atrick Ta was fresh off a failed venture to open a tanning salon in Arizona when he found his way to Los Angeles, and caught a lucky break. Working as a freelance makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics—“I was really lucky to have had that chance, because I learned so much about makeup,“ Ta says now—he began experimenting with makeup and diligently posting his various makeup looks on Instagram. In three-and-a-half years, 26-year-old Ta saw his following grow from 6,000 to 760,000.
At first, his makeup was heavy. “I admit that I was really heavy-handed, but didn’t realize until I started to work on my model clients, who are pros themselves,” Ta says. Joan Smalls messaged the artist through Instagram, wanting him to do her makeup for the V.M.A.s three years ago. “It was a dream come true!” Ta says. “I was so excited, and she was so amazing and taught me a lot.“ Before Joan, there was Shay Mitchell, then Gigi and Bella. After, Joan, Kris, Khloé, Kim, Kendall,Kourtney, and Kylie followed suit—all discovering him over Instagram.
Then came Jennifer Lopez.
“O.M.G., she’s just so incredible, and no one knows her light better than Jennifer,“ Ta says. Now there are other major pop stars in his life, such as Ariana Grandeand Rita Ora, plus Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima. His Instagram feed reveals a never-ending list of boldface names.
Left: Ta with Lily Aldridge. Right: with Kourtney Kardashian. Photo courtesy of Patrick Ta.
But, as we all know, the base to good makeup is good skin. So when La Mer came knocking on Ta’s Instagram door a year ago, asking him to become their ambassador, he didn’t hesitate. His favorites from the line? La Mer Renewal Oil “because it breaks down foundation better than most serums” and the Gel Moisturizer “because its texture lasts unlike heavy moisturizers, and gel is more tactful, which serves as a great base.”
Just three months ago he launched a makeup app called Flawless. “It basically shares what I know and what I used on my clients to share my knowledge,” says Ta. “The app doesn’t make any money on it, but it shows what’s good and what’s out there.” With that, here are Ta’s top three makeup tips:
- Eyes: use eye shadow as a guide before applying actual liner.
- Skin: use a foundation brush first to apply, then use Beauty Blender to blend away, but always in light push-and-tab motion.
- Finish: high-shine gloss-setting mist makes the makeup last!
Ta has more plans from here, and big ones, plus a few more famed faces that he would absolutely be over the moon to work on. Hey, Rihanna, Margot Robbie,and Julianne Moore. Are you listening?
Ta shared this as our meeting concluded: “I’d like to perfect what my look is.” It all looks pretty perfect from here.
[“Source-vanityfair”]