Rising Stars: Meet Charis Michelsen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charis Michelsen.

Hi Charis, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

I moved to New York City from my small hometown in Oregon to attend Parsons School of Design/The New School, to study fine art and fashion design, and within two weeks, I was scouted to model by a photographer for Harper’s BAZAAR magazine while standing on a street corner. The photographer did a test photoshoot with me, and thus my modeling career began. I was blessed to work with such great brands as Tommy Hilfiger, GAP, Pepsi, Dell, Conair, Levis, and be featured in magazines such as Mademoiselle, Paper, Glamour, Redbook, People, Hamptons, Seventeen, Surface, and Psychology Today. After booking the first movie my modeling agent sent me to audition for and being offered the lead in the producers’ next movie, which launched my acting career, I was scouted by the gorgeous and brilliant Bebe Buell and her lovely and talented daughter, actress Liv Tyler, at a rock concert. Bebe, a rock singer and former model, became my career manager. It was such an honor to be managed by Bebe, as she only managed Liv Tyler, legendary singer and punk goddess Debbie Harry of the awesome band Blondie, and me. Bebe introduced me to my then talent agent, Innovative Artists and modeling agent IMG, and I began working with some of the entertainment industry’s top talent, such as Academy award-winning directors Martin Scorsese and Curtis Hanson, and major stars such as Robert Downey Jr., Michael Douglas, Katie Holmes, Radha Mitchell, Nicolas Cage, and Tobey Maguire. I was even blessed to star in a music video with Liv Tyler and in other music videos for renowned bands such as Type O Negative. While working as a model and actress, I loved studying what makeup artists and stylists did and noticed a connection between their work and fine art. Having a natural interest in fine art, particularly from having studied at Parsons School of Design/The New School, I was inspired to get my professional makeup artist certification.

After obtaining my makeup artist certification, I was offered a spokesperson position for one of the world’s top prestige cosmetics companies and traveled nationally and internationally, speaking to thousands of people. While interacting with others, the number one question I would be asked was “How do I look my best?” as everyone wants to look their best, like a celebrity. We’ve all seen celebrities looking plain before they were famous and then amazing once their style teams have performed their magic. I wanted to find out how each person could have this magic for themselves and give it to them. Thank God, I succeeded. From my findings, I created the world’s first Universal Beauty Standard System™, which guarantees to maximize each person’s physical appeal both with makeup application and fashion choices. A dear friend then suggested I put my findings in a book, so I wrote two, Hollywood Beauty: The Art of Star Makeup for all sexes and Grooming for Men: From Dirty to Polished for men. My books, which I self-illustrated, fill the industry’s in-depth education gap to empower beauty novices through professionals with an unparalleled physical enhancement skill set, which includes original user-friendly beauty techniques, an A through Z all life stage education, and comprehensive individualized prescriptive solutions, so one can effectively choose and use products to maximize their individual physical appeal.

My books can be viewed from my website, charismichelsen.com. Former Universal Pictures president and producer of such films as Natural Born Killers, Bull Durham, and Tequila Sunrise Thom Mount kindly wrote that my books will “have meaning and value in society, and will stand alongside the work of other authors who understand their subjects at an extraordinary cellular level; think Julia Child’s [Mastering] The Art of French Cooking.” What a compliment. I was blessed to have met Mr. Mount while starring in a film he produced, and during one of our conversations, he discovered I had written a screenplay and asked to read it. He loved it and wanted to develop a project with me, which we did. The project is a dramendy entitled, The Reason Sh*t Happens, meant to inspire hope and courage to hang on when going through a personal hell, to find out that everything happens for a good reason. I’ve also created a fashion & beauty TV show entitled Fashion Style Beauty that I’ll host. It’s an up-close and personal exploration into the exciting and entertaining world of fashion, style, and beauty, offering the best fashion and cosmetic happenings, history, information, education, and advice to date — think an elegantly sexy Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown with a focus on fashion, style, and beauty, instead of food and travel, with added education.

I wrote two more books using my Universal Beauty Standard System™ that instruct on how to choose clothing and accessories to maximize one’s physical appeal and turned them into an Artificial Intelligence (AI) personal stylist. I later discovered that someone in the industry hired MIT to accomplish the same, yet failed. My AI Stylist offers better personal styling than what celebrity stylists offer without making them obsolete and will be housed on the Fashion Style Beauty Network, a multi-faceted online platform I founded, that includes a curated list of the best fashion, beauty, and style resources, and will eventually include content. My goal with my AI Stylist is to answer the question, “What should I wear?” for everyone without dictating personal style to anyone. The Stylist will also be helpful to vendors, as product returns should be reduced, as the products sold through the AI Stylist should be ideal for customers.

In honoring my fashion design roots, I also created and patented a diamond-dot pattern intended for use with a line of conscience fashion and accessory products I’ve designed. My pattern is expressed in twenty colors and contains a unique color technology that makes each act as a neutral, allowing each color to be more compatible with various outfits. Brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Goyard have gorgeous signature patterns, and I wanted to create my own that employs unique, beautiful, and wearable color combinations.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’ve found my biggest challenges always turn out to be blessings in disguise, as they offer opportunities for growth and solutions. For example, I worked diligently for years to create a fool-proof scientific system that could guarantee an individual always looks their best and, like Thomas Edison, was very successful in finding out what didn’t work. By not giving up, and sticking to my goal to create that which could guarantee each person looks and feels their best, which seemed impossible, as it hadn’t been done before, I was finally successful with inventing the world’s first Universal Beauty Standard System™. It feels amazing to have created something that has the power to change a person’s life for the better. Now everyone can look like their own celebrity, and celebrities will hopefully never have a beauty or fashion faux pas on the red carpet again. If anyone says you’ll never reach your goals, ignore them, and keep moving forward. Have a theme song that cheers you on, and listen to it when you need to be championed. I have two: Eye of the Tiger by Survivor and Empire State of Mind by Alicia Keys featuring Jay-Z. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’ve been very blessed to have been offered great opportunities because of my work, such as being the CEO of a skincare line, a makeup line, and a product consultant for top companies, along with being a regular beauty contributor to a luxury magazine geared at entrepreneurial women. I’m a major champion of women and love supporting them and providing them with information that could help them meet their goals. I’m also grateful for being named one of the “Top 30 Most Inspiring Women to Look out for in 2022,” by Disruptors Magazine, “One of the Top 30 Personalities Disrupting the Fashion Industry in 2022,” by the NYC Journal, deemed a top leader of 2022 and “One of the Most Empowering Women to Watch out for in 2022” by Tycoon Success magazine, the “Martha Stewart of makeup” by Entrepreneurs Herald magazine, the new face of the beauty industry by Vigour Magazine, Roidx Magazine, and L’amour Magazine, qualified as a beauty and fashion icon by Edith Mode Magazine, and a beauty & fashion superstar by Dolce Magazine. I was also named a legend and notable alumnus amongst top talents such as Tom Ford, Anna Sui, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Derek Lam, Alexander Wang, Isaac Mizrahi, and Zac Posen by Parsons School of Design/The New School, ranked number five out of the world’s top makeup artists, and recently offered a role in an important new movie with a top name in the entertainment industry.