Mastering "Self" w/ Ming Hui

When I came across Ming Hui’s work, I was immediately inspired by how playful she is in creating these beautiful moments of art and expression. I wasn’t trying to analyze a cut crease or how well her cheekbones were being accentuated by a contour - I just wanted to take a closer look at her world, who she is as an artist and what influences her choices. Upon interviewing her, I discovered that all of what I observed was intentional which gave me a sense of calmness that I don’t typically experience outside of doing my own makeup. Artistry and makeup, to me, are all about making the experience, for yourself and your audience, one that’s centered in authenticity. It feels like every week I have a favorite, but I saved this one for last because she truly captured the reason why I decided to create this Beauty & Social Justice series in the first place.

The further along in life we get, the less likely a lot of us are to take second looks at anything. Unless our careers call for it, we take a lot of things at face value. We sum people up in one interaction, we determine our favorites off of first experiences and hardly ever take the time to look back. Ming Hui is inspired by everything, and as a graphic design student, she understands what it truly means to believe that the possibilities are endless. Thank you so much, Ming Hui - first, for your patience with me in publishing your piece and second, for being so fearless in your creativity. Here’s what Ming Hui shared with me about how she got started and how makeup artistry is fueling her now.

What piqued your interest in makeup?

In 2018, I discovered @melovemealot on Instagram and I loved how she would just doodle on her face with eyeliner and it looked so carefree and fun and I was like "Hey, I wanna do that too!"

When did you start doing your own makeup?

I started playing around with makeup in 2017 when I was still in high school. I did my own makeup for prom and I used lipstick for my eyeshadow, blush and lips since I had a limited amount of tools and products to work with.

When did you start providing makeup services?

I haven't done any makeup on other people before. I would love to try it out someday in the future but I'm quite scared though!

What inspires your looks?

Anything and everything around me. Sometimes it's random objects, sometimes it could be inspired by famous phrases or idioms! When I'm in a creative rut, I usually go on Pinterest and look at illustrations and graphic design posters.

What elements from your culture(s) and/or environment impact your makeup looks?

I'm Chinese, and I occasionally do looks inspired by my culture i.e. dragon looks!

Describe your experience of building a brand online as a makeup artist.

When I first started out doing creative makeup looks on my personal Instagram page (not so personal anymore), which mostly consisted of pictures such as normal selfies of my friends and me, it looked pretty out of place but as time went on, my page eventually got flooded with more makeup looks and most acquaintances I knew in real life would just know me as the "girl who does makeup". I think quite a lot of people didn't like my makeup content and unfollowed me but that doesn't really matter anymore because I've found a community of friends and mutuals who share the same passion and interest in makeup as I do!

I found a lot of them through hashtags (these are very useful because you can find similar makeup content you might enjoy and brands could also look for you there. Putting hashtags under my posts also helped me gain a lot of followers too!) In August 2019, I made a game inspired video and edited it in After Effects to look like the makeup and dress up games we all used to play online. It garnered over 30 thousand views on Instagram and I gained a lot of new followers too - another amazing thing that happened was that I was approached by this viral video show from America and they featured my video on one of their episodes!

What social justice causes/topics of discussion are you passionate about? Do you incorporate any of them into your makeup?

The topics of discussion I am passionate about are sexism, racism and sexual abuse. I don't really think of incorporating them into my looks, but I did work on a project in my graphic design course about sexual abuse where I created flashcards to debunk the common myths and misconceptions about them!

How have you been impacted by COVID-19? And what role has makeup played in your life since "sheltering-in-place" restrictions were mandated?

My mental health hasn't been great lately while being in the lockdown, but makeup has been a form of therapy for me. Blending eyeshadow is just so calming and therapeutic to me!

Favorite Food: Cinnamon Rolls, Tteokbokki (Korean Rice Cakes) and Xiao Long Bao (Chinese Dumplings)