ETCETERIST: You’ve been a star makeup artist in New York for more than 30 years. Smart fashion people always say that what Bette Midler has done for our highways and parks, you have done to beautify thousands of faces around town and, along the way, plenty of celebrities of all ages such as Mary Higgins Clark, Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and most recently Britney Spears, who suddenly this season is looking like a very pretty, proper lady. Unless she is dolled up in her S & M-esque corset and gear, of course. You’re Britney’s Henry Higgins, who turned Eliza Dolittle into a fair lady! How did this happen?

CLIF DERAITA: (Laughs, then silence.)

ETC: You’re denying this? Not going to comment?

CD: Well, ladylike and pretty [“Pretty” happens also to be the name of Arden’s new fragrance launching in February] is my look.

ETC: But if Britney wasn’t ready for “pretty lady,” I doubt she would have been able to accommodate the transformation.

CD: At 27, she is ready. She’s a Southern girl, after all, and when all is said and done, Southern girls are ladies.

ETC: Uh-huh …

CD: Arden sells Britney’s fragrances and about two months ago she was coming into town to present a check from the company’s foundation to the John Philip Sousa Middle School in the Bronx to support their music program. And I helped her get ready. She liked what I did and asked for me to come back the next day.

ETC: Just like that?

CD: Well, first I did Mary Higgins Clark’s makeup.

ETC: From an 80-something world-famous writer to a 27-year-old performer and tabloid terror? Both before lunch?

CD: That’s what I love about my job, the diversity! I am never bored.

ETC: What did you do to make Britney look so pretty?

CD: Well, she has beautiful skin, so it was really very easy to do her makeup. I began by prepping the skin for the makeup with Arden’s Intervene moisturizer and eye cream. It has properties extracted from the narcissus bulb and helps retard aging.

ETC: You’re doing this early in the morning?

CD: Not too early. Britney likes her sleep. Late morning.

ETC: Go on.

CD: After prepping the skin I applied a light foundation and a soft, glossy ruddy pink lip. Her eyes are what I call “cocker spaniel eyes,” a little sad, so we curled the eyelashes to give an uplift.

ETC: Well, it was an “uplift” to see her look so pretty. Did she give you any feedback?

CD: (Imitating a Southern accent) “Thank you for making me look so pretty!” But what she was also really excited about is that the makeup lasted all day. Like most of my clients, Britney’s a busy lady too.

ETC: You’ve also worked your magic on Hillary Clinton. What’s it like to do her makeup?

CD: She is unfailingly good-humored, and when I saw her, mostly when she was publishing her books and during her years in the White House, it was very, very early in the morning. Amazing woman. Contouring is a key element to help celebrate her cheekbones and diminish any suggestion of fullness one might encounter, but she too is easy to make up. She has gorgeous skin and has taken great care of it over the years. And Hillary loves color, so for lips we’d always do something in a range from orangey-red to coral.

ETC: And what was she doing while you did all this?

CD: Multitasking. Making jokes. Reading her briefs or her newspapers.