Interview with Instagram Sensation Elle Modesto

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Meet author, and make up artist extraordinaire, Elle Modesto. This is a fun interview where we chat about the covers she replicates with makeup!

I am delighted to have had Elle Modesto (@elle_modesto) stop by for an interview and chat about her phenomenal makeup designs, books and more! I stumbled upon her Instagram feed and knew right then that I just *had* to talk to her.  Seriously. Her designs are jaw dropping!

Hi Elle, thank you for stopping by!

I was looking up the hashtag, Not Even Bones to see what others thought of Rebecca Schaeffer’s debut novel, on Instagram, when I came across your make up design inspired by the book cover.  I was blown away and instantly became obsessed with your feed!

What inspired you to create eye shadow designs to go along with book covers?

Makeup and books are two of my favorite things. I figured why not put them together? It started with just eye-shadow colors matching the book covers, but I wanted to do something a little more artsy for Instagram. I have a background in tattooing and pin striping so I put those to use.

Approximately how long does each design that?

A single makeup look can take anywhere between one and four hours depending on how detailed I want to get. Just the blending eye-shadows alone for the base takes a half hour. Straight lines on hooded eyelids are tedious, and so are tiny little designs. Most of my time is spent on the details.

Do you have a favorite design that you have created?

My favorite would have to be the look I did for THE CRUEL PRINCE by Holly Black. I love that book to pieces and I was really happy the way the sticks turned out. 

I’m also really happy with the way the look for SCREAM ALL NIGHT by Derek Milman turned out. Teal is my favorite color and I was pleasantly surprised with the bat wing.


Not only are you an amazing artist, but you are an author as well.  Have you created a make-up design to go along with the cover your book, Revenge and the Wild?

I haven’t created a look for my own novel. I love the colors and cover design, and the lettering is beautiful, but it doesn’t really translate well into makeup.

Revenge and the Wild has a unique plot and one I’ve never explored as I’m just starting to break into reading YA and YA fantasy.  I see mention of a scarred young assistant in the synopsis, can you tell me if there is a romance budding there? 

There is definitely a romantic subplot in my novel, and couple steamy scenes too.

Do you have any other books coming down the pipeline that you can tell us about?

I don’t have anything coming down the pipeline anytime soon. I’m so happy to have written a novel and have it traditionally published; it’s an accomplishment I’m proud of, but I don’t know if I see myself as a career writer. It’s a hard job that requires a thick skin. For now, I’ll stick to reading books written by other people.

Could you give a few recommendations to romance readers that might want to read some young adult novels?

I love a good, slow burn romance in the books I read no matter the demographic. Some of my favorite YA novels are GRACELING by Kristin Cashore, FOR THE DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS by Diana Peterfreund, ENCLAVE by Ann Aguirre, and THE BODY FINDER by Kimberly Derting.

Thank you so much for taking the time and doing this interview with me.  You have made a new fangirl out of me and hopefully after seeing your feed and checking out this interview you will have a few more!

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2 Comments

  1. My two favorite things! Books & Makeup! Such a fun concept! She is amazing, those looks are stunning! & now i have a bunch of books that I want to read! lol Thanks for sharing this!

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