Watch Jazmin Bean’s “Hybrid Creature” Extreme Beauty Tutorial
“I’m honestly just really bored of humans,” admits London-based musician and Cult Candy Cosmetics founder Jazmin Bean, explaining the impetus behind their “hybrid creature” physiognomy. Surrounded by Hello Kitty stuffed animals, Care Bears, and neatly pinned-up rows of Troll Dolls, Bean prepares for the roughly two hours of makeup required for the look. Their planning process morphs deeply personal visions into a public figure fit for a Tim Burton collaboration. “He’s just like, a genius,” Bean enthuses of Burton, aka “the biggest baddie to walk this Earth.” It was the filmmaker’s stop-motion animation in Corpse Bride and illustrated book of poems The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories that helped spark Bean’s interest in the macabre and offered artistic inspiration when they started getting into makeup as a preteen.
Drag culture, eerie Filipino folklore passed down by their grandma, Jim Henson’s muppets in Fraggle Rock, and Japanese toys also contributed to the evolution of this fantasy-creature aesthetic that, for Bean, often plays out live via Instagram. Whether they’re listening to Die Antwoord tracks in glittering pink foundation and overdrawn navy lips, posing with onyx eyes next to a timid Disneyland princess, or lounging in striped body tights and thorny painted lashes with Rick Owens muse and best friend Salvia, Bean offers a glimpse of non-binary style through an individual lens. “Non-binary doesn’t just look one way,” they explain of their proclivity for sugary frills and fawn-like features that don’t fall into a gender-specific category. “I’m inspired by all creatures,” they share. “Honestly, I’m so fascinated by how many there are—with humans you only have like, a couple types.”
To achieve this morning’s metamorphosis, Bean’s tools are laid out: “really pale” foundation, Maybelline Fit Me Powder, plenty of black mascara and inky liquid liner, Sclera novelty contacts, and their own cruelty-free Cult Candy Cosmetics palettes designed with mom Angie Adams. A former drummer for the ’90s girl punk band Fluffy, Adams shared lineups with acts like The Sex Pistols and Iggy Pop. “She was drumming [while] pregnant with me,” Bean says. It’s a performative nature that runs in the family: Bean says they’ve been “creating music for a while,” and this year they released their first single, “Worldwide Torture.” “Music and visuals are a two-piece thing; one can’t go without the other,” they note, so accordingly “Worldwide Torture” arrived as a fully realized package, including a music video dripping in elaborate prosthetics and Bean’s trademark makeup.
In the video, and back in their bedroom, Bean takes care to obscure obviously human features like the nose, using lilac eyeshadow to pronounce only the nasal tip, and liquid liner to create a more “cat-like mouth,” while mascara is dotted in drippy patterns under the lower lashes. “This is the number-one baddie step,” Bean says as they trail the wand beneath each eye for a tear-stained effect.
Exaggerating the gaze even further, a set of violet contact lenses that cover the entire iris are applied only once the outline of the look is in place (since they can often blur vision). “It doesn’t make me squeamish, but it definitely is uncomfortable having a big chunk of plastic in your eye,” Bean admits of the novelty contacts. Finally, it’s time to don the ruffled pink latex minidress and spiked collar that served as wardrobe for “Worldwide Torture” before Bean joins her tiara-topped grandma and best friend Salvia for a dinner date at Pizza Express. “It’s definitely empowering being in a group of friends that all dress as extreme as each other,” they share of their support system. Still, it’s a style rooted in personal expression, not mass appeal. “It’s not that I’m trying to be like, ‘exciting’ for everybody else, but it’s just how I feel,” Bean tells Vogue. “I just wanted to be my own, like, creature of myself.”
Director: Lily Rose Thomas
Director of Photography: Diana Olifirova, Jackie Teboul, Jack Reynolds
Focus Puller: Matteo Zenini, Kate Eccarius
Sound Recordist: Ollie Drummond, Mike McGinn
Editor: Oli Carr
Color: Tim Smith
Audio Mixer: Guy Chase
Online: James Bradley
Title Design: Jason Duzansky
Motion Design: Rinaldi Parungao for Mango Motion Design
Originally Appeared on Vogue
