02.13.2019
Episode 95: Kimberly Soane, Executive Director of Artistry at Bobbi Brown
Summary

Don’t have a clear career path? At a crossroads? Then take Kimberly Soane’s lead. The veteran makeup artist and Executive Director of Artistry at Bobbi Brown has a career she loves, and gets clear about what motivated her. She went from psych major to beauty counter manager, to traveling the world with legendary makeup artist Bobbi Brown.

Hear her full story in this episode.

Dan Hodgdon
Transcript
AnnouncerWelcome to WHERE BRAINS MEET BEAUTY® hosted by Jodi Katz, Founder and Creative Director of Base Beauty Creative Agency.
Jodi KatzHey everybody, I'm excited to introduce Kim Soane. She is the Executive Director of Artistry for Bobbi Brown, and my neighbor.
Kimberly SoaneThat's right.
Jodi KatzWelcome to Where Brain Meet Beauty™.
Kimberly SoaneHi, so thank you for having me.
Jodi KatzI usually get to see you at the gym-
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzOr by the train.
Kimberly SoaneNo makeup is on.
Jodi KatzWait, at the gym we all look a little busted. It's okay.
Kimberly SoaneIt's so true. And then people see you at the grocery store afterwards and they're like, "Oh, that's a good before and after."
Jodi KatzWe all clean up really well.
Kimberly SoaneRight?
Jodi KatzThe hair, the lip gloss.
Kimberly SoaneMm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jodi KatzHow are you going to spend your day today?
Kimberly SoaneI was, at 6:00a.m., did our bootcamp, and then caught the train into the city, was in a meeting for like 9:30 talking about holiday and how to drive sales for holiday. Then was finishing artistry notes because part of my job as Executive Director for Artistry is to make sure that all the artists at the counters in the US are getting some sort of direction, or at least an inspirational tip or makeup hack, and we're driving a whole service program.

So I was finishing that up to present to the field, and then came up here, which is so exciting because I get to leave the office. I Instagramed my whole way up here. Then this afternoon, more meetings, meeting with a retailer, Bloomingdale's, to talk to them about ... and we present spring now. So showing up with spring launches and then I will ... I don't have to race home, so that means I can catch a little bit of a later train.
Jodi KatzThat's cool. This sounds like the coolest job you can have if you're a makeup artist. How did get this job?
Kimberly SoaneI started in psychology, and I so wanted to help people. I always loved people, curious about people, and went through much ... sort of do college. I'm from Canada originally, so university. Then okay now it's Master's, and started a Master's program in Psychology, and I quickly realized I don't have the patience level to really help people, to go there. I remember sitting and talking to people and thinking, "Oh, just put a little blush on. You'll feel so pretty. You'll feel better."

My sister was a model and she used to come home and show how to do makeup on herself, and I was so mesmerized by it. But I still was sort of brought up to think, oh I'm the brain one, not artistic. We weren't raised to think that the arts is a career option. Moreso it's like teacher, lawyer, doctor, something. So I went on and actually became a personal assistant to Hilary Weston, and the Weston family, in Canada, they own Holt Renfrew in Canada, they own Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason, and Brown Thomas in Ireland. A big, huge fashion family.

Mrs. Weston used to have a makeup artist come to the house and do her makeup. I was like, "What? That's a job?" From there, I fell in love with makeup, and all my friends in their mid-20s were getting married. I literally, I did my sister's wedding as the first go at doing makeup, and to this day is thankful ... she actually got divorced and ripped up those pictures because the makeup is so bad-
Jodi KatzIs it really so bad?
Kimberly SoaneIt's so bad. We all wore iced blue puffy dresses, and then so I did ice blue eyeshadow and then white frost because I'd read like lighten up the brow bones, and all you can see in these photos are these white eyebrows. We look like raccoons. So my sister is actually getting remarried next year, so I've been hired on.
Jodi KatzOh, good.
Kimberly SoaneSo hopefully it'll be better. From there I started doing everyone's makeup for weddings, and I just got better and better. I think it came naturally. I talk to so many people now and they go to makeup school, which I would never deter from, but I didn't have that route, I just started doing makeup for weddings. Then finally, I had actually become a buyer in cosmetics, and I had worked in retail, but in the office side. I was a buyer. I remember sitting in the meetings talking about the latest mascara launch, and I would look around and think, "Why is no one wearing the mascara?" I found myself just constantly ... and I finally quit the office job-
Jodi KatzWas this a buyer for one of their…
Kimberly SoaneYep, Loblaws- Which is a grocery chain.
Jodi KatzMm-hmm (affirmative).
Kimberly SoaneSo I was the buyer-
Jodi KatzWhat was it called?
Kimberly SoaneLoblaws.
Jodi KatzLoblaws.
Kimberly SoaneYeah.
Jodi KatzDoes it still exist?
Kimberly SoaneIt does. It's amazing. If you're ever in Canada, go to Loblaws. They're the most amazing grocery stores. Beautiful, amazing. I was the one who bought the Maybelline mascaras and the Loréal eyeshadows. I just was not happy sitting at a desk and planning numbers and budgets. I just quit, and I went and worked at a makeup counter. I started at Bobbi Brown Cosmetics makeup counter, and-
Jodi KatzAt what store?
Kimberly SoaneAt Holt Renfrew, at Blure and Young, was the flagship store. I got eaten for lunch every day by these women and guys who could sell ice to an Eskimo. It would take me an hour and a half to do a makeup, and somebody might buy an eyeshadow. I was just not ... but I was determined and I loved it. I worked my way up, became the Counter Manager, and then became the Coordinator for the region, and helping drive events. At that time, they used to bring us down to New York for training from Toronto. Bobbi and the team in New York saw me and met me, and then they would see how I taught and trained.

Three years later I got offered a job to come and train New York City, to move here. At the time I was madly in love with a boyfriend, and he said, "No, you've got to go because you can always come home." So I went, and I haven't left. That was 15 years ago. I was fortunate enough to work with Bobbi. She and I clicked, and I worked by her side and trained, and toured, and did global, and did all the photo shoots and 16 years of Fashion Weeks. Now I'm Executive Director of North America for Artistry.
Jodi KatzThis is so awesome. It's so cool that you started as having a path which you thought would be helping people in their own heads, and you shifted and you just got a job.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzLike you just got a job, right?
Kimberly SoaneYeah.
Jodi KatzWere you this person who is super frustrated or impatient with like, "When am I going to find that next big thing? When am I going to be what I always dreamed of?" Were you somebody who was programmed that way?
Kimberly SoaneNo. No, I've always, even now, I have days where I might not feel happy, and I think will just go and work in a store. For me, I have to just feel happy. It wasn't about the money, or the title, or achieving, or being Bobbi Brown. It was just a sense of waking up every day and feeling happy. That's what drives me, even until today.
Jodi KatzSo if you're having a low day you'll just go to a local counter-
Kimberly SoaneI'll go work at Saks, I'll go stop and work with the Bloomingdale's team for a few hours, I'll leave the office early, I'll do some Instagram Stories, I'll pull one of the girls in the office and show the before and after, because that's sort of my happy place. The real reason why I got into makeup was to help women feel better, or look better-
Jodi KatzRight.
Kimberly SoaneAnd to me, now it comes so naturally. When I get frustrated about ... like I've sort of worked my way so back up that I'm in the office. But I do have days where I'm like, "I don't know what the strategy is going to be in 2025." For what? I'll go and be like, "Oh, we'll fix your eyebrows," and they'll fix someone's eyebrows.
Jodi KatzSo you were looking to be a therapist, but you actually are a therapist, right?
Kimberly SoaneYeah, I am. It's interesting, even last ... while we're filming now, we're talking now, it's October, and we did the breast cancer awareness, and I'd helped a woman last week for Stage IV Cancer, mom with a young son, and did her makeup, and the before and after and how she felt, and showing her a few tips of what she could do, that's truly the why behind why I love makeup. I think lots of people in the beauty industry are in it for different reasons, and mine is the feel good, like the helping part of it.
Jodi KatzRight, so this is the coolest job you could have a makeup artist, right, because you get to be in the store and talk to customers, and hear from their directly, but you get to drive forward the ideas and thinking of the brand, work with a brand that's really loved, have access to all these products. What's the hardest part about this now?
Kimberly SoaneThe hardest part about the job, I think now because Bobbi has left, for me, it was getting over that. And I'm not even over that per se because I miss her so much, and it's now continuing to have the excitement and the wherewithal to keep moving forward, but also staying true to that place where I was raised in, Bobbi Brown herself. So I feel a huge sense of responsibility to make sure the authentism, if that's a word, about the brand stays true, but also continues to move forward with the trends in today's environment.
Jodi KatzRight, so I get ... sometimes I feel like vomiting the newness in our industry, because there's so much and it makes me feel really anxious, and kind of miss the days where it was a little bit slower, right? There was always newness, but it wasn't like a churning factory-
Kimberly SoaneConstant.
Jodi KatzHow do you deal with that?
Kimberly SoaneA thought in my head, when I see newness, I automatically slot it into sort of categories. Is it in the skincare category? Is it in the foundation category? Concealers? Powders? Treatments? Serums? Masks? Within that, I really look at what's the ingredients because at the end of the day, a lot of it is the marketing, and how is it being spun, and the cuteness behind the story, or the emotional connection to the product. So I kind of will step back from that noise and be like, "What's really in it? Oh, there's Sodium Hyaluronate and Hyaluronic Acid? Okay. All right, well let's see will that actually really plump my skin."

You know, I'm always looking for a lip plumper, and I read it and I'm like, "Oh, it's just extra Hyaluronic Acid, okay you don't need to buy it, or I don't need to show that product development." I find that, and knowing that, and if somebody doesn't know what the ingredients are, you can so easily look up ingredients and just compare what's on the label. It's almost like with food today. Look what's on the label and then see, "Does it really matter to me? Is it really something cool that’s going to make a difference?"
Jodi KatzWhen you're at the counter and outright events talking directly with consumers, do you feel like the consumer is really, really knowledgeable, or are some of them still a little lost about, "I know what to do. I don't know the order of use." Is it like 50/50? What do you find in the people you interact with?
Kimberly SoaneIt depends on where I am and what retailer I'm at. You get a full array. So more and more, all of the information and research is saying the consumer is much more knowledgeable and they have access to so much more information. I find what happens a lot is women will come to the counter, or girls will come to the counter, and they know what they've seen. They'll know what they want to try. But it's a big of a whole other ball game of whether or not it works for them, and whether or not if it works for them, would they in fact do it every day?

Would they want to in fact, invest and buy a product that they would do, and use it and fall in love with it? That, I find, is a little bit of a different vibe. "Oh my gosh, I just saw this cool post on this awesome eyeliner, but I don't know if I'd do that every day," well let me show you how and that's where I find the how to videos, or having a real artist, a counter, that real touch, is what then makes somebody fall in love with it, or feel confident to buy it.
Jodi KatzRight. So it's a different tactic in terms of managing the customer at that moment, right?
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzLike you're not introducing her to things because she's always been introduced. It's your really educating-
Kimberly SoaneYeah, personalizing it for them.
Jodi KatzRight. Is it possible that's just not right for them?
Kimberly SoaneTotally. So much so. One of our best selling foundations, it's a long wear, I'm wearing it today, it's long wear, it's oil-free, and it's full coverage. Is that right for everybody? No. But it's an amazing product, and so many women will come to the counter and they're like, "Oh, I just saw there was a new foundation out by the counter,” I'm like, "Yes, we can show it to you and try it, but I'd love to show you X. This one's more moisturizing. You're telling me you don't even wear foundation every day. Let's try something a little more sheer," and then that way you adjust it for them.
Jodi KatzRight. I love the art of retail sales, and I don't have a ton of experience in it, but I worked at a brand that had 150 stores for a while, so I got to be in-store, skincare and fragrance. So this idea of really listening, but also knowing with you kind of being ready for all those next steps, it's so hard. When I think about all of the visual merchandising demands we put on the staff and all the marketing and event-related stuff we put on the staff, I think about, "Well actually they just need to really focus on this," the craft of understanding the product, understanding the customer, how to navigate them, how to make them feel comfortable and heard. We can't expect them to be hanging things from the ceiling because it's just too much.
Kimberly SoaneIt is. It's so much. So much comes down like today, in today's environment, you can go into so many stores and pick anything off of the gondola, and look online and follow YouTubers. So if you are with somebody who's in store and they're also brand-specific, so they've been trained by that brand. You know that they've got the knowledge and that person's job really is to help personalize that brand for you. It truly is today about you, the customer, and what do you want versus me sort of forcing it all on you.

That's where ... the artists that we have for instance in New York, they're the best of the best at ... it's like a customer care personalization and long term. I would say, "Don't be a great first date. I want you to be an awesome long term relationship with all your clients." Get to know them, follow up, build that knowledge. Like, "No, oh a certain product did just launch and that would be perfect for-" Or, "Oh, that might be perfect for her sister. She always talks about her daughter and how she was looking-" and that's how the in-store engagement really should happen.
Jodi KatzLet's talk about women over 40.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzI am one of them, I am 43.
Kimberly SoaneYou look amazing.
Jodi KatzThank you.
Kimberly SoaneYour skin is so good.
Jodi KatzThank you. I mean I-
Kimberly SoaneWhat do you-
Jodi KatzI do take care of myself, but I do think a lot of it has to do with genes.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzMy mother and grandmother have incredible looking skin, but I don't drink and I don't smoke, and I don't drug. And I do really sleep.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzAnd I-
Kimberly SoaneI often think about you when I'm going to have a glass of red wine, I'm like, "Jodi doesn't have a drink."
Jodi KatzIt sucks all the moisture out of my body, alcohol-
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzI just feel so dehydrated after it. I'd wake up at 2:00 and 4:00 in the morning just feeling like sandpaper everywhere.
Kimberly SoaneRight, it is, it's like empty calories, too.
Jodi KatzYeah, and so I think that that helps my skin, but I think so much of this is genetics. I can look at my grandmother in her 80s, her skin is so incredible.
Kimberly SoaneYou're beautiful. Wow.
Jodi KatzI'm grateful for my genes.
Kimberly SoaneAnd you take good care of your skin.
Jodi KatzI do, but I don't put everything on it. I have serums on my counter. Do I use them? No. Do I use sunscreen? Yes.
Kimberly SoaneRight. Yeah.
Jodi KatzYou know, I'm a moisturizer sunscreen girl.
Kimberly SoaneI find whenever I compliment and you start talking to them, it's sunscreen. Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen.
Jodi KatzWell that sun is really tough and damaging.
Kimberly SoaneEvery day, use of sunscreen -
Jodi KatzWell my every day use of it has been new. That's like a new thing this year. I would be somebody who, in my heart, would want to wear sunscreen every day, but I just didn't know how.
Kimberly SoaneRight.
Jodi KatzBut I am really grateful that I found the right product for me now-
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzBut I definitely have sun spots on the side of my face because I think driving the car, David would usually drive and I sit in the passenger seat when we go out for long drives or whatever as a family, and I have all that sun on me. This is everywhere where the sun spots are for the most part. They're probably on this side.
Kimberly SoaneThat's how we met, because you were testing that sunscreen.
Jodi KatzOh that's right, yes. Yes. In our bootcamp.
Kimberly SoaneAnd it didn't sweat.
Jodi KatzAnd it's an Ulta MD product, UV Clear, so you can put it on and it blends right in, like you don't have white stuff all over you, and then we are all different skin tones, and we all tested it and we weren't sweating white, dripping stuff all over us. It's really phenomenal.
Kimberly SoaneYeah.
Jodi KatzThat was a fun way to meet you, at the gym. Okay, but let's talk about women over 40.
Kimberly SoaneOver 40.
Jodi KatzYou actually have a specialty in working with women over 40.
Kimberly SoaneYes, I do.
Jodi KatzWhat does that mean?
Kimberly SoaneIt means that when you're over 40, a lot of times your lifestyle is different than, at least it is for me, when I was in my early 20s or even when I was in my 30s. Lifestyle plays a big role on what does beauty mean to you, and I think keeping it simple, knowing the awesome basics, and nailing the basics, is the best tool to have. From that base point, then you can play and do a flick eyeliner.

You can try a fun, crazy lip color. You can go for a glittery eyeshadow. But knowing how to make your skin, your features, your eyes, your brows, everything look its best, that is, to me, the goal of being in 40+ and what amazing beauty is. That is what I constantly am trying to show women, and I find so many women I've met, when they're over 40, late 30s into their 50s, a lot of women are like, "Oh, I've given up," or "I used to do that, I don't do it anymore."

To show a bit of the humor, a bit of the achievable simplicity on beauty, can reignite ... I found a lot of women to be like, "Oh, actually let me try that," and to be almost that spokesperson for them to be like, "Hey, oh my gosh, your eyes with three coats of mascara, do you know how gorgeous your brown eyes are?" They're like, "Oh, I gave up doing mascara. I found it too hard. I need glasses now." I'm like, "Oh my gosh. Here's a magnifying mirror. Let's put on two or three coats." And that simple approach of embracing your unique beauty, that's what motivates me to really help women 40+.
Jodi KatzSo this is a topic we talk a lot about-
Kimberly SoaneOkay.
Jodi KatzAt my agency, my day job, because many of us are 40+.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzWe are also people who study consumer behaviors, right? So we talk about our own consumer behaviors. I do think that I'm shopping the industry differently than I did in my 30s and 20s, with brand new eyes, because my style has changed. My kids aren't teeny tiny anymore, I have more time, I can focus on me. It means that I am like, for the first time in years, thinking about finding things to do with my hair. Maybe I want to curl my hair, maybe I want to straighten it. I haven't done stuff like this ... I mean, was walking around with spit up on my shirt for like seven years. To come out of that fog and I'm a brand new customer. My loyalty is to things in my 20s, I don't have them anymore, so I am right before communications-
Kimberly SoaneMessaging products.
Jodi KatzYes. And I think that -
Kimberly SoaneIs there anybody out there that you think is reaching you, or you've noticed out of, like our point, there's so much?
Jodi KatzI think that brands can do a much better job at really thinking about the opportunities with a customer who is looking at the category of new eyes, not just the eyes of a 20 year old, or a 17 year old, but-
Kimberly SoaneA millennial.
Jodi KatzRight, but the eyes of someone who actually wants to reinvest in themselves, and that's sort of what I think I'm going through. Honestly, I hardly ever wear mascara, but now I'm starting to wear mascara.
Kimberly SoaneRight.
Jodi KatzI'm experimenting with lipstick. I'm experimenting with different skincare products. I am excited about it. I am as invigorated now, as I was then. I'm just doing new things, and of course, I shop differently now.
Kimberly SoaneRight.
Jodi KatzI've probably bought stuff at the drugstore exclusively-
Kimberly SoaneRight. Yeah.
Jodi KatzIn my younger years. Now, thankfully, I get a lot of things for free, but I'm still a consumer of many other parts of the business.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzSo I think that there is a huge opportunity. I love that you're focusing on this and that you did this in your own feeds right? @BeautybySoane.
Kimberly SoaneI did. @BeautybySoane. You know, it's amazing because to your point, in an every day world, step out of New York City, step out of being in the beauty industry here at Broadway and 21st, which is one of the most amazing intersections in New York City, step away from all of that and women all are beautiful and unique, and they might not know what's the best mascara, or just to take care of their skin and exfoliate, and apply a serum and a moisturizer every day, is like a new step.

To feel that sense of worth and inner beauty. I think so much of today is focused on these beautiful models that I've done makeup on, and I look at them and they are like gazelles with not a flaw on them, and they're 24. So yes, that's beautiful, but there's so much out there that is beautiful. So many more women out there, and all those women have that sense that you probably feel, or I feel. I'm like, "Yes I'm 48, but-"
Jodi KatzYou're 48?
Kimberly SoaneYeah.
Jodi KatzOh my goodness.
Kimberly SoaneOh yeah, I'm like, "But I still want a groomed brow."
Jodi KatzYou're a good spokes lady for the 40s.
Kimberly SoaneOh thank you.
Jodi KatzOh my goodness, yeah.
Kimberly SoaneIt's like I want a groomed brow. It doesn't mean I'm going to get all bushy on my brow, right?
Jodi KatzI think that what I've realized living in our community where we live, because there are so many really fascinating people who are very willing to talk, and when I tell them that I work in this industry and they're not from beauty, they're not in marketing, they say, "Well, what do I buy? I don't even know what to buy," or they say, "My friend sells beauty counter. My friend sells Rodan + Fields, so I just use that." So what I've realized, when I take myself out of our business, is that in our industry, I think we're talking to ourselves a lot.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzI'm talking to you, you're talking to me, but we're not talking to her. All of this stuff about illuminators, and piling on layers and layers of product-
Kimberly SoaneHighlighter, yeah.
Jodi KatzThis is such a small group of people who do this, and I’m interested in this, and most of the women just really tell me what to do.
Kimberly SoaneRight.
Jodi KatzI'll do it, just tell me what to do, and they want it to be easy, and that's why those protocols of the social selling is so wonderful it's their friend telling them what to wear.
Kimberly SoaneRight, right.
Jodi KatzRight? Right, and they could just text them like, "I need more."
Kimberly SoaneYep.
Jodi KatzSo there's something, I think, very appealing about those business models for people our age because I don't want to be bothered. I don't want to run to a story. I don't even want to watch a YouTube video. Just tell me what to do.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzAnd I'm doing it while I'm sipping wine and eating cheese in your living room.
Kimberly SoaneRight, and that's so true. Traveling for work, whatever. So true.
Jodi KatzRight. So I think that ... I don't know if it's a brand that's doing this, well I just think that that's a real opportunity, right? And so I think human to human contact, just tell me what to do, I will do it, and they will be loyalists, right?
Kimberly SoaneAnd it's interesting, on my YouTube videos, I don't edit them. I make mistakes. Everyone's like, "Oh, you've got rid of the mistakes. It has to be a flawless, seamless-" I'm like, "Really? Really?" There is always a child, or a dog, or somebody in the background, I still make it look attractive but achievable. Because to your point, I'm sorry, there is nobody in the world that can do a perfect winged eyeliner without making a few edits to it. If you don't show those edits, then how is somebody who doesn't even know what's the difference between an ink liner, a gel liner, an eyeliner pencil, they just want to know how do an eyeliner.
Jodi KatzRight.
Kimberly SoaneSo my little videos are how to apply an eyeliner. There's no edits, but you know, it's five minutes, and you've got to practice. It's like riding a bike, but it's a little bit more of an achievable, fun approach versus this sort of unattainable, edited, filtered version.
Jodi KatzI appreciate that. I actually see a correlation. I was doing math homework with my son last night and we were learning long division and he didn't get it, so we went on a YouTube video-
Kimberly SoaneOh, that was smart.
Jodi KatzThe person in the video made a mistake, and I think it's so good that my son saw that the person said, "Oh, no let me cross that out. That's wrong," right?
Kimberly SoaneRight.
Jodi KatzSo it gives him the confidence like, "Oh, I can do it at some point like he's doing it. I'll understand it at some point, and I'll make mistakes and that's okay."
Kimberly SoaneThat's so good.
Jodi KatzAnd I think that what you're saying is the same-
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzI actually wouldn't approach a big eyeliner myself because I know it'd take me 15 minutes and I'd be sweating because I'd be frustrated, which sort of reminds me, have you ever put those stick on brows on?
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzI'm like, they never stick in the right place, and you're like running late to go the party, and then you're sweating which makes them not stick.
Kimberly SoaneThat's so funny.
Jodi KatzThat's what I would be like if I wanted to attempt a big look with eyeliner. Or get one side off, so I'm in the other side of the circle.
Kimberly SoaneAnd it's so funny because then I show the techniques, because to your point, doing ... I think, am I the best makeup artist in the whole world? No, absolutely not. Over the years too, I've picked up little tips and tricks of like how to almost fake it. One of the things I teach is how do I ... I actually did it today, because I do so much of my makeup on the train, is I smudge the eyeliner with an eyeshadow, and then it makes it look like, "Oh, sexy, sultry, smudgy line," but that's from over the years of ... I'm sorry, trying to make two winged eyeliners both perfect is so hard, for me, even to do on a model when his eyes are imperfect. Your eyes aren't even the same. No one even has the same shaped or size eyes.
Jodi KatzRight, they are sisters, not twins.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzSame with your eyebrows.
Kimberly SoaneYes. Yes. So that's why models, when you look at them face on, their features are so symbiotic, and that's what sort of what looks beautiful. But most of the women, I'm sorry, I sleep on the side of my face, and this whole left side of my face is a little more squished up.
Jodi KatzIs it really?
Kimberly SoaneYeah.
Jodi KatzDo you think it's from sleeping?
Kimberly SoaneI do. I have a friend in the beauty industry and she's almost 60, which she'd kill if I told everyone, she slept on her back in one of those neck pillows and her features are flawless and she says one of the reasons is because she slept on her back.
Jodi KatzOh, I'm a belly sleeper, so I can't-
Kimberly SoaneYeah. I'm like, yeah, let the other eye be squished.
Jodi KatzI've seen you do your makeup on the train-
Kimberly SoaneOh yeah.
Jodi KatzAnd it is very fast.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzYou are really speedy. Like you go in with a naked face, right?
Kimberly SoaneNaked face, because usually it's I'm sweaty, running, getting everyone to school, da-da-da, the dog. I'm just trying to make the train all in one piece, let alone trying to get makeup on before is silly. Yeah, so doing makeup, again, for anybody, if you have the right foundation, the right concealer, a good mascara, whatever you need to put ... some of the basics, which is four or five products, anything else over and above that is a jewel. It's sort of like knowing what your perfect black dress is with the right shoes, and then if you throw in a fancy necklace, okay great, but if can get that black dress on then you're good to go.
Jodi KatzSo is this bag very heavy with product, or is it very limiting?
Kimberly SoaneIt's actually quite small. I have it.
Jodi KatzOh, your bag is very heavy today.
Kimberly SoaneMy bag is ... it's so funny, I was thinking if they asking ... well I brought some lipsticks to give to the girls, and I've got cereal for my son-
Jodi KatzYou have a giant water.
Kimberly SoaneAnd two waters. This is my bag here.
Jodi KatzOh it is tiny.
Kimberly SoaneYeah. I've got mascara, and a brush, concealer, highlighter. These are the best eyedrops in the whole world. Lumify- they’re the best.
Jodi KatzCool.
Kimberly SoaneThen a lot of my stuff I do, it's without a brush.
Jodi KatzMm-hmm (affirmative).
Kimberly SoaneThis is a long wear eyeshadow stick. I usually have one brush for all the face powder, bronzer, concealer without a brush, lipstick. I use lipstick as blush and lips and that's it.
Jodi KatzAnd your eyes are insanely popping. They're beautiful.
Kimberly SoaneAnd that's just a black eyeliner and a green eyeliner smudged together.
Jodi KatzAre you doing this with a mirror or with your phone? Are you looking in your phone or using a mirror?
Kimberly SoaneBoth, depending if I think an Instagram follower would be like, "Oh, that's a cool technique," I'll do it while I'm on the phone. If not, I always have one compact on me.
Jodi KatzRight, because I find that with my eyesight now, looking in the phone, it's like I don't really see enough.
Kimberly SoaneSometimes I think that's okay. "Oh it looks, it's fine," because I'll never forget working with women in general, years and years, so many women, they microscope themselves.
Jodi KatzRight.
Kimberly SoaneAnd they get right up and it's amazing how hard and critical women are in general on themselves. I too am like that on many things. I would take a woman, her hand is right up close, nose distance away from their face, and I'll push their hands straight, hold the mirror and that's what the woman sees. If it looks good from there, guess what? It's great. That's, I think, my approach to the beauty. From there, it looks good. Great. There's so much more to life than getting a perfect eyeliner all the time.
Jodi KatzRight, I love that sentiment because I struggle with this as well. Maybe even more with body image than with makeup. When my head goes down that dark hole, I tell myself the world sees me the way I see myself without wearing contacts. I have really bad vision. The blurry version of myself, I'm like, "I love that."
Kimberly SoaneAnd that's what people see.
Jodi KatzRight, so I should love it too.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzI should love me as me.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzThat's what I tell myself.
Kimberly SoaneYeah, that's really ... that's the truth of it. If we could all do that all the time, I would feel much more confident all the time and probably be even happier more of the time.
Jodi KatzRight. So we have to look at our face a whole arm distance away.
Kimberly SoaneYes.
Jodi KatzAnd look at our bodies with blurry vision.
Kimberly SoaneYes, and if not, put some Vaseline or gloss on top of the camera then look at it.
Jodi KatzRight.
Kimberly SoanePut on a filter.
Jodi KatzRight, well the whole world sees us filtered actually. We see ourselves in a different way.
Kimberly SoaneIt's so true. It's about the whole thing of perception.
Jodi KatzYes.
Kimberly SoaneRight, how we perceive one's self or things, that's a reality.
Jodi KatzRight.
Kimberly SoaneYeah.
Jodi KatzWell thank you so much for wisdom today, Kim.
Kimberly SoaneThank you.
Jodi KatzI'm so glad you came in.
Kimberly SoaneThank you so much. This was great. It flew by.
Jodi KatzYeah, it goes fast.
Kimberly SoaneI know, it does.
Jodi KatzAnd for our listeners, I hope you enjoyed this interview with Kim. Please subscribe to our series on iTunes and for updates about the show, follow us on Instagram @wherebrainsmeetbeautypodcast.
AnnouncerThanks for listening to WHERE BRAINS MEET BEAUTY® with Jodi Katz. Tune in again for more authentic conversations with beauty leaders.

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