Traditionally, assisting for established makeup artists is the way to break into the rarefied echelons of the business. But even getting to work backstage can be competitive. James Vincent, a makeup artist who counts Linda Cantello as a mentor, will be keying shows sponsored by Make Up for Ever and the Makeup Show for Inglot. “I have literally had 117 people contact me about Fashion Week through Facebook, e-mail, calling me or calling my agent, and I can only book 5 to 10 people for each show,” he said, adding that one artist, Angela Kaeser, is coming from Switzerland to work with him. “She is amazing,” he said. “I told her, ‘The assistant rate is $150,’ and she said, ‘I will be there every day — you need me.’ She is a brilliant, brilliant girl.”

Yadim, a 28-year-old who is Mexican-American with some Pakistani heritage, has pulled out all the stops, too. He flew himself to London and stayed in a hostel and then a “ghetto dive hotel” for his first big break, the Dazed & Confused cover last fall. He sees his job on set as multifaceted: “A lot of the times you are working with models who are new and young, and if you are dancing, the music is going, they are going to give more of themselves.”

Sally Lyndley, a stylist and an editor at large at Love Magazine, worked with Yadim on a V Magazine spread of Anna Paquin shot by Sebastian Faena. She recently proclaimed on her blog: “Yadim @ tim howard is my new fave makeup artist. I have come to learn, as many of his friends and colleagues have recently told me, that he can beat up a face like nobody’s business. He can contour and shape with color and textures like I haven’t seen since Miss Pat McGrath.”