About The Artist

Senior Artist Rebecca Butterworth

The English countryside proved fertile ground for Senior Artist Rebecca Butterworth and her fledgling makeup career. As a way of staving off boredom due to the limited entertainment options available in her native rural Somerset, South West England, Butterworth began experimenting with beauty looks on friends and members of her family. These days, she channels English art history into looks that are at once poetic and theatrical.

Here, she opens up about blossoming from enthusiastic amateur to much-loved member of the M•A•C team.

Shine Bright Like a Diamond

“My approach to beauty is simple: Smile and think good thoughts! I will always remember the following quote from Roald Dhal, ‘A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose, a crooked mouth, a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.’ It’s why I’m always about creating natural looks that let a person’s inner beauty really shine out. My go-to look is polished skin and a great lip.”

Lashtastic

“I grew up in the idyllic Somerset countryside, which is beautiful but sometimes there wasn’t a lot to do so I occupied myself by drawing, painting and, when I got to my teenage years, putting as much makeup on me and my friends as possible! I learned then the importance of framing the eye. I love thick, lush lashes and my favourite way to cheat the appearance is to use a 212 Brush to apply a light layer of Fluidline in Blacktrack to the upper waterline. I then use the same brush to apply mascara through the bottom lashes to keep them separated and clump-free.”

Shadows of Giants

“Being an Alexander McQueen obsessive, getting to work behind the scenes on his 2007 ‘Salem Witch’ collection was a real career highlight. Especially seeing the collection come to life and watching the iconic makeup being created, (which later became a limited edition M•A•C collection). McQueen would spend hours in the Victoria and Albert Museum. If I’m looking for inspiration I’ll either take a trip down to the National Portrait Gallery and sit in front of the Pre-Raphaelites and the Holbeins, absorbing their genius, or I’ll pull out my library of art history books.”