The occupations that require daily hair and makeup are few and far between: a newscaster or TV host, maybe a theme park princess? And then there’s being a Kardashian-Jenner, for which it’s absolutely essential. For good or much worse, 14 years of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” steered the rudder of popular makeup trends by the sheer virtue of how often they’re wearing it in the public eye. But if the Kardashians influenced beauty, it’s only thanks to a handful of beauty industry veterans who truly created their beauty looks. Daily hair and makeup was par for the reality TV course, and as the brood rose to fame, their glam teams grew and diversified. In honor of the end of KUWTK, here’s what those creatives have been up to since.
Chris McMillan
Best known for: Well, the Rachel. But also for doing Kim Kardashian’s hair at her 2014 wedding to Kanye West in Italy. As Chris told Allure (he’s a columnist there) shortly after, he hadn’t worked with her many times before the big day—clearly his reputation preceded him.
Keeping up: He has an eponymous salon in Beverly Hills, and recently collaborated with Drunk Elephant on their haircare line. He and DE’s founder, Tiffany Masterson, are longtime family friends.
Jen Atkin
Best known for: Funnily enough, Atkin got her start at a salon in LA working alongside Chris McMillan (above) and Tracey Cunningham (below). She started coiffing the Kardashians in 2011, and has since become known for a beachy, cool girl combo of undone waves and piecey ends.
Keeping up: In 2014 she launched the hair blog Mane Addicts, and has since expanded to offer classes through Mane University in conjunction with legendary colorist Rita Hazan. Two years later she also launched her own haircare line, Ouai. Atkin still cuts and styles hair in New York, LA, and Dubai.
Mary Phillips
Best known for: If Kendall Jenner seems to have a makeup look that differs from her sisters’, it’s thanks to Mary Phillips. As she told CR Fashion Book, the LA native “[doesn’t] love when makeup is extremely overdone and super powdery. I prefer a fresher, more breathable approach.” Phillips often collaborates with Atkin and often touches Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe’s faces, too.
Keeping up: Phillips most recently did Kendall’s makeup for the cover of Vogue Hong Kong. Her celebrity client list includes a bevy of glowy beauties: JLo, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Bieber.
Tracey Cunningham
Best known for: Cunningham has tons of celebrity clients, including JLo, Jessica Biel, Charlize Theron, Emma Stone… the list really goes on and on. But in the Kardashi-verse, she’s the colorist behind Khloe’s balayage blonde. “I remember I started dyeing my hair dark… right before we started [“Keeping Up with the Kardashians”]. I think it was probably visually better that we were all these brunettes. And then after a while I was like f*ck this,” said Khloe.
Keeping up: That quote actually comes from Tracey’s new book, True Color. It’s one part guide (so you know the lingo to get what you want in the colorist’s chair) and one part bio. She’s a Redken ambassador, advisor for Olaplex, and Tracey also has her own salon in Beverly Hills called Mèche.
Mario Dedivanovic
Best known for: Contouring! Dedivanovic met Kim in 2008, and has been her go-to makeup artist ever since. He did Kim’s makeup for her wedding, Met Gala red carpets, and the KKW Beauty launch, and they also often appear on YouTube together.
Keeping up: In 2010 he launched a live educational series for artists called The Masterclass, which costs up to $1700 to attend and can last up to eight hours. He collaborated with Kim’s makeup line KKW Beauty on The Artist & Muse collection, which launched in 2019. And a year later he launched his own artistry line, Makeup By Mario.
Ash K Holm
Best known for: Kim often relies on Texas-born Holm to do her makeup for KKW Beauty, fragrance, and Skims campaigns. She transformed the Kardashian-West brood (iconically) into Tiger King Halloween costumes and is also a regular behind-the-scenes at Kardashian holiday parties, where she’ll take on the sisters and mom Kris.
Keeping up: Holm is a global celebrity makeup artist for Buxom Cosmetics and created looks for Jason Wu’s online makeup masterclass. Notably, she also did Ariana Grande’s makeup for her recent nuptials.
Patrick Ta
Best known for: When he first moved to LA, Ta quickly fell into a crowd consisting of a very young model named Gigi Hadid and an actor named Shay Mitchell. The Kardashians discovered his work on Instagram, and soon Ta started prepping their faces for days of shooting. While he’s worked with all of the sisters, he works most with Kourtney.
Keeping up: He did the makeup for the Victoria’s Secret show in 2016 and remains a model favorite. Ta is regularly featured on Kourtney’s beauty site Poosh. But most importantly, he launched his own namesake line in 2019.
Chris Appleton
Best known for: The UK-born faux silver fox is responsible for making Kim platinum multiple times. And when he works with the Kardashians, he often collaborates with Patrick Ta—as Ta told Cosmopolitan, the two just get along really well!
Keeping up: He still works with Kim a lot, and JLo too (as his Instagram page can attest). Appleton is also the Global Creative Director for Color Wow, where he’s created his own hair treatment, the Money Masque.
Ariel Tejada
Best known for: Tejada is Kylie’s makeup artist of choice, when she’s not balancing the brush between her own lacquered talons. The youngest Kardashian discovered the MUA (who was barely 19 at the time) on Instagram, slid into his DMs, and the rest is history. Still, Kylie famously doesn’t allow Tejada to apply her lip makeup. (The girl’s particular!)
Keeping up: Now 26, Tejada still mostly works with Kylie for appearances and shoots. He also has a line of brushes recently launched with Morphe.
Chaun Legend
Best known for: Kylie and Khloe’s craziest manicures. The nail artist, who was born in a refugee camp in Cambodia and immigrated to the US when he was three, blew up after Kylie liked one of his Instagram posts in 2016. (Noticing a trend? Instagram artists, stay vigilant!)
Keeping up: In addition to the Kardashians-Jenners, Legend also regularly works with Cardi B (he was behind her viral ombre Louis Vuitton-inspired manicure) and Zendaya. More recently, he was charged with Grammy red carpet manicures for Dua Lipa and Her.
Mia Jackson
Best known for: You likely know Jackson by her professional name Tokyo Stylez, and you’ve definitely seen her wigs on the Kardashian-Jenner clan. She made an appearance on Kylie’s spinoff “The Life of Kylie” and is behind most of her quick hair color changes (including several Met Galas).
Keeping up: In 2020 Jackson starred in her own Snapchat show called “Queen of Stylez”. She’s also picked up some new celebrity clients, like Rihanna and Cardi B. (Remember the sculpted chain hair in the WAP music video? All Tokyo.)
Cassondra Kaeding
Best known for: When Kylie isn’t wearing wigs, she often leaves her hair in Cass Kaeding’s hands. The bleached front chunks (or “money pieces”) Kaeding gave Kylie last year arguably launched the two-toned trend into popular culture faster than you can say sodium hypochlorite.
Keeping up: The Redken brand ambassador set up an outdoor home salon during COVID, so her clients (which include Miley Cyrus, Hailey Bieber, and Olivia Munn) didn’t have to miss a gloss.
Photo via ITG
