Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: For Everyone from Beginner to Pro (34 page)

When your job is to make up a woman, it is important to pay careful attention to what she wants. Begin with a discussion of the woman’s lifestyle and skin type. Ask about her makeup preferences, including the type of coverage and finish she likes in foundation. Before you begin any makeup application, it is important to know how much time she wants to spend on makeup on a regular basis. You want to address any concerns she has and know what is comfortable. Find out what kind of foundation she usually wears and her favorite lip color. Listen for real meaning. Sometimes what she says is not actually what she wants. One woman’s idea of natural is another’s evening look. Continue to ask questions at every step. Have the client watch the application in a hand mirror. Let her assess the progress at each stage, and listen to her likes and dislikes. She might find a concealer too light or dislike a darker brow. Adjust accordingly. Listening will help prevent unnecessary work (like starting over), keep the client happy, and eventually produce results that you both can love.

INSPIRATION AND CREATIVITY

One of the best ways to train your eye and encourage your creativity is to keep a scrapbook. Think of it as a visual journal for thoughts, images, and completed work. Tear any inspirational images from magazines. These could be faces, colors, or design concepts you find appealing. Sometimes even stationery, logos, or labels can inspire. Carry a digital camera to record inspirational visuals you encounter in daily life, such as colors and textures found on buildings or in nature.

The way you organize the scrapbook is up to you. Options include slipping images into plastic sleeves in a binder, taping them into a bound notebook, or tacking them onto a large bulletin board. Some artists prefer creating virtual scrapbooks, using a Web site to organize and store images and ideas. Other artists prefer to organize scrapbooks by topic rather than chronologically. They keep binders on various topics, such as bridal looks, natural looks, celebrities, color, or objects that inspire them.

As a makeup artist, you will go through dozens of scrapbooks during your career, but be sure to hold on to them. It will be helpful to reference your previous work and inspirations when preparing for a shoot or fashion show. The scrapbook becomes a historical record of your career, and reviewing old ones can be an important source of inspiration. I used to staple Polaroids into my day planner, and I still love looking back, remembering each shoot. I still have the red leather notebook I kept when starting my lipstick line. In it are the names of the women who inspired the colors and all the notes from meetings in which I discussed the line. It is a history that can reinspire me.

FINDING INSPIRATION

There are inspirations and ideas everywhere you look. I get inspiration from faces—women, men, children. I love to see how light affects different skin tones. I look at fashion magazines old and new—from the 30s and 40s up to the present. I especially love images from the 70s and 80s, possibly because that’s when I became involved in the beauty industry. I shop at art supply stores, gourmet food stores, and vintage stores, looking for inspiration. I get ideas while I am exercising and listening to the music I love.

Be observant. Watch your client’s reactions, and be open to change.

BREAKING into the BUSINESS

New artists have so much to learn about products and techniques and need to become comfortable with the basics. Beginning artists tend to do everything by the book. They often apply all the layers and don’t see that a woman might not need some of the elements.
More advanced artists are confident in their product knowledge and have had time to practice their technique, so they know what works and what is not needed for different clients.
They have the ability to handle any situation that comes up. They are not afraid to reevaluate in the middle of an application. A strong knowledge base allows artists to make great choices, see when an application doesn’t work, and know when to stop.

I was once hired by a big celebrity to do her makeup for the opening of a restaurant. She appeared with the biggest scratch on the side of her face. I didn’t panic, but I had to try dozens of products to get the very pink scratch to blend in with her natural skin color. I was ready to handle the challenge with confidence in my ability.

It is important to stay open and eager. I received both good and bad advice when I started out. I was the pioneer of the natural, bronzy look, but I faced lots of criticism for it. I was told that I would have to change my makeup style—that nobody liked the healthy look. A hairdresser once told me that I needed to get a better hairstyle myself if I wanted to be successful.

One of the best ways to get started is to apply makeup on anyone and everyone who will let you. Practice on your friends and family until you get to the point where you feel completely comfortable working on people’s faces. Practice all different types of makeup applications—natural, theatrical, bold fashion looks, bridal looks, men. Hands-on experience is invaluable.

Early in your career, experience is more important than pay. If you have the opportunity to apprentice with established makeup artists—even if it means just observing while you spend time cleaning brushes—do it. It can be a valuable learning experience. You never know whom you’ll meet. Today’s assistant can be the beauty editor of a major magazine in a few years.

Confident, successful artists are those who continue to train. Even top artists go back to the basics from time to time. Skills can always be improved. I learn from my artists, assistants, photographers, models, and friends. Never take a suggestion personally—it is always an opportunity. Things are always changing in the beauty industry, so you need to be open, aware, and looking for ways to improve.

Success is achieving the goals you set for yourself. Artists need to continually redefine their goals. Everyone might want to work in the fashion industry, but there are successful makeup artists working in film, television, and theater. There are those who have used their training and experience in makeup artistry to move into careers in education, marketing, merchandising, and other aspects of design. By maintaining a clear picture of reality while seeking, creating, and fully exploiting every opportunity, artists can secure success one step at a time.

Artists are often eager to grow and move up in the industry. Patience is so important, and time is needed to perfect skills. Be happy at whatever level you are working, even if it is just observing. Look for a mentor. Work to completely understand the basics so that you can begin to make your own interpretations. Ask for help and guidance. It will be perceived as strength, not weakness.

Desire is perhaps the strongest determinant of success. When I hire a new artist, I look for someone who really wants to be doing the work. It is apparent in every aspect of the person. I want to work with people who are as passionate about beauty as I am. I look for applicants with great attitudes who are eager to work hard and to learn as much as they can. Some of the artists who assist me at fashion shows have worked for me for five to ten years. Yet they still watch carefully as I do the first model. Others seem uninterested. Guess which ones have the most talent?

ADVICE FOR BREAKING INTO THE BUSINESS

It helps to have a positive, professional attitude.

Always arrive on time.
If you plan to arrive a bit early, then inconvenient delays will not be a problem.

Be who you are.
Your appearance is an essential part of your presentation. Your personal style and makeup are reflections of your own tastes, and, like it or not, people will judge you by it.

Practice confidence.
Hold your head up, make eye contact, have a firm handshake, smile, and take a genuine interest in what others have to say.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Ask photographers, stylists, and models for their opinions.

Be nice to everyone.
Even when my skills were just okay, I was invited back because I was pleasant.

Never stop learning.
When I think about my own skills, I know I’m not done learning. I love watching other people do makeup. A good artist is secure enough to be open to new ideas and learning new techniques.

It’s not about you.
Great makeup artists focus on the client and don’t ever let their own egos get in the way. It doesn’t matter if the client is a celebrity, a supermodel, or a regular woman. It is about her, not about you!

Love what you do.
Great makeup artists never lose their passion for makeup.

CAREER OPTIONS

Makeup artists have the opportunity to work in so many different areas.
Career options vary from long-term jobs in television, with regular pay and benefits, to freelance jobs working on short-term runway, print, or film projects in a variety of locations and with a wide range of styles.

Department Store Counter

Artists generally work for a specific makeup line, teaching customers to choose and apply their own makeup. This job involves sales, and the compensation is often commission-based.

Bridal

Working with brides is both rewarding and very demanding. You need to do consultations and a run-through in addition to the makeup on the day of the wedding. The job usually involves traveling to the bride’s location. Sometimes it will include doing makeup for the rest of the bridal party as well.

Beauty Salon

Makeup artists working in salons often find themselves in a teaching role. They do makeovers, help clients practice techniques, and are often called to do makeup for special events and weddings. Fashion and media work is sometimes booked through salons.

Television

Working on a set involves creating character looks and might include anything from doing basic makeup to designing looks for elaborate characters, aging the actors, creating the appearance of illness, replicating injuries, and much more. Artists sometimes work for years on one television show. Careers generally begin with assistant positions in the industry. Artists develop books of their work and a résumé. After gaining experience, artists are allowed to join a union, which provides opportunities, some job security, medical benefits, and a pension. Most television shows require makeup artists to have union membership.

Film

Shooting a film can take just days or several months, sometimes in multiple locations. The film industry is hard to break into, but not impossible. Any large-budget film requires makeup artists to have union membership. Which union you should join will depend on the area of the country in which you are working.

Television Commercials

Artists who work in this field are usually experienced in another aspect of the industry and have built a strong reputation either in print advertising or music videos.

Early in my career, I used to watch famous models correct the makeup I had done on their faces. The result was good–they always looked better, and I learned so much by watching them.

Print

Makeup artists who work in the editorial or print advertising field work with models, photographers, stylists, and editors. Collaboration is everything. Shoots take place in studios and also on location—sometimes very exotic ones. Work is obtained by sending a portfolio, or book showing your past work, to agencies that provide representation and to clients. The better the book, the higher the demand and pay rate. Print jobs include work for magazines, advertisers, catalog companies, corporate in-house publications, movie posters, and album covers.

Video

Music videos are often filmed very quickly and require flexibility, spontaneity, and simple artistry. While many videos are low-budget freelance projects, they provide opportunities for young artists to build their portfolios. Makeup artists are often hired for music videos because their print work, doing magazine and album covers, has attracted a music artist’s attention. Educational and industrial video shoots also hire makeup artists and stylists.