Cool Jobs: Krystal Kershaw-Life As A Celebrity Makeup Artist

by Kerri Cooke

Krystal Kershaw holds fond memories of visiting Wheelers skating rink in Moss Bluff as a child, coating her face with makeup in the bathroom and washing away the evidence before she was picked up by her dad. As a 3rd generation artist, there wasn’t a time when she didn’t want to have her hands on a makeup palette.

After graduating from Sam Houston High School in 2001, Kershaw attended SOWELA to pursue a business degree. This was the agreement she made with her parents to allow her to attend makeup school in Los Angeles at Joe Blasco. After graduating Joe Blasco in 2003, Kershaw attended Stage One The Hair School in Lake Charles.
Upon completing hair school in 2005, Kershaw was referred for her first gig, the movie Little Chenier. Kershaw says it was “the most exciting experience I’ve ever had, probably because it was my first project.” She was lead actress Tamara Braun’s makeup artist and did hair styling for the entire cast.

To further her career, Kershaw planned on moving to New Orleans, but in 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated the Crescent City. Instead, Kershaw moved to Shreveport, along with the Louisiana film industry, for the next two years.

Kershaw knew she needed to become a union makeup artist to be allowed to work on many movie sets. You must work for 50 days on a union movie set before you are eligible to be a part of The Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild, so Kershaw showed up on movie sets and introduced herself as a makeup artist who had studied at Joe Blasco when she met Francisco Perez. Kershaw says, “He took me under his wing until I could get into the union.”

When New Orleans recovered, Kershaw moved to the city to join the thriving film industry. A film set is a tight ship and makeup artists’ schedules are grueling—shifts of up to 15 hours a day! They’re expected to be up before the sun, usually anywhere from 3-4 a.m. The night before a shoot a schedule is released detailing when an actor is to be made-up and with whom. “Film sets run on military time. If someone is supposed to be in the chair by 4:06, there will be a knock on the door at exactly that time. And you’re expected to have makeup finished at the time you promised like clockwork.” On Renfield (2023), a recent Nicolas Cage flick, Kershaw says 200 to 300 people were coming through the makeup department a day.

One of Kershaw’s favorite experiences was working on the set of Killer Joe (2011) with actor Matthew McConaughey who she notes is very relatable and down to earth. She also worked alongside Mark Wahlberg on Broken City (2013) in New York.

Explaining why she chose a career as a celebrity makeup artist Kershaw says, “When doing a film, I have more artistic ability. I read the script and design the look of the makeup. While I enjoyed working for M.A.C., I often had to prioritize customers’ preferences over expressing my own overall vision in makeup design. Doing celebrity makeup, I have more creative control.”

As a makeup artist for over 50 feature films, including Secretariat and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, Kershaw is proud to watch her daughter Keilleigh Marceaux follow in her footsteps. Kershaw’s encouragement to dreamers is “believe in yourself. Dream big and don’t let anyone stop you. There’s nothing you can’t do if you want to do it bad enough.”

Kershaw opened Celebrity Makeup Studio & Lash Bar, 2052 E. McNeese St., in 2012 where she primarily does eyelash extensions. When working on a movie, Kershaw travels back to Lake Charles every two to three weeks to take care of her clients. Kershaw’s next local endeavor is to offer permanent makeup and fine line tattoos.

Kershaw’s next project, one in which her daughter will work alongside her, is Jeff D’s feature film Teenage Mistletoe Massacre, which will film in Lake Charles in 2025.