Feeling and looking beautiful is all about confidence. Celebrity makeup artist, Stella Avakian-Mikhail, is one of the top makeup artists in the country, who believes women should look and feel their best. With over 31 years of experience in the beauty industry, Stella can create a look for any woman at any age, and for any occasion, whether it’s fresh, youthful, simple, elegant or fashionable. 

As the celebrity makeup artist for The Oprah Winfrey Show for 20 years, Stella worked with many famous celebrities, beauty icons, authors and politicians who appeared on the show, including Barbra Streisand, Maya Angelou, Cindy Crawford, Brooke Shields, Raquel Welch, Jimmy Carter, Eckhart Tolle, Elizabeth Gilbert, Charla Krupp, and many others. Stella has also worked as a makeup artist for elite models and been involved in photo shoots for trendy publications like Sheridan Road Magazine. She has been featured in Oprah Magazine, Allure Magazine, Splash, and Brides Magazine.

Stella originally went to school to study dental hygiene and is a certified dental assistant, so applying makeup in a clean, healthy way is very important to her. She later found her passion in makeup artistry, working to enhance beauty and make women feel their best at every age. Stella trained and worked for some of the best celebrity makeup artists in the industry, from Bobbi Brown and Trish McEvoy to Laura Mercier. While working for The Oprah Winfrey Show, she met Emmy-award winning and long-time makeup artist for Oprah, Reggie Wells, who taught her a great deal about makeup artistry in areas such as contouring and undertone. 

Today, Stella is a makeup artist for Laura Mercier and works with different women everyday, from teenagers and professionals to stay-at-home mothers, helping them to feel confident and look their best. Since each woman is unique and has her own needs and wants, Stella applies the right amount of texture, color and tone depending on the season and look. Personable and honest, she gets to know each client by asking questions and learning how much time they spend on their daily makeup routine before introducing them to the products that she feels they most need and can work into their routine and improve on. Not only does Stella apply women’s makeup, but she can also teach her clients the latest techniques and help them to apply it themselves.  

Stella believes every woman should carry with her a few makeup essentials wherever she goes, from lipstick and concealer to a good mascara, and that the most important feature to remember when it comes to a woman’s face is her eyebrows, which should be full, well groomed and shaped. 

Stella loves helping women to feel confident, fulfilled and beautiful. After all, beauty starts from within.