This is part of our series My Life in Beauty, where we have previously talked to actor Robyn Malcolm, musician Princess Chelsea, dancer Isla Potini and fashion designer Kristine Crabb.

Looking through Kylie McKenzie’s beauty archives is a dopamine rush. There’s no hair colour, lipstick, or eyebrow shape she hasn’t tried – and pulled off – at least once. 

“It's not about what suits me, I’m about what I feel like looking like that day,” says the Auckland-based creative, who also goes by Lula Fortune, named after Laura Dern’s character in the David Lynch film Wild At Heart. 

“I have had that name since my MySpace days, around the second time I moved to London, possibly 2005? Growing up I really wasn’t into my name. When I would meet up with internet friends, everyone just called me Lula and it grew from there.”

Reinvention has always been important to McKenzie, but it has never been about ‘fitting in’. Her relationship to beauty is more inspired by her taste in art, music and movies than mainstream trends. Presenting herself to the world – particularly, her world of social media and underground nightlife – is an artform she has finessed over many years, immersed in London’s Club Kid scene. 

She’d travel to Paris with DJ duo Disco Smack and find herself at Mario Testino’s 60th birthday party, standing next to Valentino while watching Kylie Minogue jump out of a cake. She’d attend infamous Susanne Bartsch parties in New York City and end up working for the legend herself, being paid to host parties. She eventually returned home bringing some of the fun back to Tāmaki, hosting club nights with designer James Dobson of Jimmy D, goth nights at Karangahape Road’s DOC bar (RIP) and DJing fashion parties as one half of La Beat Debauchery.

Statuesque with her signature long orange hair, she’s easily recognisable in her local haunts – namely Ponsonby Road, where she’s been behind the desk at Two Hands Tattoo for seven years. McKenzie parties less these days, but is still very much an Auckland It Girl, juggling her side hustles of embroidery, designing leather bags under the label Dear Prudence, and photographing fine art and antiques for Cordys auction house.

Kylie, thank you for opening up your archives for us. What is your earliest memory of beauty?

Mum teasing her hair with lots of hair spray. Wearing press-on nails to school. 

Who are your long-standing beauty influences? 

I love the pale gothic, mysterious looks from the movie Cabaret. Marlene Dietrich with her thin brows. Amanda Lear. 80s Vogue Italia, 70s and 80s horror movies, Federico Fellini films, David Lynch films. Serge Lutens. John Galliano makeup by Pat McGrath. Greek folklore, medieval, baroque and surrealist art. Fantasy art by Boris Vallejo. Vivienne Westwood. Princess Julia and the London Blitz Kids / New Romantics. Divine, Siouxsie Sioux, goth music, Black Metal, Vali Myers, Nina Hagen. 

What was the first beauty product you fell in love with?

Colour-changing mood lipstick. It was called Mood Lips, it was green but would come out as pinks and reds on your lips.

Very 90s! How did you experiment with beauty growing up in that era?  

I grew up in Birkenhead, I went to Chelsea Primary School then Kristin School. I was always in trouble for the way I looked; having different coloured hair, piercings, drawing pictures over my body. I used to use a lot of Sun-In Hair Lightener in my hair at school until I just gave up and finally bleached it but tried to pretend it was a more natural progression. 

I remember getting a lot of eyelash tint in the blackest black so we didn’t have to wear mascara and get in trouble. I spent a lot of my time in the art rooms at school so I could be myself and play around with looks. My mum put on very big halloween parties for all my friends and the street, it was always a big deal to get very dressed up this had a massive impact on me. 

Who were your beauty influences as a teenager? 

Growing up, my BFF [designer] Jaimie Webster Haines was always dressed cool and fun. She was very inspiring to me when I was a teenager. Madonna was always a major icon – her red lips, lighter face powder, overly filled-in brows and fake beauty mark was a big thing for me growing up. 

I was always attracted to people who looked different, punks, goths. The older ‘weird’ kids at school always interested me. I wore a lot of op shop clothes in school and then I got into the skating community for a bit, but we also hung out with a lot of punks and hard-core kids. 

‍How did your beauty look evolve over time?

I got into modelling through Angela Bevan and doing NZ Fashion Week – working with Pavement and No magazine, [stylist] Rachael Churchward, Nom*D, music videos etc. I got taught a lot about makeup during this time. 

After skating, I went into a more 90s Britpop vibe. From there I went to design school and started dressing a lot more 60s mod. I went to England for the first time and by then I was wearing a lot of red lipstick and thick eyeliner, vintage dresses and berets thinking I was Anna Karina from a Godard movie.

From this I sadly was living in the heart of Indie Sleaze in London and then Nu Rave (very cringe but I was there, BFFs with the Klaxons etc). Then I moved back to NZ and brought Nu Rave with me, James [Dobson] and I started a monthly club night called It’s Time to Get Dumb – we wanted NZ to be vibrant and fun like it felt in London. We also had a radio show on George FM. We moved around many different venues on and around KRd.

We would put a lot of time and effort into dressing the venue into our fun party wonderland. We would have performances and DJs and drag queens and just whatever we felt like doing. After this I went more goth/metal/ romantic folk vibes.

Was it eye-opening, moving to London and partying in Paris and New York? Do you think your environment changes the way you present yourself?

It always felt natural to me. I was deep in the queer nightlife with all the Club Kids, and different countries react differently to how I dress and look. I do feel a lot more creativity and passion to try new looks while I am travelling away from New Zealand. 

You’ve always operated outside of mainstream beauty trends. I’m curious if you intentionally did this from a certain age. Was there ever a period of you trying to ‘fit in’ or was that never for you?  

I don’t think I ever tried to fit in! I have always been myself – I always had strong friend groups that loved to be themselves. That doesn’t mean I haven’t got shit for it over the years but I don't let it bother me. There has been a lot of abuse from strangers, especially in Europe. I spent a few years travelling with very high buffalo boots that I would wear as my day to day shoes – as I am already 5”11 without them, people decided they had a lot to say about this to me while I walked the streets. You can find a sense of belonging even if you don’t conform, I've found my own family from being different and I love it.

Your beauty looks from your time hosting parties in London and NYC are incredible. What was the getting ready process like?

My best friends and I all lived together in London – five gay boys and me – in the ‘Twink Towers’. Andy Bradin and Josh Quinton of the DJ duo Disco Smack and Leopold Duchemin, Rob, Jamie – they were in the family I partied with around the world. I would go with them to ALL the parties.

I dressed up and went out to Susanne Bartsch’s parties so working for her was a natural flow from there. Hosting was just about promoting the party and bringing friends with you, having your name on a flyer etc. I would maybe spend the week before a party thinking about my look and getting things I needed to bring the vision together. The boys would source a lot of their looks from designers that would lend pieces to them. 

Getting ready at the Twink Towers, disco or goth music would always be playing and the air would be thick with Tom Ford perfume and hairspray. We used to wear a lot of MAC Fix+ Spray or hairspray on the face to make it last all night. I would always get ready the fastest and have to wait for the boys to do their hair. We would take photos of each other in the finished looks and put them on Instagram. 

I was going to ask, how has the internet influenced your approach to beauty? Tell me about your Tumblr-core days. The bleached brows have definitely come back…

Haha so very Tumblr! I've always been active online way back to my MySpace days. I would bleach my own brows. Fashion moves in circles – starts in the underground scene and very slowly makes its way up to everyday fashion! It's just what happens. Living in Europe we would get hate from strangers, especially in Paris.

What was it like coming back to New Zealand after all this? It must have felt a lot more conservative and casual. Did you ever feel like you had to ‘tone it down’?

Growing up here I didn't feel like it was very conservative… or maybe more like I didn't care! I was always dressing true to myself and going out to fun parties that gave me the space to be myself – places like the Kiss and Makeup Club, Sohomo, even DOC Bar. 

I used to DJ with my friend Lucy under the name La Beat Debauchery. We would dress in cute outfits and DJ at all the fashion parties. My best friend Celia and I would put on goth nights at DOC. We had to keep ourselves busy.

Every time I came back from London, I wanted to do my own things here in Auckland. Over the years, sadly, NZ has slowed down a lot with no good venues and so many locals leaving for a more exciting life overseas. It is feeling very casual these days. I don’t go out here much and don’t make as much of an effort.

What’s your approach to ageing, beauty-wise? 

I wear sunscreen daily and I try to use retinol, except I have a problem with keeping this consistent to make a difference. I do a little preventative Botox here and there. I’m interested in getting into laser skin treatments, and I’m really trying to get myself into Face Gym / face yoga, using facial rollers or microcurrent devices. Gravity needs some help and I’m really all about prevention before it’s too late – she’s ageing! My husband and I have been enjoying going together to Contrast Therapy Treatment at Hana Studio.

Any beauty looks you would love to try that you haven’t yet?

Lip fillers.

What are some of your beauty must-haves?

Tweezers (having thin brows I need these daily). Egyptian Magic cream, Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum. A thick graphic eyeliner with NYX Professional Epic Ink Liner. 

Very into 90s brown liner vibes – always have a darker lip liner in my bag. Clinique Black Honey lipstick, Aesop Resurrection Aromatique hand balm, Moroccanoil oil for my poor hair. Medicube Zero Pore Pads.

What is your most sentimental beauty product?

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair from my mum. Christian Louboutin Rouge nail varnish from my bff Andy – a classic Louboutin red, it has a stunning bottle design.

What beauty look makes you feel like your most authentic self?

I very much feel like myself with orange hair. Long nails, black graphic winged eyeliner, red lips, dark lip liner. I can do it all in pretty much ten minutes but my eye shape has changed with ageing so this makes eyeliner so much harder now. 

If you could create or collaborate on your own beauty product, what would it be?

I would collaborate with Countess Elizabeth Báthory, who was a 16th-century Hungarian Countess who murdered young women and bathed in their blood for eternal youth. We would design some kind of potion – the Elixir of Life for eternal youth.

What inspired the move away from orange hair?

Sadly it was mostly a money thing! It started costing so much to bleach the roots every couple of weeks. I go between DIY and the top hairdresser I can find haha. I was really scared to go black from orange but I just did it anyway. 

I am also trying to grow my hair as long as I can, which was impossible with all the bleach. I didn't stay black again for long, I've already moved on to 90s box dye dark red/maroon. I will always miss the orange, it would change between the brightest orange to a very natural light orange over time.

What’s on your current beauty wishlist? 

Isamaya Ffrench LIPLACQ in Black Veil, $38

Curionoir Gloria Parfum, $248 for 50ml

Byredo Mascara in Space Black, $92

Pat McGrath Labs Mothership V: Bronze Seduction palette, $248

Emma Lewisham Skin Reset Serum, $152