Artist Spotlight Series: Khera Alexander

Meet Khera

Makeup artist and beauty writer Khera Alexander is used to carving her own way in the world. Despite consistent roadblocks, Khera has gone back to the drawing board more than once and has built a career that is uniquely hers.

“I always reflect on [how seamless the right opportunities seem to be] when I think back on why certain things in my life have been so difficult. They just weren't aligned with what I actually wanted to be doing,” she says. “When the time was right, things kind of fell into place.”

Lights, Camera, Makeup

When it comes to her first memories with makeup, it all goes back to the stage for the Toronto-based artist. “I used to dance competitively, so I needed to do stage makeup,” she explains. “I remember my mom being very specific about where we would go for my makeup. Especially because, at the time, Black girls couldn’t just go to the drugstore. They didn’t have anything for us, so we had to go to the department stores and MAC.”

As the daughter of a single parent, Khera was sometimes left to her own devices backstage when her mom had to be with her brother who also played sports competitively, so she learned how to apply her own makeup at a young age. “I started practicing and, because the options were so limited at the time, I became fixated on finding what would work for me. If I were reading a magazine, they would be recommending these products for non-Black women, so I had to try to find the equivalent for me,” she says.

With this challenge of having to be a product-development-makeup-scientist consumer, Khera developed an understanding for how makeup worked at a different level.

“I think that’s a common experience for people of color in general. You just had to figure out how to make it work for you,” she says. “ I do think we’ve moved further away from that, but that really was where so much of the interest came from. I just remember feeling like, ‘Well I like makeup too. I like beauty too, but it’s so hard to find stuff that I can wear’.”

“When I started making my own money, I would go to MAC and buy my foundation. I can’t even explain how amazing that feeling was. To finally, not only afford what’s in the magazines that I’ve been obsessed with reading, but also to get a shade that is actually for me. It was so empowering.”

From Dance Recitals To MAC

After graduating high school during a recession and not being sure of what to do next, her mom suggested she take a makeup course. After completing the course, she got a job at Sephora and then landed at MAC.

“At the time, the industry wasn’t as explosive or saturated as it is now. It was a completely different time period where people assumed if you were a makeup artist, then you were broke. It had a different connotation at the time,” she explains. “I had a lot of discouragement from people who thought it was a waste of my potential. I also didn’t have too many frames of reference for makeup artists—who weren't celebrity makeup artists—who were doing well.”

But even with a job at one of the world’s most well-known beauty brands, it still didn’t quite scratch the itch.

“I was trying to find my footing and I found that I was having a really difficult time making my way. So, I went back to the drawing board and thought to myself, ‘What else do you like?’. I remember thinking that I’m not a writer writer, but I could see myself writing beauty-related things because I have product knowledge and I like talking about this particular topic, so I was trying to figure out what I could do with that,” she says.

This new idea led to Khera getting her Communications degree with the hopes of getting a job at a magazine.

“And that didn’t quite work out either!” she exclaims. “I applied for internships and jobs, but never heard back. Also, at the time, Toronto only had so many publications, so it wasn’t a big pool. I started thinking that maybe I wasn’t as good as I thought and that maybe it was time to put that dream to rest.”

Going Back Back to the Drawing Board

“I’m banging my head against the wall at this point because nothing is working!” she continues. “I was still at MAC because I was at least still immersed in that world. I owe a lot of my technical skills to MAC and my overall foundation, but looking back now, what I learned during that time was that I wasn’t meant to stay with a company,” she explains.

“I was meant to be on my own and do my own thing. That’s why that didn’t work out, why internships didn’t work out. It did feel like each place I was at or each environment I was in, I wasn’t completely fulfilled in either.”

Khera decided to carve her own path—combining her love of beauty and writing.

“Beauty and media were the two things I grew up loving the most, so why shouldn’t I just try again? Because everything else I'd been trying wasn’t working,” she says. “So in 2020, I reached out to Byrdie and just pitched myself. I didn’t have a portfolio at the time, but I told them that I had a Communications degree and I know what I’m talking about! If you just give me the opportunity, I can demonstrate that I know my stuff. And they said yes!”

“I think for a lot of people, it was an illuminating year. I thought to myself, ‘What if I just try to do my own thing? What if I make this job that I have my last job and give it my best shot to build my clientele and establish connections and figure out a way to do it on my own?’”

— Khera, on how 2020 pushed her forward.

Now as a working makeup artist and regular contributor to Byrdie and The Zoe Report (TZR), Khera is calling the shots in her own business. Being a freelancer comes with its own challenges, but Khera understands the value of being in business for yourself. “While entrepreneurship can often feel like brick-laying—it’s a long and challenging process—there is so much you can get out of it, " she says.

“I can really tap into the things that bring me the most joy. I get to meet and engage with different people. I never take my one-on-one time with clients for granted. I always walk away really appreciative and grateful for the time that I got to get to know someone better. “

Rapid Q’s

Favorite makeup tool?

KA: The Real Techniques Expert Face Makeup Brush (#200). I feel like it needs more awareness because it’s a game changer. It’s truly one of the best brushes I’ve ever used, but I also think it could be great for anyone who is new to makeup. There’s so many uses for this one brush and the way it’s shaped, it’s kind of error-proof. It’s amazing.

Favorite tip or trick you’ve learned?

KA: I learned this from another artist at MAC. I loved the way she did makeup and she would apply blush in such a specific way. She wouldn’t swirl the brush around in the powder blush, she would rub it. Then she tapped out the excess and would pat it on my cheek from back to front, she wouldn’t swipe it.

She explained that you get more pigment when pressing it into the skin and also by placing it at the back first (near the cheekbone) and then moving to the apples, it would last longer based on how our face’s oils absorb products. It would look more like a gradient over the day instead of a stamp of pigment on the apples of the cheeks.

Do you have a dream client?

KA: I love Maybelline, Milani, and elf for accessibility and high-performing products, so I would love to do a campaign for any of those global brands. I love Rare Beauty. For something a little higher end…I mean, I think we all love Merit.

I’m wearing them right now! My balm blush.

KA: Yes, I love it! So Merit. I also love Armani Beauty — I love that classic, romantic, whimsical style.

What do you do when you’re feeling stuck creatively?

KA: I feel like I’m still trying to find what works! I do like painting with watercolors and photography. They’re not for the internet, only for me! I really like bike riding. I do watch a lot of reality TV. I can turn my brain off and I can just watch nonsense and it’s nice.

There’s something weirdly helpful about watching those Real Housewives just go off.

KA: Yes! There’s also so much to look at too—there’s fashion and beauty, I love looking at their confessional looks. The hair, the makeup, the outfit, I love seeing a look come together!

“Being able to do makeup and write is the most fulfilling time that I’ve had in my life thus far because I’m building a life that’s entirely of my own design.”

Product Chat

What is the most underrated brand or product?

I may have to say the Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Glow Serum. I know a lot of her other products have gone viral, but I think the serum is beautiful and feels so nice on the skin.

I’m also going to say the Bobbi Brown Skin Color Corrector Sticks because I love that they have a comprehensive corrector shade range. A lot of brands go very binary in their corrector colors, but these are softer.

Let’s say your kit has suddenly disappeared and you need to replenish ASAP. What are your top 4 products that you’re instantly replenishing?

I’m definitely getting the Danessa Myricks Vision Cream Cover foundations because those have come in SO clutch. Just recently, someone I worked on had such an interesting skin tone and if I didn’t have those Danessa products, I don’t know what else in my kit would’ve worked for her.
I love the Benefit Precisely My Brow pencils. I’m such a fan of those.
I really really love the Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched face base. Based on my experience, it’s like a cream primer hybrid and it just makes the skin look so beautiful.
The NARS Cosmetics Radiant Creamy Concealer is a long-term favorite of mine. I love the way it works on so many different skin types, including mature skin, and the extensive shade range makes these concealers a must-have for me.

What are your 4 favorite products for personal use?

I’m absolutely loving the Haus Labs Foundation. I am so happy I found this — it has transformed my makeup!
I really love wearing the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush. When you master that formula, it gives your skin the most beautiful flush. I also find it fun to use because it’s not a traditional formula. I think it’s one of the best products that’s come out in a long time.
I use the Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Glow Serum every time I do my makeup. It smells delicious and gives my skin a gorgeous glow without looking greasy.
Every time I use the Milani Cosmetics Highly Rated Lash Extensions Mascara, my lashes have incredible lift, definition, volume, and length.

“So often I think, people can write off makeup like it’s some frivolous or inconsequential thing. Even when I’m talking to someone and I say that I do makeup and then I say that I write as well, their [positive] response is always for my writing. And I think, ‘why doesn’t the fact that I do makeup get the same type of respect?’ Now all of a sudden I’m smart too because I write?

Makeup is an artistry, it’s a craft, it’s a skill, it’s something that you develop. Even if it’s superficial to someone, don’t dismiss it.”

Last Word

Can we also just circle back for a moment and chat about Danessa Myricks. Talk about innovative product tech!

KA: Her BRAIN. She's truly incredible; such a talent, so inspirational, visionary, just everything.

Not to compare her to Pat McGrath because they’re two individuals, but I love to see these two women take on the industry in their own respective ways and because they’re both Black women, I really identify with them.

With Danessa, I find so much inspiration and relatability in her because she’s a makeup artist but she is also a photographer. So it’s nice to see someone who is a multi-hyphenate and is accomplishing these things.

And with Pat, I’ve been a fan since I was a child. I remember rushing home from school and pouring over images from NYFW on my desktop computer because she had keyed a lot of those shows. I remember thinking that whatever this woman does, I want to do it too. ⚡️⚡️

Where to find Khera:

💄 Instagram

💄 Website