Q+A with Celebrity Makeup Artist, Brow Expert, & KIMIKO Founder Dani Kimiko Vincent

Dani Kimiko Vincent is a bi-coastal celebrity makeup artist and brow expert with almost two decades of experience in the beauty industry. Within her time in the field, Dani has also gone on to found KIMIKO, a beauty brand known for their precision brow products. With experience as a perfumer, skincare developer, and makeup developer, it goes without saying that she has an attuned eye for color and brings a unique and special eye to beauty! To Dani, less is more, and she believes wholeheartedly in the power of beautiful clean skin alongside the power of a great brow. Read on to learn more about Dani and her impressive career.

Q: First and foremost, we'd love to hear about your journey in the beauty industry. How did you get started, and how did you get to where you are today?

As a child, I loved to paint and draw, and I was unusually obsessed with beauty products and learning about their ingredients. I was studying sciences for the pharmacy program so I could own pharmacies, but I wasn’t very excited by it in practice, so I changed paths and went to school for makeup artistry. I started the product development side of my career when I partnered with an indie perfume brand and was creating their new fragrances — which became cult favorites — as well as developing their skincare line. I soon realized that I wanted to return to my roots and passion for makeup, so I began working on a color line with formulas that were dual-purpose and boasted the long-term benefits of skincare with the instant enhancement of makeup. And thus, KIMIKO was born. While I was training one of our partner retail stores on the brand, I had a chance encounter with fellow Canadian, Sandra Oh. We had an instant connection and began working together, creating many of her looks for red carpets, events and photoshoots. My journey in the beauty industry has certainly not been linear, but I truly believe that when you are intentional and know where you want to go, you are more inclined to take chances and see opportunities you may not have otherwise, and ultimately it leads you on the right path.

Q: How would you describe your style as a makeup artist?

I love clean-looking makeup that enhances natural beauty. It’s important to consider facial proportions and to understand how makeup works to bring features forward or into the background on the three-dimensional canvas. This way, features complement each other and the entire look is harmonious. While some briefs lean more towards the creative side, overall my style is about clean makeup, breathable fresh skin and highlighting someone’s best features, and of course, making sure the brows are always on point.

Q: What do you love most about what you do?

I absolutely love makeup’s power to transform someone’s entire mood and how they feel about themselves. It’s rewarding to create that experience for people. I also feel lucky for the creative outlet that makeup provides and that I get to work with faces as dynamic canvases. I think we innately understand how transformative makeup can be, but I do think the power of the brow can get overlooked. It’s powerful that in a thirty- to forty-minute brow appointment, I can change someone’s entire face by shaping and enhancing the brows so they lift the forehead, open the eye area, and even make undereyes appear more rested. In my process, I consider the person’s facial structure, their goals, and the brows they had before ever tweezing. The objective is to create their absolute best brows — brows that look exquisitely natural, enhance facial structure, and are best suited for each client, without following trends.

Q: You founded the beauty brand KIMIKO. Can you tell us a bit about the brand and what inspired you to create it?

I have always been fascinated by the power of eyebrows to transform the entire face – from its shape, to the distance between the eyes and even the width of the nose. When I was a teenager, I greatly over-tweezed my brows and they were never the same. I struggled to find products that looked realistic or lasted all day. I became a makeup artist and had worked for so many brands, but I realized that there was something missing: a brow product that could emulate fine eyebrow hair, had the right color balance, and also could endure the day. KIMIKO’s products were also some of the first to infuse skincare into makeup, and everything in the line is about performance and precision.

Why Japan? KI-MI-KO is my middle name and means Energy, Beauty and Youth in Japanese. My ancestors were samurai and I traveled to Japan to trace an ancient sword passed down for centuries from our family’s last samurai. I delved into research on the art of sword making and learned about the time, honor, and pride that goes into crafting a single sword. It inspired me to spend years perfecting the line, including The Super Fine Eyebrow Pencil Automatique before taking it to market as the ultimate precision brow tool. Another hero brow product of ours is The Brow Sensei, a dual-purpose brow gel and growth-enhancer in one, with a precision tapered micro wand for ultimate styling control.

Q: What are some essential products you always keep in your kit?

It goes without saying that KIMIKO’s The Super Fine Eyebrow Pencil Automatique and The Brow Sensei are in my kit at all times. I also love Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water for touch ups, Image Skincare Ormedic Lip Complex for supple lips, and D.S. & DURGA Big Sur After Rain Hand Sanitizer, for beautifully scented, clean hands.

Q: What is your best advice for someone who is struggling to find the brow shape that works best for them?

It can be difficult to find your best shape, especially if you’ve become accustomed to tweezing a specific way for many years. First, I suggest a tweezer “detox” of at least 6-8 weeks to see what hair is able to grow back on its own. I also suggest going back to your “roots” so to speak. Look at photos of yourself when you were younger, before you began shaping and changing your brows to go with the latest trends. The brow you were born with is likely the most flattering brow shape for your face. There is always room for play by accentuating the arch or trying different trends with products, but overall a natural brow, like the one you had before you shaped them, will always be in style and generally be the most flattering for you. You can also incorporate brow serums like GrandeBROW to help encourage fuller brows. After the tweezer detox period, I suggest finding a brow professional whose aesthetic you are drawn to (mine is full and natural), and take those photos with you so they can help guide your brow shape back to its full glory.

Q: What brow trends — and overall beauty trends — do you see coming on the horizon in 2022?

Through 2022, I think we’re going to see more natural, live-in brows, which I’m calling the Low-Mai Brow (low maintenance). We are straying away from that hard line that waxing creates and easing into softer, less harshly shaped brows. You can achieve the look using a pencil that isn’t overly pigmented to fill sparse areas while still preserving natural space between brow hairs. KIMIKO’s Super Fine Eyebrow Pencil Automatique is low-oil so it can draw individual hairs to easily customize your brow look.

The brow lamination look is sticking around as lifted brows open up the eyes and are flattering. However, this trend will take on a softer form than the all-vertical look of lamination or soap brows, which lays hair a little flat and can appear two dimensional. The lifted brow for 2022 is more dimensional, still fanned in the front, and employs a less exaggerated lift throughout. Use a long hold clear gel like KIMIKO’s The Brow Sensei to fluff and pick up the fronts, then gradually taper the lift throughout the last two-thirds of the brow. Use the micro-brush tip to adjust any overly spiked hairs by brushing them into the arch towards the tail.
For color, we’ll be seeing some playful brighter pastels, clean effortless skin, and soft “kitten” inspired eyes that are extended with a subtle flick.

Q: What is next for KIMIKO?

We are working on new products and continuing our mission to create expertly-crafted Japanese brow products that simplify the daily beauty ritual while inspiring confidence and creative expression for everyone. I’m passionate about empowering through teaching, so I’m also excited to be creating and sharing more educational content.

Rapid Fire Round

Q: Product you can’t leave home without:

The Super Fine Eyebrow Pencil Automatique.

Q: Favorite drugstore or budget find:

Bioderma Sensibio Micellar Water.

Q: Worth the splurge:

Defenage 8-in-1 BioSerum.

Q: Recent discovery:

Droplette.

Q: Brand you wish more people knew about:

KIMIKO!

Q: Your last beauty empty:

Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray.

For more of Dani's favorite products, check out her shop below: