Kayten Schmidt: Photographer

What does beauty mean to women in 2019? In this moment in which it is an ideal and a currency, a cultural obsession and a monumental industry, there is perhaps no single definition versatile enough to convey just how profoundly it shapes our self-image.

What can be said for certain is that the way we think about beauty today bears little resemblance to the way it was seen in the past. The current lexicon is one of self-care and empowerment: loving the way your skin looks in order to love the way you feel in it. Makeup is no longer something women oblige to fulfill a role, it’s fulfilling in and of itself. Instead of concealing features, they are naturally enhanced. If there is an ethos, it’s about individuality: real women redefining what beauty means to them and what role it plays in their lives.

Nearing a decade in the business, the exceedingly talented makeup artist, Cyndle Komarovski, knows a thing or two about creative expressions of beauty. Admired for her less-is-more approach to skin, and for understanding immediately what her clients and collaborators are after, she has earned a reputation for an approach that is imaginative, considered and cool.

This new landscape in beauty exists partly because of the work that Ms. Komarovski does. Just by being her authentic self, she has become someone that real girls everywhere look to: a source and a barometer of taste, technique and inspiration. With the instincts of a pro, the flair of an artist and an innate understanding of how to connect with women online and off—Cyndle is, for us, both the proof and expression of what natural beauty means now.