Monika Blunder Is Finally Launching Her Own Makeup Line | Interview

“I used to hate my last name,” professional makeup artist Monika Blunder reveals over the phone to Allure. “I used to be teased about it because I don’t know if you know what a blunder is, but a blunder is actually a mistake.” 

With motivation from one of her famous actor clients, Blunder decided to reclaim her last name from the dictionary definition by not only lending it to her very own beauty brand, Monika Blunder Beauty but also to its debut product: Blunder Cover. The foundation-concealer hybrid launched on Monday, November 30, and Blunder shared exclusive details on its clean formula with Allure. 

Going Back to Her Roots 

While growing up in a small town near the Austrian Alps, Blunder’s parents were devoted to clean, natural living. “My father had his own vegetable garden and compost,” Blunder recalls. “He was really into recycling, and we got our chicken and our eggs from the farm next door.”

Every year, her father even picked his own herbs, namely arnica and edelweiss, to make his own healing concoction that was a medicine-cabinet staple in the Blunder household. “I would compare it to hydrogen peroxide in a natural form,” Blunder explains. “When we had bruises or cuts or even a bee sting, my father would go in the bathroom [to get it].” 

Knowing how powerful arnica and edelweiss are (and keeping her green upbringing in mind), Blunder sought to spike a complexion-perfecting product with them. Decades later, her father’s herbal elixir is now the basis of Blunder Cover. 

Since moving to Los Angeles when she was 23 to pursue her career as a makeup artist, fresh, dewy skin became Blunder’s claim to fame in the industry. “I love when the skin looks like skin and not like there is a lot of foundation on it,” she says. 

However, over the years while working with the likes of Gemma Chan, Megan Fox, and America Ferrera, Blunder has had trouble finding a clean complexion product that suited her trademark, luminous look. Plus, she wanted one that not only gives skin a veil of coverage like foundation but also camouflages like concealer. After two years of tinkering a crease-free formula with a lab in California, Blunder was able to produce just that and house it in a glass jar.