Meet Skreem: The Visionary Make-Up Artist Powering the North West Alt-Girl Era

The global beauty landscape is undergoing a radical shift, moving away from sterile perfection and toward unbridled, emotional storytelling. At the forefront of this movement is Kiersten Harvey, the 24-year-old Atlanta-born, Los Angeles-based visionary professionally known as Skreem. Recognized for her unorthodox, camp, and deeply glamorous aesthetic, Harvey has quickly established herself as one of the most innovative creative forces in contemporary beauty. Her signature style—defined by meticulously detailed animal-print lips, technicolour spikes, chunky hardware charms, and faux facial piercings—is redefining what alt-girl beauty looks like on the world stage.

As a proud member of the ever-expanding Dazed Beauty Community, Harvey’s work transcends traditional cosmetics, treating the face as an evolving canvas for fine art. That distinct philosophy recently culminated in one of the most talked-about editorial moments of the year: North West’s Dazed cover shoot, photographed by Gus Van Sant with styling by Imruh Asha. For the 13-year-old’s cover, Skreem crafted a look featuring thick black eyeliner, muted grey eyeshadow, soft lavender blush, black grills, and four bold faux facial piercings, all framed by vibrant Hatsune Miku-inspired blue hair.

Rather than leaning into shock value, Harvey approached the look as a natural extension of her young client’s identity. Explaining her creative rationale, the artist notes that the styling was designed to amplify something that already belonged to North. The young Kardashian scion’s genuine love for gothic aesthetics and facial piercings made her the ultimate canvas to represent the alternative girls of her generation.

Harvey’s own relationship with the world of aesthetics began decades earlier on the opposite side of the makeup chair. Growing up in Atlanta, she spent four formative years as a child star in the singing group L.O.U.D. It was during these early professional engagements that she became utterly mesmerized by the makeup artists transforming her appearance for the stage and camera. By the age of 14, that backstage fascination had evolved into an insatiable hands-on obsession. She began heading home from school to recreate complex editorial looks on herself, a passion that occasionally caused domestic friction. As Harvey recalls with a laugh, her mother eventually had to hire someone just to take her makeup shopping because she kept ruining all of her mother’s products due to sheer enthusiasm.

Now rooted in Los Angeles, that adolescent fascination has matured into a deeply intuitive and confident creative practice. When approaching a project, Harvey largely freestyles, pulling inspiration directly from the physical environment, the client’s wardrobe, the music playing in the room, active conversations, and the distinct aura of the person sitting in front of her.

From Early Childhood Stardom to International Editorial Success

Reflecting on her creative identity, Skreem describes herself as an alternative fine artist and makeup artist who specializes in high-concept glam. For Harvey, cosmetics have always served as the primary medium for storytelling and emotional expression. She is also the CEO and founder of SKREEM Beauty INC, a brand name that stands for Skilled Knowledge Reflecting Everyone’s Enhanced Muse, underscoring her commitment to individualized artistry and inclusivity.

When asked about her earliest beauty-related memory, Harvey points directly to her roots in the entertainment industry. She vividly remembers her first major photoshoot at just 11 years old, where a management-appointed glam squad braided her hair into a neat bun and applied a striking, ultra-glamorous cobalt blue glitter smoky eye. It was her very first encounter with full professional glam, leaving an indelible impression that she can still recall in detail.

The rich colors, complex shapes, and tactile dimensions of her modern work originate deep within her own thoughts and emotions. Describing herself as a remarkably vivid thinker, Harvey emphasizes that her creative direction often stems from a person’s aura—how an individual feels to her energetically, the natural tones that complement their skin, and the colors that enhance their natural eye shade. Texture plays an equally crucial role in her philosophy; she wants audiences to physically feel an emotional response simply by looking at photographs of her completed work.

Her current creative obsessions lean heavily into the tactile and the imperfect. Moving away from standard rhinestones, Harvey is currently fascinated by junky, chunky charms and smudgy, lived-in cosmetics. She embraces the perfectly imperfect nature of smudged lips, smudged eyes, and high-impact glam that feels alive rather than overly polished.

When it comes to her professional kit essentials, Harvey’s holy grail product is foundational. She relies entirely on the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish pressed powder, noting that she keeps at least five of every single shade permanently stocked in her professional kit. Looking ahead at dream collaborators, the artist expresses a strong desire to bring her unique aesthetic vision to the house of Balenciaga and avant-garde icon Alex Consani.

Technique, Precision, and the Future of Editorial Beauty

Experimentation remains at the heart of Skreem’s daily studio practice. She is currently deeply invested in the traditional technique of finger painting combined with the precision of ultra-thin, super-pointy brushes. These specialized tools allow her to achieve exceptionally clean lines, a hallmark of her signature technique. Recognizing a gap in the market for these specific instruments, Harvey hints at an upcoming commercial venture, revealing that she will soon be launching her own exclusive line of detail brushes.

Her boundary-pushing approach is perhaps best encapsulated by a recent favorite look she executed on a model. The design featured a bold black cross stamped directly over the eye, studded with intricate spikes, smoke effects, and facial piercings, paired with a nude lip and a lip ring to project a heavy metal edge. While the cross is traditionally a symbol of Christianity, Harvey reinterprets it through her lens as a representation of spiritual strength and power—essentially functioning as the armor of Christ. The result is an editorial, edgy, and wearable piece of art that has since gone viral, frequently appearing on Pinterest and inspiring numerous recreations by fans online.

The trajectory that brought her to work with North West feels equally destined. While Harvey had briefly crossed paths with North a year prior while working with artist BKTHERULA, the major collaboration came out of nowhere. While sitting at a casual park picnic with a loved one, Harvey received an unexpected outreach message from Kim Kardashian’s team asking if she could fly to Paris within the next 24 hours. With a completely clear schedule, she immediately accepted what she describes as true divine alignment, landing in the French capital to paint North for the Vetements SS27 runway show during Paris Fashion Week.

That initial connection naturally laid the groundwork for North’s landmark Dazed cover story. Working in tandem with the young star, the glam team aimed to make a definitive statement while preserving a sense of simplicity and personal recognition. They opted for a simple, thick winged eyeliner—a look North personally adores—while keeping the eyeshadow minimal to allow her naturally striking eyelashes to stand out. Departing from their usual routine of one or two faux facial piercings, they elevated the stakes for the cover by incorporating four distinct faux piercings, backed by dark black liner, grey eyeshadow, and lavender blush.

Looking at the broader cosmetics industry, Harvey hopes to see the beauty world continue along its current trajectory. She advocates for more emotion-invoking art pieces within high-fashion glam, encouraging more beauty brands to embrace storytelling through campaigns and magazine covers.

Ultimately, Skreem defines beauty through the lens of absolute liberation. To her, beauty means freedom, personal expression, and the power to communicate who you are without uttering a single word. Beauty, in Harvey’s world, speaks for itself, looks different on every single individual, and above all else, is loud. Beauty skreems.