Rachel Gilman: Rachel Goodwin

I met California based Rachel Goodwin on the set of a Spin Magazine shoot featuring Taryn Manning a few years ago and have lived vicariously through her portfolio. There is a reason that starlets and singers grab onto Rachel and make her their makeup artist of choice-she is very creative and really warm, friendly and funny which makes it a blast to be on set with her. Besides working with celebrities Rachel also does strong editorial for magazines such as Lula, Harpers Bazaar, Dazed & Confused and Italian Glamour.
Currently one of the many actresses that calls on Rachel is January Jones of Mad Men. Awhile ago I posted about January looking incredible on the red carpet-really fresh with a touch of old hollywood-and I found out that Rachel was behind it, naturally. I love it. And I am learning about what a foodie Rachel is too.....I can't get it out of my head when our mutual friend Rodney Hall called her cooking or her food references "food porn."

What do you do for a living?
I'm a professional face painter

Name an unusual talent.
I do seem to have a special talent for giving the wrong people the benefit of the doubt :) I'm also particularly good at remembering the latin names of plants and flowers, although I'm not totally sure where that comes from.

Favorite drink.
A perfect Manhattan. Preferably made by my husband and preferably with Woodford Reserve bourbon.

Favorite quote.
"Not what we have but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance." Epicurus

Favorite shade of lipstick or other beauty product(s).
Chanel Rouge Allure Laque lipstick in Dragon, it's the most unbelievable power red. For me it encapsulates that kind of strong but unabashed feminine glamour of WWII era women. I have a soft spot for bold women and a bold lip!

If you were to have chosen another profession, what would it have been?
Definitely a food writer. My fantasy would be to be a sort of hybrid of M.F.K Fischer, Mark Bittman and Michael Pollan.

Name your favorite restaurant in California.
OK, that is a truly impossible question for me to answer. It really just depends on what part of California, what time of year and what mood I'm in at the time. I will say that the thing I miss the most since moving to Southern California is great Dim Sum. That said I'd probably have to say Yank Sing in San Francisco. We just had a truly out of body shanghai dumpling moment there recently so it's fresh in my mind. I'm also partial to a seventies seafood shack vibe so "The Sea Chest" on Moonstone Beach in Cambria is another favorite. There's just no better way to spend a summer evening than to watch the sun go down at their bar eating oysters Rockefeller watching as the cooks pump out plate after plate of the most perfect seafood you've ever seen, then ladeling bubbling spicy cioppino out of of an ancient beat up le creuset pot with fresh sourdough bread. Makes me want to get in my car and drive up the coast right now.

Can you cook?
Hell YES! Cooking is like meditation for me, cooking for my friends is one of my life greatest joys.

Do you have a signature dish?
I've been told it's my Picadillo recipe which was passed down from my Cuban grandmother, to my mother and now to me, It's a really heartwarming dish. I must say though that the dish I'm most proud of mastering is chef Alain Giraud's lavender ice cream vacherin. Whenever I've made it people literally swoon, it's kind of crazy how good it is. I swear it's an aphrodisiac.

Favorite cartoon character.
Ren Hoek or Pepe Le Pew mostly because I can't get enough of the warped relationship he has with that poor Penelope the Pussycat.

Favorite sound.
It's a toss up between fog horns over the San Francisco Bay or pounding rain in the middle of the night when I'm snuggled up in my bed.

Favorite smell.
One answer is just impossible, especially for a sensualist like me! If I had to narrow it down the first thing that comes to mind is the smell of beignets and chicory coffee at the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, but seriously how can I not give honorable mention to rain hitting hot dry pavement or the olfactory magical carpet ride that is Serge Lutens Perfumerie in Paris?

Are you allergic to anything?
Thankfully no, that would really cramp my style.

Favorite fashion designer.
Well, I am HUGE fan of Lacroix, his irreverence and his color palette are a total source of joy to me but Vivienne Westwood totally rocks my world. I love her philosophy, her tailoring and her sense of humour. I keyed the make up on one of her shows years ago and it was such an honor. It was definitely one of the highlights of my career.

Favorite mass brand fashion label.
Helmut Lang, is that mass? I also like Top Shop.

Favorite color.
Midnight blue

Name a bad habit of yours.
That's easy! Forgetting things such as my keys, like all the time.

What was your best traveling experience?
Our honeymoon in Scotland was just incredible. I think the Scottish Highlands are one of the most magical places in the world and don't get me started on the whisky.

What was your worst traveling experience?
Never had one, I've taken something away from every place I've ever been lucky enough to go to, even the bad ones.

What would be an outdated beauty habit that too many people still practice?
Women who insist on wearing concealer two shades lighter than their skin tone under the eyes. It still doesn't work people, it only makes it look worse so put down the touche eclat! Anyone who still needs to be scared straight see Melanie Griffith in Body Double.

What is your favorite fruit?
A white peach from Frog Hollow Farms in the Sacramento delta. I order a box every summer. If I'm lucky enough to be in France in the summer those tiny fragrant frais du bois are pretty much heaven too.

What is your favorite vegetable?
Currently I'm having a renewed love affair with the breakfast radish but I adore all vegetables! I'm lucky to live in California where we have such an incredible bounty of veggies all year. I'm at the Farmers Market every weekend and we grow our own too!

Do you have any pets?
Yes, an 18 year old diva cat named Lou Lou and we just recently adopted two new kittens: Dashiell and Ripley -- who make us laugh constantly. We think people should be prescribed purring kittens instead of blood pressure medication. They're like little Valium capsules in fur coats.

Favorite website or blog that you have to check out every day.
I have lots of sites I visit regularly but abloomsburylife is one that I always find really inspiring. I love her sensibility and her views about life are right in line with mine. I feel like a total cyber stalker but I would love to get to meet her. I have this feeling we'd be good friends.

Favorite vacation spot.
Right now I'd say the South of France. We took a cooking course in Provence last fall that was totally life changing.

Favorite museum.
That's like being asked to choose which child is your favorite. I love them all for different reasons. I just visited the Gustav Moreau museum near Montmarte for the first time which was unbelievable and Josephine Bonaparte's Chateau Malmaison outside of Paris was mind blowing, so right now those are my two are my favorites. I'm currently obsessing over Joshephine Bonaparte after recently reading her biography "The Rose of Martinique." It was like a dream being there, seeing the place she called her favorite place in the world especially after just reading so much about it.

Ever broken a limb?
No, never. Knocking on wood :)

Ever needed stiches?
I slipped on my way to school and almost cut my left thumb off when I was 10 and I needed A LOT of stitches. I can't even remember how many so I must have blocked it out. Also on the right side of my head from a car accident when I was 18.

Any phobias?
Spiders, I really can't deal with any of them. Well MAAAAYBE daddy long legs but that's where it ends. (editor's note: I agree-It's bad luck and just mean to kill those cute daddy long legs...)

Do you like sharks?
Yes, I grew up near one of the breeding grounds for Great Whites off the coast of San Francisco so I have major respect for them. I'm way into all of those crazy shark shows on the Discovery Channel like "Blood in the Water" etc. I actually saw Jaws 3 in 3-D in the theater when it came out, what a nerd!

Are you ticklish?
Yes, incredibly. My armpits are totally off limits. My husband uses this as punishment for bad behavior.

Favorite song.
This changes daily but right now it's "I Don't Really Love You Anymore" by The Magnetic Fields. It seems to always make me smile.

What is your favorite charity/cause?
I've been sponsoring women in the Congo through an organization called Women for Women International for the last 3 years. They do incredible work with women in war torn countries. It's a truly amazing program. I'm also a huge animal lover so I've always supported the ASPCA.

You can see Rachel's portfolio at www.magnetla.com and here are some examples of her work: