“Mix It Up” by Mikael Schulz for Models.com

Photographer: Mikael Schulz. Source: Models.com. Makeup: Lyle Reimer. Hair: Linda Shalabi.

Posted Jun 10, 2016

Mikael Schulz captures the craft of creative application in “Mix It Up” for Models.com. Definitions are detrimental, as the art of expression is met through the act of mental movement. The ability to move past your fears and move into something deeper, that is an act of inspiration. Conversion allows for change while metamorphosis can start a revolution. (Makeup/Mixed-Media Artist) Lyle Reimer takes this conceptual step to the next level, a place with no limits, where you can go “behind the gates” to conjure and create. To meet yourself in another form is an opportunity to see the inner workings of your mind. In one of the most inspired tributes to the concept of creative cosmetics, LyleXOX shows us that bravery breeds beauty. An anomalous turn of neo-brows resets the stage by giving the face a futuristic effect. Cloaked in chaos, each image appears chaotic but adheres to a deeper sense of self. Winged shadow flies out the sides with safety pins adhering to faux lashes below. Architecture acts with utter abandon, as flat, black moves over the mouth evolving into an exquisite aubergine.

Mint green blasts a flash of paint-like color over the face, as glitter tops things off, with a line of shine lifting up the brows. Gold statues come straight from the cheeks, as silk strings fall out the other end. Aquamarine is held in a dream seeing all things go silent in a state of the extreme. Bejeweled beauty becomes, as the mouth speaks without saying a word, allowing a gem to dangle down in defiance. The Bird-Man Cometh… a combination that brings one of the most compelling transformations we’ve seen this season. The eyes breed a kind of tonal tenacity, leaving pretty perched at the tip of the lips. Their yellow and orange bodies stretch out behind them, as black fringe drops like a pseudo beard. Ears are completely covered in green paint as long, pointed sticks hang from the nose. Animalistic in flavor, blue beaks speak in poetic harmony as birds peck in concurrent majesty.

The mutiny of blue blasts off with alien like features embracing the orbital area. Like skin being tagged, spay-paint marks the forehead, with a unique array of letters and numbers. Clean upper lashes make way for a surprise, with a line of lower falsies covered in aqua-marine. Diamond discs lay over the face, letting large lids (topped with spoons) feign being earrings. Scarlet takes shape, as toothpicks are broken up and placed in a unique design, as a line of shiny pearls provides a boundary. The top pops with two guitars facing off as black lips ignite. Linda Shalabi celebrates the craft of haute coiffure by honoring each conceptual difference. Reimer refers to the famous Sex and the City Line, “I’d rather have a Vogue Magazine than Food,” showing just where his priorities lie, with mine (haha).