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It all started with a lipstick Kathryn Butler stole from her mom as a wide-eyed preschooler. “I just always had a thing for makeup,” Butler, 22, recalls. “I’m sure I walked out of the house a few times as a little girl with it smeared all over my face,” she giggles.

Now, Butler, an Atlantic City gal, glides similar shades of red across the lips of others as a makeup artist with MAC Cosmetics. “It’s kind of like tattooing, but clearly it’s a lot different because it’s not permanent,” explains Butler, giggling again. “It comes from the same concept, you’re painting a body. That’s how I look at makeup, definitely like tattoos. Your body is like a canvas and whatever you put on it brings out your personality.”

A majority of Butler’s 19 tattoos—many which have been inked by Josh “Baker” Williams of Hot Rod Tattoo in Atlantic City—bring out her dark side, she says. “I love being open to artists interpretations, because as an artist, sometimes you see things a little differently,” Butler says.