 kevyn james aucoin (february 14, 1962 â may 7, 2002) was an american make-up artist, photographer and author. ==early life== aucoin was born in shreveport, louisiana and grew up in lafayette, louisiana, to parents isidore adrian aucoin and thelma suzanne melancon, who adopted him as an infant through catholic charities of alexandria, louisiana he had three siblings, carla, kim, and keith, all of whom were adopted as well. aucoin was interested in makeup from the time he was a child,(september 2003), "kevyn aucoin master of transformation". biography 7 (9):54-59 and frequently did his sisters' makeup and photographed the results with a polaroid cameraâsomething he'd do throughout his career. afraid to buy makeup, he would shoplift it. the guilt of stealing and fear of getting caught made him stop. he realized he was gay at age six,kaye, lori (june 11, 2002), "man of a thousand faces". advocate, (865):57 and was frequently bullied at school. his parents were initially in denial of their son's emerging sexual orientation; his mother later said, "i didn't think kevyn was a sissy; i just thought he was a gentle child." in one instance, he had a teacher spank his bare buttocks in class, which aucoin later regarded as sexual abuse.aucoin, kevyn. making faces. little, brown and company: new york. 1999 the bullying continued in high school, and he dropped out after being chased by several classmates in a truck. he enrolled in beauty school and had hoped to learn more about applying makeup, but ended up teaching the class instead. at 18, aucoin worked in a small corner of an exclusive women's store in lafayette. but the women were uncomfortable with a man doing their makeup. thelma aucoin recalled, "it was $30 for a makeup lesson, and these were women who paid $3,000 for a dress, but they'd never let him." in 1982, aucoin moved to baton rouge, louisiana, hoping to start a career as a makeup 
1962_births 2002_deaths 20th-century_American_businesspeople 21st-century_American_businesspeople American_adoptees American_cosmetics_businesspeople American_make-up_artists American_non-fiction_writers American_photographers Artists_from_Louisiana Businesspeople_from_Louisiana Deaths_from_multiple_organ_failure Drug-related_deaths_in_New_York Gay_artists LGBT_artists_from_the_United_States LGBT_writers_from_the_United_States Make-up_artists People_from_Lafayette,_Louisiana People_from_Shreveport,_Louisiana People_from_Valhalla,_New_York People_with_acromegaly