Debate's Makeup Artist Knows That May Be a Presidential Beak She’s Blotting

Professional makeup artist Lindsay Donald has brushed against celebrities before — actors, musicians, a bestselling author — but as she blots shine from some famous schnozzes Saturday, she’ll try not to dwell on the fact that one of them might belong to the next commander in chief.

“I try to forget who that person is because I am there to work,” Donald, 28, a Valley High School graduate now living in Johnston said after landing a gig as lead makeup artist for Saturday night’s nationally televised Republican presidential debate.

"... I could be doing makeup for the next president. I try not to think about that in the moment."

Only after she’s packed away her brushes will Donald allow herself to think, “Wow, this is a pretty cool experience because I could be doing makeup for the next president,” she said. “I try not to think about that in the moment.”

Is she worried about touching up Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, rumored to be a diva among press corps photographers who have gotten a finger wagging for unflattering images?

Donald’s lips are as tightly sealed as the glue holding Bachmann’s fake eyelashes in place.

Makeup Artist Keeps Mum on Backstage Scene

What happens in the green room will stay in the green room.

The most Donald will say is that when she did makeup for current frontrunner Newt Gingrich before a Fox News debate earlier this fall, he impressed her as easygoing and genuinely nice.

“I told him my dad was a huge fan and he said, ‘He is? Give me a piece of paper’ and he wrote him a note right then and there,” Donald said. “Four years ago, Hillary Clinton was very nice, too, and engaged in conversation with me.”

For the most part, though, celebrities “have an on and off switch,” and when they’re sitting in the makeup chair as Donald dabs on makeup, plucks errant hairs and hides flaws, it’s mostly switched off.

She will share this, but only because he dropped out of the race: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty didn’t want anyone to see him getting a makeover. “I get that,” Donald said. “He’s a guy, but he still wanted to look good.”

Making up men so they don’t look as if they’re wearing makeup is one of the challenges of Donald’s job. She’ll use a little foundation and some powder. On rare occasions, she will darken a man’s eyebrows “just a little.”

“Some makeup artists put a little brown mascara on, but they still need to look like men,” she said.

Light Touch is the Key

Regardless of her client’s gender, Donald has what she calls “a light hand.”

“It’s easier to add more than to take it away,” she said.

A light touch is important on unforgiving high-definition television.

“If you have a tiny little pimple, it will look 10 times bigger in high-def,” Donald said.

The trick is covering it without drawing more attention to it, because a camera that betrays a blemish will also broadcast concealers.

The Iowa caucuses come at a good time for freelance artists like Donald, who said busy springs, summers and falls give way to static, revenue-flat winters. As lead makeup artist, she will work with a small staff that includes hair stylist Elanni Sherick of Rebelle Salon & Studios in Urbandale.

Steven Myers, owner and director of The Peak Agency, gave ABC News Donald’s name when a producer called asking to be hooked up with the city’s best makeup artist. Myers’ works frequently with Donald at his Des Moines modeling and talent agency.

“She does a phenomenal job,” Myers said of Donald, who trained at the prestigious Empire Academy of Makeup in Orange County, CA.

“A good makeup artist has got to be a good people person, and she’s obviously good at that,” Myers said. “There isn’t anybody she can’t get along with.”

And that includes a bonobo ape named Kanzi at Great Ape Trust, a Des Moines scientific research center that Donald calls her best gig ever. Kanzi’s receptive competence for spoken English has captivated international media, filmmakers and writers, and Donald has first right of refusal when video shoots are scheduled.

“There’s more to getting someone prepared to go on camera than just putting on makeup,” said Al Setka, Great Ape Trust’s communications director. “You have to make that person comfortable, and Lindsay has the disposition and personality to put people at ease. The last thing they need to worry about is how they look.

“She’s able to work with all types of folks at all different levels, whether someone who is a best-selling author or a politician or a scientist who is maybe not comfortable putting makeup on, even nonhuman primates like bonobos,” Setka said. “The skills she brings are really pretty amazing.”