The make-up artist referencing porn stars, sexy goths and aliens
@alicedoddsmakeup
Meet Alice Dodds, a self-taught beauty head who’s building her own tribe of underground weirdos.
Like many Brits her age, 25-year old make-up artist Alice Dodds’ early initiation into beauty involved Dream Matte Mousse, an Urban Decay Naked Palette and some blue eyeliner. “I’d go into Norwich on the weekends, buy my Dream Matte Mousse, then walk around with an orange face looking so crusty,” she says. “They’re still such vivid memories. Most people I speak to always reference the Dream Matte Mousse period – the hold it had on all of us!”
These days, she’s one of the most provocative make-up artists working in London. Entirely self-taught, Dodds’ work slips and slides between sci-fi aliens, sexy goths and page three pin-ups. “I don’t really think of myself as someone who knows loads about fashion, art and all that,” she says. Instead, she finds references in “regular people, like bimbos, porn stars, Katie Price. That’s where a lot of my sexy make-up comes from when I’m looking for inspiration.”
Growing up in Norwich had an influence on Dodds, too. Did you know it’s “the goth capital of the UK”? Neither did we. “There are so many goths there, like one in three people are goths, I swear,” she says. “So those kinds of people, whose everyday looks are always a statement, really inspire me. It doesn’t even have to be extreme.”
As a teenager, she’d watch reality shows like Kendra, the Girls Next Door spin-off documenting ex-Playboy Bunny Kendra Wilkinson, and The Hills. Dodds would then top up that inspo with the highly elaborate music videos of artists like Lil’ Kim and Missy Elliott, feeding off the OTT styles of heavy eyeshadow, huge hair and glossy lips.
But she never really thought she’d ever do make-up professionally. A self-confessed “naughty kid”, she didn’t do great at school and just about bagged the grades to go to university. It was there that she started working on shoots, helping out on sets between studying for a BA in spatial design.
“I was mostly using that as an excuse not to go into uni, because I hated it,” she says. At the beginning of 2020, she was looking for a steady office job. “I’d followed a very formulaic way of life, finishing my A Levels, going to uni. Then I thought, ‘why can’t I make a job out of this?’ It’s obviously pretty scary, but there was no reason why I couldn’t.”
Since then, she’s worked on campaigns for Selfridges and Missoni, a shoot in the last issue of GUT magazine and the beauty for THE FACE’s Issue 12 cover story, as part of makeup artist Thomas de Kluyver’s team. “It’s pretty nice doing something I really enjoy,” she says. We love to hear it.
Below, we go beyond the brow brush and inside the mind of Alice Dodds…
@alicedoddsmakeup
What is your favourite four letter word?
Cunt. Can I say that?
If you could swap pants with anyone who would it be?
Julia Fox.
What is the last film that you watched?
Pearl.
Would you rather be filthy rich or find true love?
Filthy rich, because material things are my true love.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Needing to piss.
What would your last meal on Earth be?
A whole lobster with a Morley’s on the side. Bit of glamour, bit of trash – that’s me.
What is your most played song on Spotify?
Mariah Carey – Obsessed. I’ve listened to it so many times I’m in the 0.01% of Mariah Carey listeners. I don’t even consider myself that much of a lamb!
Do you have any party tricks?
Just my hot body and great personality.
What five famous guests would you invite around for dinner?
Megan Thee Stallion, Heidi Klum in the worm costume, Alexander McQueen, Tiffany Pollard and David Lynch.
