Alejandro &ldquo;Art&rdquo; Torrontegui shares how leaning into the surreal gave him a louder, more unapologetic way to express himself.

PHOTOGRAPHY Kevin Gonzales
CREATIVE DIRECTION Paolo Chua
STYLING Markarvin

What was your first memory of makeup or beauty?
For me, it&rsquo;s more about discovering fashion and beauty, the kind of beauty that really speaks to me. I remember watching The NeverEnding Story II, that &rsquo;90s movie, and realizing I was drawn to unconventional beauty. In that film, there were creatures made of rock, a witch and all these human and non-human characters. That was when I realized there&rsquo;s another form of beauty. Not the polished, perfect kind we usually see, but something different. That&rsquo;s where my passion for art and creativity started. I&rsquo;ve always considered myself someone who&rsquo;s drawn to alternative beauty. I don&rsquo;t hate what&rsquo;s considered &ldquo;common&rdquo; beauty, but I lean toward the alternative because that&rsquo;s where I find more art.
Was there a moment when you realized makeup could be yours, not just something for others?
Yes. I&rsquo;m a very creative person, so I&rsquo;ve tried all sorts of media. I painted, did photography and sketched when I was younger. During the pandemic, I started looking for another outlet &mdash; another medium &mdash; and that was when I discovered makeup, around 2020 or 2021. At first, it was difficult, because painting is done on a flat surface, but with makeup, you&rsquo;re working on a face. The perspective is totally different. Then I realized that makeup is actually very similar to painting. That&rsquo;s when I thought, okay, I think this is the path I want to take to express my creativity.

Did anyone ever tell you that makeup wasn&rsquo;t &ldquo;for you&rdquo;? How did you respond?
Yes. I grew up in a very religious Jehovah&rsquo;s Witness family. When I was a kid, I was always seen as the creative one, and that was something they tried to suppress. That&rsquo;s when people started assuming I was gay. They&rsquo;d say things like, &ldquo;Oh, he&rsquo;s into makeup&rdquo;, and for them, that was already something negative. Our pastor and church members would talk about it, and I remember once being caught by my family using lipstick. They said, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to be gay&rdquo;, and I was told to read the Bible &mdash; that being gay was a sin, a sickness. That&rsquo;s part of why I used to be more reserved about myself and my sexuality.
What did you have to unlearn about beauty?
As a beauty content creator, I&rsquo;ve realized that beauty can sometimes make you want to be noticed because that&rsquo;s part of its essence, right? The reason we want to look good is often because we want to be seen. But at some point, you have to be aware of your surroundings. It&rsquo;s not always about you. I really believe beauty can turn you into a cruel person if you let judgment and standards take over. You have to take a step back and remember, it&rsquo;s not just about being beautiful. When you become more aware, you realize that beauty isn&rsquo;t only about you; it&rsquo;s also about others.
How does makeup change the way you move and the way you carry yourself?
Makeup is such a powerful form of self-expression. You can become whoever you want to be with it &mdash; especially in drag. Makeup really boosts your confidence. When I started doing makeup, I became more detail-oriented. Before, I didn&rsquo;t pay much attention to things like lipstick shades or eyeliner tones. But through makeup, I sharpened my eye for color theory and detail &mdash; the lines, the precision. Makeup is truly powerful that way.

Is there a color, texture or style that feels tied to your personal story?
I really love monochromatic looks. Just one color, usually cool-toned or muted shades. When it comes to shapes, I recently learned about the difference between organic and intentional forms. Organic shapes are more freestyle, which comes naturally to me, but I&rsquo;m also learning to be more intentional with my designs. My look today, for example, was inspired by Aku from Samurai Jack, Salvador Dal&iacute; and Elsa Schiaparelli. I&rsquo;ve always been inspired by surrealism. I first encountered the term in college and it fascinated me. That was when I started getting deeply interested in art and surrealist expression.
When it comes to beauty, what does &ldquo;maximalism&rdquo; mean to you?
For me, maximalism is messy and non-cohesive, but in a beautiful way. It may look chaotic, but everything still connects. Different forms and styles can coexist while complementing one another. That&rsquo;s how I see it, and that&rsquo;s also how I&rsquo;d describe my style.

If you could show your younger self this version of you, what would you want him to see?
I&rsquo;d want him to see that despite all the struggles &mdash; with school and with family &mdash; you became independent at such a young age. Every wrong decision eventually led to better ones. And look at you now: you&rsquo;re creative and you&rsquo;ve learned to embrace your feminine side. Before, you always felt the need to appear &ldquo;presentable&rdquo; and masculine because that&rsquo;s what society expected. Especially in my family, I was told that since I&rsquo;m the only boy, I should act more &ldquo;manly&rdquo;. But I&rsquo;ve learned that I don&rsquo;t need to live by those expectations anymore.
What do you hope people feel when they see your work, beyond whether they like it or not?
The main reason I do creative makeup is to inspire people and make them curious. I like when people see art they don&rsquo;t fully understand because that&rsquo;s okay. Not everyone needs to &ldquo;get it&rdquo;. What matters to me is that it makes them think. Maybe they&rsquo;ll just say, &ldquo;It looks cool&rdquo;, even if they can&rsquo;t explain why. That curiosity &mdash; that moment of thought &mdash; is what I want to spark. And the more people see it, the more it becomes normalized, which I love.

MAKEUP Art
HAIR Patty Cristobal
PHOTOGRAPHER&rsquo;S ASSISTANT Giancarlo Dimalanta

Face Value: Art

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