Makeup Magic

A local makeup artist is ready to help adults and children achieve their ideal looks for Halloween — whether they be something gory, spooky, glamorous or legendary.

Miranda Straub, owner of mandi MOON artistry, creates special effects including gashes and scars.

“Anything you can dream up, I can create,” she said.

Straub, 23, provides retro Hollywood looks, such as Marilyn Monroe and Pennywise the clown.

She likes to think of herself as more of a visual artist, and Halloween is her favorite time to showcase this talent.

Straub has been interested in theater, costuming, cosplay and character creation since she was a child, and she has attended comic cons and costuming conventions on a regular basis for more than a decade.

Superheroes and characters from comics are a huge influence on a lot of her looks and creations.

“I love to recreate any superhero or villain,” Straub said.

The inspiration for her business name comes from the “mandi moon” nickname that her best friend and sister, Rachael Gunderson, calls her, and Straub’s love for the Japanese manga series, Sailor Moon.

Miranda works with Rachael and their mother, salon owner Jyl Straub, in The Wild Hair salon, 418 N.E. Cedar St., in downtown Camas.

Jyl has worked as a stylist at the salon since it opened in 1990, and she purchased it in 2008.

Rachael created the custom hair color that Miranda lovingly calls “lemon lime realness.”

“I love to express myself through all sorts of mediums,” Miranda said. “I love feeling like a walking piece of art.”

Finding her true passion

Miranda considered other career paths before graduating from Cedars’s Academy of Makeup Artistry, in Vancouver, in August 2017. She attended an art institute for 3D animation/modeling and game design, then a culinary school where she majored in baking and pastry.

Miranda also attended a nail technician program.

“I also fit tattoo school in there somewhere as well,” she said.

“It has been so amazing, finally finding my true passion and niche,” Miranda added, regarding working as a certified makeup artist.

She said she has grown up in The Wild Hair salon since she was a baby.

“Watching my mom build and maintain one of the longest running businesses in Camas has been inspiring,” Miranda said. “I am honored to work next to her and couldn’t be more joyful.”

She said her mother, Jyl, and grandmother, Judy Straub, are her biggest supporters and inspiration.

“I am so lucky to be around such strong, wonderful women, to guide me on my life path and journey,” Miranda said.

She also credits Cedar’s for inspiring her on her journey to self love.

Makeup for Beetlejuice, brides

Miranda offers makeup services for weddings, bachelorette parties, proms, photo shoots and date nights, as well as Halloween, fantasy and special effects.

“(Providing makeup services for) a bride is probably the most time consuming thing, because it is her special day,” she said. “Halloween comes naturally to me, and special effects really don’t have a set timeframe. Every single face is totally unique!”

She also loves seeing clients’ reactions.

“Getting to see clients confident and happy when they leave my chair makes my heart smile so much,” she said. “I have struggled with my own confidence growing up, and makeup school helped me find my confidence and love for myself and really impacted what kind of person I wanted to be in the world.”

As a makeup artist for “Villains & Vixens,” a Halloween Cabaret at The Headwaters Theater in Portland. Straub provided makeup services for the characters of Beetlejuice, a pirate and Regan, from the novel, “The Exorcist.”

For more information about mandiMOON artistry, call 360-798-8291, email mandimoonartistry@gmail.com or visit www.facebook.com/mandiMOONartistry.