NZ makeup artist has a shot at Paris team

Kiwi makeup artist Rebekah Banks. Photo / Instagram

Makeup artist Rebekah Banks has been up close and personal with the All Blacks and worked on beauties at fashion week and the NZ Music Awards - now she faces a brush with the big time.

The Wanganui woman is in contention for the top prize in international L'Oreal competition, The Brush, with contestants from around the world vying for a place on the L'Oreal Paris makeup team.

She has already made it into the top 50 Australasian contestants since posting her three-minute video on how to create her "pixelated-eyes" look on the competition site.

Now based in Auckland, the 27-year-old former Cullinane College student has ventured far into the world of makeup since working as a beauty therapist at The Edge salon in Wanganui.

"I still like creating natural looks and I do a lot of make-up for weddings, which I love, but I have so much fun doing photo and film shoots because I can get really creative."

She recently worked on makeup for the New Zealand Music Awards, as well as at New Zealand Fashion Week.

Watch Rebekah's tutorial to create pixelated-eyes here:

She said her work with the All Blacks for a Jockey undies shoot attempted merely to make them look like the best versions of themselves.

"I made them up to look natural and then it was a matter of adding a bit of spray tan on their legs so they had a nice, even colour, and giving them a bit of a spritz so they looked nice and shiny."

Between L'Oreal award entries and time with sports and music stars, Rebekah runs her own business doing makeup for weddings and fashion shoots. She wouldn't recommend her pixelated eyes look for everyone.

"When I do wedding makeup, each client is the customer and I make sure I use colours and looks that they are really comfortable with, but with the fashion and advertising I have a brief to make the talent look a certain way and I've never had any complaints."

Visit thebrushcontest.com to see Rebekah's entry for the L'Oreal competition. Voting closes on March 11.