seconds” which features a
series of simple, yet oddly arresting videos. For instance, one
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such video portrays a glittering face making subtle movements
and expressions; another shows bright paint cascading down
clean, ivory skin.
Black is a highly sought-after creative force. Her work has
been shown in Vogue, Elle, Allure, Interview, Vanity Fair and
Harper’s Bazaar, and she has participated in several prestigious New York Fashion Week shows, including DVF. Beauty is
Boring is unique in that it is a platform for her personal work. For
those who enjoy engrossing themselves in imagery that depicts
beauty in varied, unique and rare forms, it’s well deserving of
your attention.
How did you initially find the correlation between beauty
as a medium for art as you use it?
It had never occurred to me that “makeup artist” was an actual
career until a friend pointed out that, since I was interested in
fashion, photography and painting, maybe it would be a fun way
to pay the bills.