Oh man, where I do start with what it’s like working with Karina? In a word, supportive. In another word, transformative. Karina helped me work through my hangups with makeup as a nonbinary person, and taught me how to contour on my own terms. My skin’s so finicky so I wanted to avoid foundation and she gladly met me where I was at, with the makeup that I had available, and completely transformed me into exactly how I had envisioned myself. She was incredibly understanding and kind as I talked through what I was trying to do, what I was wanting to learn, and walked me through the steps and then guided me as I did the steps myself for practice. I felt safe and excited to ask all the dumb questions I had about makeup that I was too afraid to ask before. She offered a lot of different advice based on how much makeup I wanted to get in the future and by the time we were done, I hadn’t felt that much gender euphoria in my life. I could look in the mirror and see myself the way I felt inside. I can’t recommend her enough as a safe, supportive and empathetic person to explore makeup and self expression with!

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-Finn-Lily Heartwood