American makeup artist and writer Kevyn Aucoin was BOTD in 1962. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, his interest in cosmetics began as a child, often making-up his sisters and photographing them with Polaroids. Dropping out of school due to relentless homophobic bullying, he worked as a makeup artist in a department store. After being gay-bashed, he moved to New York City with his boyfriend Jed Root and began working with Vogue photographer Steven Meisel. His career was boosted by his 1996 Vogue cover shoot with Cindy Crawford and work for Cosmopolitan. At 23, he was hired by Revlon as creative director for their Ultima II cosmetics line. He became the makeup artist of choice for 1990s celebrities including Madonna, Cher, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lisa Marie Presley, Courtney Love, Naomi Campbell and Janet Jackson, and launched his own brand, Kevyn Aucoin Beauty, in 2001. He is credited with popularising makeup sculpting and contouring, often transforming his subjects to resemble celebrities, and working with singer-songwriter Tori Amos to create personae for her album covers. His work was showcased in three bestselling books, The Art of Makeup, Making Faces and Face Forward. He also made cameo appearances as himself in TV series Sex and the City and Will and Grace. He was in a long-term relationship with Jeremy Antunes, marrying in an informal ceremony in 2000. He died in 2002 of liver failure, caused by long-term abuse of prescription painkillers, aged 40. His life and legacy has been explored in the documentaries Kevyn Aucoin: Beauty and the Beast In Me and Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story.