Filling the ‘Makeup Guru’ Void : An assembly-line worker turned cosmetic artist wants to teach his clients the techniques he’s mastered after 17 years and thousands of faces.

Richard Stevens wants to be to makeup what Jose Eber is to hair and Richard Simmons is to the body.

“There is no makeup guru,” says Stevens, making it clear that he would like to fill that void.

In Orange County, he’s already making a name for himself.

“He has a number of clients who are walking advertisements,” says Candice Schnapp, a Newport Beach resident and a regular customer of Stevens. She often has Stevens do her makeup before a formal event, such as the recent Opera Pacific ball.

“It takes the worry out,” Schnapp says. “If I’m under the gun, I’ll put on my lipstick liner and end up with lopsided lips.

“Richard’s good at making me have more lip than I have, and he’s the only one who can make my brows look nice.”

Stevens’ aim is to teach clients how to master their makeup so they can create their own full lips and perfect brows.

“He insists you watch what he’s doing. He wants to make sure you learn his technique,” Schnapp says.

At his group seminars and one-on-one consultations, Stevens’ message is always the same: “If I can do it, anybody can.”

To spread the word, Stevens joined forces with fellow makeup artist Julia Cross and opened the Stevens & Cross Cosmetic Studio in Newport Beach in November, 1989. Here, in these contemporary black-and-white quarters adorned with colorful murals, there are no secrets. Stevens and Cross believe in sharing information, both with each other and with their clients.

“It’s information they can’t get in department stores,” Stevens says.

Stevens came by his knowledge of cosmetics by accident.

“I was going to open up a clothing store for ladies that would carry makeup on the side,” he recalls.

He purchased the cosmetics but then found he couldn’t come up with the capital for the store.

“I tried to get my money back from the (cosmetics) company but they said, ‘No. Why don’t you become a makeup artist?’ I couldn’t even draw a straight line.

“Suddenly, I was selling $2,000 worth of stuff I’d never heard of,” he says. The Vietnam veteran and former assembly-line worker at Ford Motor Co. taught himself to wield a mascara wand. Seventeen years and thousands of faces later, he is sharing what he has learned.

“No one leaves here without learning something,” he says.

He does not like to call these makeovers--to him they’re more like cosmetic seminars.

He asks his clients to show up for appointments wearing makeup to see what kind of look they’re striving for and where they might be making mistakes. They sit facing a mirror under bright studio lights while Stevens paints their faces with his palette of powders. Often, he’ll push a pencil or brush into his subject’s hand and have her practice the strokes.

He recently demonstrated his makeup techniques on the studio’s model, Tani Wright.

“The first thing women want to know is how to do brows,” he says.

Cross, watching him work, calls eyebrows the “frame for the picture.” Stevens uses a brow shadow applied with a brush to fill in sparse areas and extend the brow if it’s too short.

“Brow pencils will always look drawn on,” he says. “We don’t change it, we just accentuate it.” On Wright, the added powder adds definition to the brows but doesn’t change their naturally smooth arch.

To erase circles under Wright’s eyes, he places highlighter on the deepest depression. Many women end up accentuating the dark circles they’re trying to conceal by incorrectly applying the wrong color concealer to the puffy area.

“Nine times out of 10, women wear concealers that are entirely too light, and they end up with a raccoon effect,” Cross says.

Blush poses the biggest beauty hazard. Women typically apply it too low on the cheeks.

“It’s always above the hollow,” Stevens says. “It’s not across the chin, under the eye, or all of those crazy places.”

Some also choose blush colors that are too bright and end up with an artificial look, Cross says.

“You should add just a little blush--it shouldn’t be these strong circles of color,” she says. “Blush is one product that if women are feeling pale or down, they’ll reach for it. They get that brush going all over the forehead, nose and cheeks.”

Stevens prefers to emphasize the mouth and the eyes.

“I always do a stronger mouth. The mouth will always lead the way,” he says.

Without benefit of collagen injections, he can achieve the fuller, pouty mouth now in vogue.

“Most women underplay their lips. Lip liner is the key to bringing them into focus. It’s not just a crumby line that goes around the mouth.”

He uses a mauve-colored lip pencil to outline Wright’s already generous lips, staying within the natural lines and then using the pencil to shade in the middle.

“It’s the coloring book method--you never go over the lines,” Stevens says. Liner gives the lips shape and prevents lipstick from bleeding.

For the eyes, he uses a nude powder on the lid to even the skin tone, saving the colored shadow for the deep recession just under the brow bone. Stevens prefers neutral shades with a matte finish, choosing a smoky plum to accent Wright’s clear blue eyes.

“When you get into the blues, turquoise or greens on the eyelids, you’re in trouble,” he says. Colors should enhance the eyes, not compete with them.

Before applying mascara, he uses a lash curler, a medieval-looking contraption many women abandon because they don’t know how to use it properly. Stevens positions it on the lashes as close to the lid as possible and squeezes for several seconds. The resulting curl can make lashes look twice as long and lasts the rest of the day.

When working with a mascara wand, he first wipes the excess off the tip, then uses only the first couple rows of the brush.

“That way you’re not sticking the lashes together,” he says.

He also has practical suggestions for skin care. To prevent eye makeup and mascara from smudging, wash off the oily eye makeup remover with soap and water. To keep lips from looking flaky, use a Vitamin E-enriched conditioner, then blot off the excess before applying lipstick.

“A woman doesn’t have to do every one of these things,” Stevens says. Just eliminating six mistakes and adding two or three positive steps can make a big difference in her appearance.

A personal consultation costs $75 and lasts 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the initial session, with free follow-ups. For an additional $25, customers can have the session videotaped.