How do you start a session?
I’m always asked, “What’s the first thing you do when you start her makeup?” And my answer always seems to shock: I say, Well, I look at their faces and I try to understand who they are and how they see themselves. I call it “logging in.” You have to have an interesting connection with your client because essentially, at the end of the day, makeup is an art. It's an intuitive art, an intimate one.

How did you get into the industry?
My father was a diamond dealer. As a child, I was always attracted to shiny things (I still am!), so I always thought that I would take over the business for him. But it just so happened that anybody who was standing next to me for more than a minute would find themselves letting me apply lipstick, or mascara, or nail polish, or I’d be plucking their eyebrows—I was obsessed. When I was a teenager, I had a friend who said, “You really shouldn’t be a jeweler, you should be a makeup artist.” I shared that opinion with my father, and he was so supportive. So I went to school in Israel and my teacher said, “You know, you will be a really big makeup artist one day.” At the time, I thought, Well, what kind of kind profession is that? But he convinced me and  I came to Los Angeles in the mid-eighties because I was interested in the crazy creative special-effects type of work. And that’s how it all started; it got very busy, and I worked for nearly 15 years and became recognized for special effects. That’s when I started to explore beauty makeup, which I worked on in film for a while, then I became known for my beauty work and moved forward into editorial and advertising work. It’s really been a journey. 

What it's like to be close to these really visible, impressive women all the time?
Well, at the end of the day they’re really not much different than you or me. It's just that their line of work is. They're all hardworking individuals who do the best they can in a hard world to navigate. But when we do what we do we’re just two girls having fun—we talk about everything, there is a friendship and love and trust that we have between us. A lot of times we just go to dinner or just have a glass of wine after work, you know? I can forget that it's kind of a big deal—I do a job, I provide a service, and so when it's all said and done, I go home, I feed my dog, you know; I just live a very normal life. 

Have you had any starstruck moments?
[Big sigh] Yes. Well, you know, of course, I love the girls I work with regularly; they’re still striking to me when I see them—I still go, “Wow, you are stunning.” And I get to meet women who I think are fantastic. I got to meet Melissa McCarthy and fell in love with her. She really looks in the mirror and knows what’s working [with her look], and she also understands the collaboration between hair and makeup. And she’s just the hardest-working woman. I also just had the chance to work with Allison Janney. Oh my God, she’s so highly talented and extremely interesting and just fabulous, it was instant love.