Kevyn Aucoin, makeup artist to the rich and famous, died on Tuesday of a brain tumor. Kevyn Aucoin, Makeup Artist and Author, 40, Dies His is an American success story, growing up as an adopted child in the South, knowing he was gay from an early age, bearing persecution for being ugly and gay. Then with a second-hand suit from Goodwill, he transformed himself into the makeup artist of the ’80s and ’90s, with the likes of Julia Roberts, Madonna, Cyndy Crawford, and many more.