A makeup mix-up: Kasia Stanicich
Kasia Stanicich holds a lifetime of knowledge in the beauty realm. What was once promoting her makeup artistry online, has morphed into a world of tips and tricks, capsule wardrobes, and brand trips. Metropol writer Nina Tucker catches up with her about how she balances it all.
When the young Kasia finished school, she planned to study tourism in Queenstown. Waiting for an intake, Kasia trained in makeup artistry at Kristen Stewart School of Makeup. “Fair to say, I loved it so much I never moved,” she notes. Booked years ahead for weddings, and specialising in occasion makeup, Kasia now has more than eight years of experience in the makeup industry, and six years in bridal. Kasia Stanicich Makeup is a popular artistry brand locally, and her name is growing rapidly in the beauty and skin industries.
“The educational aspect is at the forefront of everything I do,” Kasia mentions. She holds makeup lessons to teach others the best way to use it, and online gives what’s hot and what’s not tips in all things beauty and skincare, while also pushing the importance of SPF. It’s everything from explaining skin undertones for the right foundation choice, sharing when a new product has launched in Christchurch beauty stores, demonstrating how to wear sunscreen underneath makeup, and constantly offering up her knowledge through Q&As online. Kasia has earned a top spot as a New Zealand influencer. Aiming for authentic, candid, and educational, she navigates between online age groups to gain a wide following.
Advice is delivered simply, as if talking to her best friend. Except, there are 25,000 of them on Instagram. “It’s still a very modest number of people in the scheme of things, but I certainly couldn’t get on stage in front of that many,” she laughs. Her brand grew through her blog, and the growth followed to her social media platforms. “I work in the space, so my beauty content is simply an extension of my day-to-day,” she adds. It was unintentional, but she mentions it’s a huge privilege. For some, posting online is a claim to fame. For Kasia, it was completely unexpected, and has become the perfect medium to educate others on beauty and skincare. “If I can’t make something educational, then I see it as noise.”
Kasia’s capsule wardrobes provided a sense of ‘fashion fun’ and excitement for women working, or wanting to get back to workwear during lockdown. What began on her blog, with popular Kiwi stylist Steph Bellamy, turned into the perfect getaway when the internet felt so heavy and everyone had too much spare time. “I basically cleaned out my wardrobe and filmed it. I think my audience, and myself, needed a little reprieve from the weight of the world, and it felt like the perfect time.” The capsules refined her own style and values in clothing, resulting in more curated content.
That niche fashion content has seen her at fashion weeks, and invited to impart her styling wisdom at events such as Dressing for the Corporate World, held by the University of Canterbury’s Women in Business Club. If you’re wondering, Kasia’s top five garments are a trench coat or blazer, tailored straight leg black pants, a white tee, a perfect pair of jeans, and white sneakers. Her typical day is far different to what you’d expect for a makeup artist, juggling three jobs and very little spare time. Each facet started with the grasp of a makeup brush, and blossomed “quite naturally. None were sought out, which is why I love each one of them so much”, Kasia explains.
Four days a week, she is part of the Harcourts Grenadier administration and operations team; a role that provided structure, security, and balance for Kasia during the Covid-19 pandemic when close-contact businesses struggled. It’s “unbelievably refreshing” to have colleagues, she says. On Thursday afternoons, she heads home to accommodate makeup lessons and bridal trials. Friday and Saturday are naturally dedicated to makeup clients, leaving Sunday as her day to relax, and share her advice online. “Sundays are for creating content, cleaning the house, and watching Formula 1,” she adds.
In the name of spending quality time with her loved ones, Kasia loves to host, and loves to have those she hosts admire her beautiful tablescapes. Otherwise, she’s relaxing with a classic coke. “None of this zero stuff.” When asked about her social and personal life, Kasia laughs. In search of those relaxed weekends, she’s pulling back her artistry workload, slowly but surely. Social media is flexible, yet constant. She tries to avoid the, ‘so, what do you do?’ question, steering around the word influencer, and then landing on it anyway “because despite all the jargon that’s exactly what I am”. Building her brand has been a “strange” journey, defining what ‘influencer’ means to her. “I definitely had a period of time where I took on work and created content that I definitely wouldn’t now.”
Partnering with brands that focus on good skin and beauty health, such as promoting beauty giant MECCA’s recent Cashel Mall store opening are her way forward. A “loud and proud Cantabrian,” the “beauty playground” launching in her home town was a huge moment. Other occasions such as MC’ing an event for Kiehls, and skincare brand La Roche Posay (products she’s used since a teenager) inviting her on a Sydney brand trip, elicit “audible screams,” upon opening the emails. “I spent the whole trip with my head spinning in circles,” she explained.
Kasia continues to juggle the whirlwind that is her life, yet she’s never too busy to bring the energy for her makeup clients, her office colleagues, or the people scrolling online who need a friend for fashion, beauty, and skincare advice.
Featured image: Hannah Bird
