Dee Sikora is a makeup artist and content creator currently living and working in Montreal. Originally from Ontario, they have been working in the beauty industry for over 10 years. Dee says that although he’s best known for playing with color and glitter in the looks you’ll see on their Instagram page, they have a “massive passion for skin-care and fragrance” as well. In addition to making beauty content, Dee works on educating folks to not assume a person’s gender based on presentation, to respect pronouns, and celebrate femme and masc traits in everyone. “I can be a feminine trans masc person who looks and feels and smells fabulous, but that doesn’t mean I’m a woman or fulfilling a concept constructed by a cishet society that I have to tough and butch to be valid or taken seriously,” he says. “It’s about respecting people even if we don’t necessarily understand everything. It’s not another person’s place to project their ideas onto others.”
Ali is a model, makeup artist, and content creator, currently living and working in Atlanta. They have been working as a makeup artist since 2018, and have been featured in Vogue, Teen Vogue, and on Solange’s When I Get Home album. Ali’s looks are otherworldly: She often uses props to transform her own face, everything from jewels and stickers to fake flowers and even birthday candles. They say that makeup helps them to express how they are feeling in day-to-day life. “Makeup helps me truly embody my emotions and let them feel liberated, rather than feel conflicted about conforming to any social standard,” Ali explains. They go on to say that makeup helps them empower themselves: “Sometimes I like to say that my gender is otherworldly or ethereal, because it is,” they say. “I’ve always aimed to be true to myself, and makeup gives me that opportunity to be true to all that is me.”