Introducing the beauty cohort of the 2023 Dazed 100
Dazed 100ALICE DODDS
London-based make-up artist Alice Dodds’ portfolio is rich with clown-inspired body paint, perfectly bimbo-like false eyelashes and glossed lips, alien-like eyebrows and coloured contact lenses. Taking inspiration from the circus, as well as the goths and bikers she would see while growing up in her seaside town, her make-up is free from the restrictions of conventional beauty norms. Her work has appeared in publications including Dazed, The Face and Interview, and for clients like Diesel, Isamaya Beauty and Adidas.
“Beauty is making choices completely of your own volition; autonomy over every choice you make when it comes to how you work, live, express yourself,” she says.
Dazed 100ALONA SOBOLEVSKA
Ukrainian nail artist Alona Sobolevska is a self-described art brut – someone whose work is a raw expression of emotions, unrestricted by convention. Based in Paris, her sculptural nails are less about having a nice manicure and more a comment on our fickle hyper-consumerist society. From taloned toenails bursting out of an Asics trainer to cigarette butt nails, her work provides a visual mood board for this increasingly confusing and complex generation.
“Sometimes I [create] to make fun of fashion, trends and their followers,” she says. “[But most of the time] my message is that you don’t need to look for a message in everything you see.”
Dazed 100AYA KURAOKA
Aya Kuraoka is a London-based, Japan-born hairstylist and wigmaker. Dynamic, with a punk, rebellious flair that emphasises individuality, she embraces surreal and impressionistic looks that challenge traditional notions of hair colour and style. From rainbow pigtails and choppy, asymmetrical fringes to Kill Bill-esque jellyfish cuts and tie-dye streaks, Kuraoka’s distinctive, out-of-the-box personality is reflected in every hairdo she creates. For Polyester Zine, she styled wigs for Euphoria actress Chloe Cherry and she has also worked with designers like Kiko Kostadinov and Cormio.
“Through my work, I am trying to convey how hair can change the way people look, and the joy of fashion and the freedom of expression,” she says. “People should enjoy their favourite fashion without worrying about what others think!”
Dazed 100BRIT PHATAL
From classic old-school glam to the weird and wonderful (think: natto slime being stretched across someone’s cheeks), Vietnamese-Canadian make-up artist Brithani Phatal celebrates beauty in all its forms. With a particular zest for transformation and fantasy, their portfolio bursts with colour, texture and patterns – it’s usually unusual and always delightful. Now LA-based, Phatal has worked with names like Julia Fox and Princess Gollum as well as brands including Diesel.
“For as long as I can remember, I would always get bored of the way I look and want to transform myself,” they say. “Now I give people the opportunity to transform the idea of who they think they are into who they want to be... I believe I was put on this earth to empower and heal through the fantasy.”
Dazed 100CHUYAN WANG
Chuyan Wang AKA Mochi Hanfu is carving out a space online to appreciate and reinterpret traditional Chinese culture through make-up looks. Half-Chinese and raised in Seattle, Wang started translating ancient history into living present through her work over lockdown and in the process found that she relearned to love her features through embracing make-up that was actually made for them. Now she is sharing these aspects of Chinese culture with a new generation on TikTok one huadian (forehead design), xiehong (temple cut), and yedian (dimple dot) at a time.
“Above all I’m just trying to show how beautiful and rich Chinese fashion is,” she says. “I think a lot of people think of China as pretty monolithic but I want to show that it’s actually very, very diverse.”
Dazed 100CIARA IMANI MAY
Ciara Imani May is the founder of the first ever plant-based faux hair brand Rebundle. A sustainable alternative to traditional synthetic braiding hair, Rebundle uses banana fibre to create its extensions which are designed to be less irritating to the scalp as well as better for the environment. Ultimately, May’s mission is to dramatically reduce the health and environmental disparities in the hair extensions industry.
“Back in the summer of 2019, I was trying to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle after learning about the circular economy and zero waste. I realised that I could never truly be sustainable if I didn’t address the waste my hair care routines created,” May told Ebony magazine.
Dazed 100DEE CARRION
If you have found yourself admiring the creativity and skill of Rico Nasty’s wildly experimental make-up looks then you will have, perhaps unknowingly, been appreciating the work of Dee Carrion. Defiantly nonconformist, Carrion’s glam-punk looks involve intricate linework full of life and colour that swirl across the faces of her clients who also include Sza, Tems and Doechii.
But it’s for Nasty that she creates the most unforgettable looks that stem from nothing but pure imagination. “Dee does this thing where she draws all her make-up looks, she always shows me a bunch of different options of what I’d like. If one day I’m feeling the colours green and orange she would draw lips featuring a combo of those colours,” says Nasty.
Dazed 100OH SEONG SEOK
In Oh Seong Seok’s work, there is a constant presence of the eerie and the alien. The Seoul-based make-up artist and headpiece maker has an eye for the surreal, combining darkness with more gentle, even childlike elements for results that you can’t look away from. There’s the series of gimp masks he created for Korean rapper Mudd the Student, the delicate, painterly watercolour looks, playful faces adorned with stickers and Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Working closely with former Dazed 100 photographer Cho Gi-Seok, Oh has collaborated on shoots for magazines like Dazed Korea, Vogue Korea, Allure and Elle Korea, and brands including Gucci.
“I create images through repetition. I don’t think too hard, and have no prejudice. I try to see things intuitively. I believe this improves my make-up and my work,” he says.