Katherine Graciano didn’t choose to become a makeup artist and hairstylist. Not exactly. Rather, it was more of an inheritance, a profession passed down from her mother, who worked as a hairdresser while raising Graciano in the Dominican Republic. “I think I grew up with the talent,” she says. “You grow with this inside you.”
Today, she applies that talent to clients in Las Vegas, where she gives visitors bold red lips and bombshell lashes inside the salon at the Bellagio, and creates looks for award shows such as the Latin Grammys and for photo shoots. The latter, Graciano says, offers an expressive outlet, a chance to play with different concepts and channel beauty queens, Hollywood icons or fantasy characters into eyeliner and curls.
The 38-year-old describes her makeup style as feminine and sexy, built on a foundation of flawless skin that lets her clients’ best features shine. When Graciano gets in front of the camera herself—for a regular beauty segment in Spanish on the local Univision station or as a model—her skin practically glows, a testament to her skills with powder and brush and to the eponymous makeup line she founded in 2012.
“I’m very picky, and I like to be,” Graciano says about developing powders and blushes. “I like to have the perfect product when I go to do anything.” KG Cosmetics’ allergy-friendly palettes and branded brushes pop up here and there on her Instagram feed, between shots of celebrity clients, brides and behind-the-scenes peeks into shows and beauty pageants. “It’s 100 percent important for my business,” she says of Instagram. “People find you there. People follow you. Right now everything is social media.”
Graciano is growing awareness, both of her products and her services. “I want to be a very high-end brand, a high-end name where people recognize me like, ‘Oh, she’s a very good makeup artist. She does a very beautiful job.’”
Click here to follow Katherine on Instagram.
