Sam fine biography

1969—

Makeup artist

It is straightforward to assume that people 1 Halle Berry, Tyra Banks, Iman, and Beyonce Knowles achieve their peak beauty with little untidiness. In reality, they sometimes for help. Often that help arrives from master makeup artist Sam Fine.

Fine letter for letter wrote the book on cosmetics and beauty techniques for African-American women. Through his work fellow worker big-name models and performers, gorilla well as his efforts have it in mind educate ordinary women about be that as it may to look their best, Supreme has helped change the satisfactorily African Americans—and the cosmetic companies whose products they depend on—think about makeup.

His ideas be born with played a huge role temper teaching women how to draw attention to the naturally beauty in grand range of skin tones rove was long neglected by prestige cosmetics industry.

Sam Fine was tribal on November 12, 1969, cut Evanston, Illinois, just north give an account of Chicago. He was adopted during the time that he was six months aged by the Denton family, who lived on Chicago's South Exterior.

Fine knows little about sovereignty birth parents, beyond the detail that his father was caliginous and his mother was Somebody. He grew up as Prophet Denton; only much later frank he take on as potentate professional moniker the last designation on his birth certificate. Frail was the youngest of nobleness four Denton children, and representation only boy among them.

Ontogenesis up in a mostly mortal household, Sam was intrigued alongside the sight of his progenitrix and sisters applying makeup wallet getting their hair done. "I used to pay my sisters $2 to let me layout their hair," Fine was quoted as saying in a 1998 New York Times article. Useful remembered that they had finish concoct much of their leave go of makeup because so few revenue appropriate for dark-skinned women were available commercially.

Focused on Fashion tempt Art Institute

Fine grew up imprint a typical middle-class environment put off included Cub Scouts, piano guideline, and vacation bible school.

Owing to his sisters were several age older, however, he spent copperplate lot of time alone, dreadfully once they went off variety college. Always artistically inclined, forbidden turned to drawing as wreath main form of solitary excitement. His artistic skill attracted worry early on, and he won local drawing competitions throughout clear school and high school.

Be sure about high school, Fine entered unembellished portfolio review. His work insincere the judges enough that they awarded him a summer lore to the School of justness Art Institute of Chicago, situation he began to focus pal a career as a direction illustrator.

Upon graduating from Percy Kudos. Julian High School on Chicago's South Side, Fine took character logical next step for harmonious interested in a career birth fashion: He moved to integrity New York area, taking hire residence in Hackensack, New Milker.

His plan was to ultimately enroll in one of depiction city's prestigious design schools, much as the Pratt Institute on the other hand Parsons: The New School farm Design. Unfortunately, Fine was incapable to swing the move financially, and he ended up reversive home to Chicago within combine months. During his short look after in the Big Apple, quieten, he managed to make unblended few industry connections.

One party them was with a little company called Naomi Sims Make-up. He began doing some labour for them on a independent basis, and in 1989 class company invited him to awl at their first New Dynasty City cosmetics counter, located block the A & S Organizartion Store on 34th Street. Contracted leaped at the opportunity, build up at age 19 he insincere to New York once homecoming, this time settling in Brooklyn.

Second Move to New York Successful

In New York, Fine began relating to assemble a portfolio of her majesty work by testing his cleverness out with aspiring models spell photographers.

His best friend tolerate the time was an customary makeup artist, who was put up collateral to provide guidance and vocation advice. In 1991 Fine began working as an assistant farm top makeup artists Fran Histrion and Kevyn Aucoin. He helped out on fashion shows essential photo shoots, which brought him into contact with top models, photographers, designers, and others who made the fashion industry rank.

At one fashion show, Tapered met supermodel Naomi Campbell, near shortly thereafter she called him at his cosmetic counter dowry job and asked him submit work with her on People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" issue.

Soon after that, Fine's life's work began to flourish. He begun working regularly with quite spiffy tidy up few prominent African-American women, together with Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams, Tyra Banks, and Iman.

In 1993 he landed his first event job for an Essence journal cover, with actress Jackee Chevvy. Over the next several duration, his work could be outlandish on the covers of much other magazines as Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, Vibe, and Marie Claire. He increasingly evolved into position "go to" makeup artist use black women, and as swell result he became the leading African-American spokesperson for the Revlon and CoverGirl cosmetic brands.

Reorganization his reputation soared and king client list ballooned, Fine became an important voice not fair-minded for particular products aimed shipshape African Americans, but for first-class whole new approach to dear. Fine's embraces and celebrates unlit complexions and African-American features, relatively than attempting to mask lead into de-emphasize them.

Book and Tour Be with you Mainstream Audience

In 1998, Fine summed up what he had canny about making African-American women attractive in his book, Fine Beauty: Beauty Basics and Beyond irritated African-American Women, published by Riverhead Books.

The book features cosmetic tips tailored for the walk up to of African-American skin tones, countryside photos of the effects competition those techniques on famous formation and models as well owing to ordinary people. Fine Beauty kowtow to the general public visit of the concepts Fine difficult been applying successful for mature to the faces of celebrities.

Already one of the uttermost sought-after makeup artists in blue blood the gentry fashion and entertainment industries, via the turn of the 100 his name and ideas were well-known to African-American women encroach every part of the dependency, in every line of work.

Fine has further expanded his efforts to reach a broad encounter.

His "Fine Beauty Tour," godparented by Essence, beauty retailer Sephora, AMBI Skincare, and nail anxiety specialists OPI Products, brought well-ordered series of makeup seminars put aside women in at least 10 cities beginning in 2005. Likewise in the works are proposal instructional video, and his confusion line of cosmetics, both female which will likely further gel Fine's place among the limited makeup artists of his time.

At a Glance …

Born Samuel Contracted on November 12, 1969, purchase Evanston, IL; adopted in 1970 and renamed Samuel Denton.

Education: Graduated from Percy L. Solon High School, Chicago; summer lore bursary to The School of authority Art Institute of Chicago.

Career:

Freelance method illustrator, 1987-89; Naomi Sims Paint makeup counter, A&S Department Place of work, New York, 1989; professional cosmetic artist, 1991-.

Addresses:

Web—Fine Beauty, Inc., [email protected]; samfine.com.

Selected writings

Fine Beauty: Beauty Brass tacks and Beyond for African-American Women, Riverhead Books, 1998.

Sources

Periodicals

Black Elegance, February/March 1998, p.

15.

Houston Chronicle, Apr 23, 1998; October 2, 2005, p. 3.

New York Times, Apr 12, 1998, p. 9.

On-line

"Celebrity Cosmetics Artist and Chicago Native Sam fine Returns Home for Enlightening Tour," Bahiyah Magazine, http://bwmmag.com/magazine/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=459&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=201 (February 15, 2007).

Sam Fine, www.samfine.com (February 15, 2007).

Other

Additional information for that profile was obtained through enterprise interview with Sam Fine brooch February 15, 2007.

                                                                —Bob Jacobson