Originally from Japan, Kanako Takase moved to New York after graduating beauty school in Tokyo when she was 22. Kanako trained as Yadim's first assistant for 4 years, which in turn helped pave the way for her career.

One of her most notable projects includes her collaboration with Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard and hair artist Recine entitled ‘The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment’ creating canvases full of doll-like figures made out of hair, mixed with paint, makeup and various other materials. ‘The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment' was exhibited in the Le à la galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris. Kanako finds inspiration on the collaborative process and the combination of these great mentors has refined her skills to make her the most sought after progressive makeup artist in the industry.

She continues to work with photographers such as Mario Sorrenti, Juergen Teller, Inez + Vinoodh Matadin, Ethan James Green, Lachlan Bailey, Amy Troost, Charlotte Wales, and Richard Burbridge. Her advertising clients include Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, Loro Piana, Alberta Ferretti, Marc Jacobs, and Giuseppe Zanotti. Takase has also keyed runway shows for Saint Laurent, Hérmes, Bottega Veneta, Max Mara, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini, AREA, Eckhaus Latta, Theory, and Jonathan Simkhai among others.

In 2019 Kanako was named the Global Creative Director for Addiction Cosmetics.