With its focus on balance and longevity, BY:ERA positions skincare as an ongoing dialogue with time, one that values patience, consistency, and clinical intelligence over quick fixes.
Whether she’s dressed up as a used maxi pad or a bottle of poppers, she's consistently fierce from head-to-toe. Read our interview with Linux, below.
Let's start from the beginning. How did you first get involved in the club scene?
Growing up in Wisconsin, all the kids in my high school were straight edge and Catholic. At age 16, I got a car and a fake ID, and started driving to the nearest city, Milwaukee, and going to gay clubs downtown. I made friends with a bunch of Milwaukee drag queens who I performed with at nightclubs on school nights, and when I finally graduated high school we moved to LA together. I lost my fake ID and the only way for me to get passed the bouncers was by dressing up crazier and crazier every week, so they would just assume I was somebody and wouldn’t check my ID. I fell so in love with the looks I created when I was going out, and it was a high I had never experienced before. After a few months in LA and a summer in Chicago, I hopped off a bus in New York City and the rest is history.
You have created some pretty major looks. Which have been your most memorable?
Thank you! The most memorable looks for me have been whenever I do collaborations with brands I love—my Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Chanel and Fruit of the Loom looks are my all time favorites.
How do you come up with your designs?
When I create a look, the concept always comes from a childlike version of myself, and then the adult-me crafts it. I’m really inspired by the cartoons I would watch as a kid as well as what a child’s perspective of 'fashion' is (see: the RuPaul supermodel montage in The Lizzie McGuire Movie). To a child, the idea of fashion is just so silly and extravagant and never taken seriously—and I love that.
What’s your number one rule when it comes to navigating your way through the New York City nightlife?
Have good intentions with everything you do.
In 2016, you released your album Everybody Hates Linux—what do you think people love to hate the most about you?
That album was a big moment for me. I wrote it when I just moved to New York and I still felt like a freak, even at the places I was told I was supposed to fit in the most. The other girls were really mean to me when I first moved to NY and making the album was a way for me to reclaim their hatred for me and be like, 'You know what? I hate her too!' I think the thing people love to hate the most about me is how outspoken I am. If you don’t wanna say it, LINUX WILL!
I love your song “FUJIWM (Fuck Jesus I Want Makeup)"—what are some of your miracle products?
It’s so funny, I made that song in 2016 before the makeup industry was what it is today. If I could rewrite the chorus now it would be: “Ben Nye. Nars. Jeffree Star. Pat McGrath. I heard Chanel has great foundation!” Anything by those brands—beyond.
Asking for a friend—tips for fabulous lashes?
More is more is more is more! The longer, curlier, thicker, blacker, the better, bitch! My favorite lashes to wear are Beauty & The Bartsch lashes in “Bush.” A reminder: lower lashes are your friends—use them.
What are your guiltiest pleasures?
I’m obsessed with hydrating oils. My ideal day of beauty is covering my body, hair and pussy in every organic oil known to woman and just slipping and sliding around the house while my pores drink up.
What’s on the horizon for you in 2019?
More music, more looks and more parties. Right now, I’m throwing a monthly porn-video-game party “PLAY NOW!” with nightlife legend Susanne Bartsch on the second Saturday of every month at 3 Dollar Bill in Brooklyn. As far as music, I know everyone is begging for me to release something and I’m close, I promise! I’ve written a few second albums and every time I show one of my friends a song they totally hate them or think it’s a PR nightmare, so I scrap it all and start over. I think I’ll just release an EP called All The Songs I Was Begged Not To Release instead of a formal album, but we’ll see.
Follow @officebeautynyc for more of our favorite club kids, beauty gurus, makeup artists and inside info from our office Beauty Committee.
Tell me about yourself.
I’m from Trondheim, Norway. I spent my 20s as a waiter and bartender in Oslo, but I didn’t feel much at home in the life I was living, so I moved to London to mix it up. It worked. I’ve been making masks for 10 years now. I am self-taught—it has all developed organically. Now, I have a workshop, connected to my husband’s photo studio, Dalston Pier.
What inspired you to start making masks?
I used to go clubbing a lot and masks came up as part of the get-up. But I don’t know why masks have become my thing. I have always collected materials I find around—textiles, beads, small bits of ribbon, little ornaments and things—and I needed somewhere to put these materials to use. I don’t draw, design or plan. I sculpt and see where the materials take me. But it’s funny, I have never been particularly interested in masks as a category.
Do you ever find yourself personifying your masks? Do they have personalities?
To me they do—I feel that personality through the process of making them. But it’s more about what other people find in them. Once I finish a mask and photograph it, I rarely put it on again. It lives its own life. An important part is taking a self-portrait of the mask and getting it out online. There, it can have a life of it’s own.
What is the first mask you remember making?
I remember making a plaster mask when I was 17 as part of a school project, but a few years ago my mum gave me a mask of paper and tulle I made when I was four.
What three words would you use to describe your process?
Materials and time.
Where did the name Damselfrau come from? What does it means?
It used to be my Skype name before the masks emerged. I was listening to a lot of German industrial music in my late 20s, so I think the German twang came through that. It lent itself to the mask work naturally. It means unmarried/married woman. To me, it has come to mean something like married to oneself.
Do you ever wear masks? Are they a part of your wardrobe in any way?
Not really. They are more a part of my home, on walls and photos. But sometimes I’ll make a fun one for Halloween.
Follow @officebeautynyc for more of our favorite beauty gurus, makeup artists and product reviews from our office Beauty Committee.
She’s an influencer, in every sense of the word—and not just someone who has a few thousand Instagram followers and lists it as her occupation on LinkedIn. Take the toxic green hair we saw on the Vetements runway in Paris last week—Yvon’s been rocking that shit since 2015.
Clearly, color is definitely something she does not shy away from, embracing a neon palette from her hair, to her eye color, to her clothing. Having distinguished herself as an artist who’s not afraid to experiment with herself and her look, Yvon continues to push boundaries and inspire others to do the same—in both their beauty routines and everyday experiences.
As fans of everything about her—from her now-signature green braids, to her refreshing attitude—office Beauty couldn’t resist the chance to pick Yvon’s brain about her beauty bible.
What’s one beauty product you can’t live without?
First of all, water—always, in all ways. More recently, I’ve been getting into my skincare and I love anything that makes you feel bouncy and gives you that glowy moisture.
What about hair—what’s one thing you think it can communicate better than any other physical attribute or accessory?
To me, hair is the personal antenna that expresses our connection to something outside of us.
If you could pick one movie to describe your personal style, what would you choose?
The Fifth Element, for obvious reasons, but also, Friday, because it was a staple—I grew up on that shit. I loved Nia Long’s outfit—the one with the striped shirt with the heart in the middle and the white miniskirt she was wearing when she came over to see Dana and Craig. Ugh, so good. Even in my final extraterrestrial form, that outfit is perfect for any day, in any weather.
What’s one beauty stigma you wish would take a hike?
Fear of darkness.
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
Just some good sucks and a bite.
What’s one beauty fad you hope will make a major comeback in 2019?
It’s funny, nothing is really ‘out of style’ for me right now. Fashion, beauty, style,and trends are all moods in a sense—there’s always room to feel. I try to encourage people to feel freely; feel how you once did, how you want to in the future, and most importantly, how you want to now.
Build a sandwich and explain how each ingredient reflects one of your qualities.
I love a good open face PB&J—toasted sprouted bread, crunchy peanut butter with the finest mixed berry jam, because I am classic, exquisite, yummy, balanced and essential.
What beauty looks do you associate with each season?
I can be pretty simple. Some naked brows and glossy lid does it for me year-round.
What’s the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?
I did, and I called my mom.
What’s the weirdest thing that happened to you this week?
Unexpectedly, I got offered a position as Creative Director. More T on that soon.
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