If you needed any further proof that make-up has the ability to incite joy, look to Flex Mami. 

The Sydney-based DJ, podcaster and all-round beauty experimentalist has amassed an insanely dedicated following not simply for her impressive skills with a set of decks, nor her hilarious weekly unpackings of everything sex and life on the Bobo and Flex podcast, but also for her inimitible beauty style. So it’s little wonder why Jameela Jamil decided to ask Flex to, ahem, flex her creative muscles for the beauty shoot in her special takeover issue. 

“I think make-up is about just wearing things that make you happy,” she tells Stylist. And boy, do her make-up looks make everyone happy. From her eye looks that regularly span the entire breadth of the rainbow to the incredibly intricate nail art that regularly adorns her fingertips, her insta-feed is nothing less than smile-inducing. Plus, she’s evidence that when switch your make-up mindset, viewing it as a tool to create rather than conform, to stand out rather than conceal, powerful things can happen. 

Below, she creates four beauty looks exclusively for Stylist, and talks us through her refreshing approach to make-up.

“I like the way geometric shapes look on my face. They look like they’re not meant to be there, like they’re a kind of external force, which of course is what make-up is. That’s how I want my relationship with beauty to be communicated. I’d like this pattern painted on a wall, I’d like it on furniture and I like it on my face. Make-up is about wearing things that make you happy.”

DIY: Sketch the outline of your chosen shape in a coloured eyeliner crayon first, before using a flat brush and a cream pigment like Revolution Pro’s Pigment Pomade in Lemon Yellow, £5, to fill it in.

“For me, applying make-up feels like putting a plaster on a wound. If you don’t use antiseptic, if you don’t clean it well, you may feel it’s OK, but underneath there’s an infection. I won’t use make-up thinking it will patch over my insecurities, but rather in a creative way that will only serve to flex my creative muscles. This is my classic day-to-day look. Doing a wing in a different shade looks like you put in lot of effort but takes minutes.”

DIY: Up the ante on a standard-issue cat-eye flick by extending the line into the inner corners and using a bold shade like Dior’s Diorshow On Stage Liner in Pearly Turquoise, £26. 

“I started to experiment with make-up because, being on TV and at gigs every day, it was expensive to always buy new outfits – make-up allowed me to be creative for less. I don’t often experiment with my cheeks because of time but I loved doing this blush.”

DIY: Dip a wet Beautyblender sponge, £17, into a duo of contrasting cream blush shades and dapple over the eyelids, onto the temples and down onto the cheekbone. 

“As a DJ, my hands get a lot of attention, so I’ve started giving my manicurist, Victoria, free rein to be as creative as she wants. She paints all the detail herself; watching that kind of art up close is insane. I can be in the chair for two to four hours, but getting my nails done brings me joy.”

DIY: Nail art can be a fiddly business, but if you’re feeling brave, look to Etsy for the best embellishments and arm yourself with Rubis Pointer tweezers, £21.50 – perfect for picking up gems

Clothing and jewellery, all model’s own 

Photography: Steven Popovich at Network Agency Hair: Kimberley Forbes at Network Agency Make-up support: Desiree Wise at Network Agency Nails: Victoria Houllis @mannequin.hands