BEAUTY BREAKDOWN
I
’ m on the front lines , at times I feel I ’ m fighting a war . A war on what you ask ? A war on realistic beauty , a war on originality and maybe even a war on my way of life and livelyhood ! The enemy is the un realistic expectations that are forced down our throats via social media . Some fed to us by Fake up artists aka self proclaimed , self only make up applying , bad advice giving filter queens .
Am I dramatic ? Possibly . I digress . Most of the time I do have my mental fighting gear on and armed with make up brushes . I work as a professional makeup artist in many facets of the industry . My career is in television , fashion and at times in cosmetic retail . Oh boy , when I mentioned front lines , the front lines are definitely retail . This is where I get to mingle with beauty lovers alike , clients that show as much love for make up as I do ! This is also where I experience the things that professional artists have nightmares about … This time … I can ’ t be dramatic enough .
Most days I will receive the typical questions … “ can you match me with a foundation ?” Etc the days in between consist of perfect little girls asking me for “ purple ” concealer . On that day , my hand trembled as I handed over the most violet purple “ concealer ” in my possession . My internal dialogue consisted of whys and how ’ s . Of course I couldn ’ t let her leave without knowing what she would do with such a colour . So I asked … and she explained innocently “ oh , it ’ s for my dark under eye circles !” What ? But … Purple on top of purple makes … well , Purple . I then asked her why she thought it would work , and out came the answer that I have received from many a client before her .. “ I saw it on YOU- TUBE ” she exclaimed . Well needless to say she left with something a little different that day .
The days filled with misinformed clients are abundant but aren ’ t the days that irk me the most . The days that hurt me are when my clients want to look like anything but themselves . Applying make up is a very intimate art , I ’ m lucky enough to have lovely conversations with the people in my chair , but Sometimes the appointment ends with my heart feeling a bit heavier . After 11 years of doing make up I ’ ve noticed a change in my clients . Instead of polishing I ’ m changing , moulding and recreating , and on women younger and younger each time . They are quick to pull out their phones to show me the makeup that they want . It ’ s usually the Kylie , Kim k or the self-proclaimed make up artist with cheek bones to high heaven and strobing that will blind you . Of course all of this is behind a filter that ’ s behind a filter with a little photoshop for good measure .
Do these girls not know that this is all fake ? Don ’ t they realize that this make up is impossible to pull off in the light of day ? Do they know the reasoning and the history of these trends and type of makeup ? It seems as though I ’ ve made it my personal mission to educate the girls about realistic beauty , and Since I ’ m on the topic , lets talk this out for an educational moment .
There is purpose amongst that madness . Baking , strobing , contouring , tontouring , tape contouring and so on , while maybe excessive and unnecessary , at times can be a beautiful thing when done properly ! But everything has its time and place . Yes a subtle contour existed even before our fore fathers of Instagram taught us to do so , as early as the the mid 1500s ! All the way from stage to screen when The Westmores coined techniques for different face shapes so not to fall flat in black and white film and in artificial lighting .
In more recent history Kevyn Aucoin , with his sleight of hand , applied the most beautifully blended contours to models and well known actresses everywhere . The 1980s is when the trends we love became more mainstream . The amount of make up that is typically seen today on our favourite social media apps are , in fact , impractical and no longer used for the big screen or television . Gone are the days of pancake ( thank Jebus ), and quite the opposite is now used for television and film , because while pretty to look at behind a filter , it looks completely unrealistic on film .. Imagine looking at layer upon layer of makeup on a screen the size of a house , shot in 4K . Ps . If it isn ’ t good in 4K it isn ’ t good in real life . To all the aspiring makeup artists out there , there is so much more to beautiful Makeup than what you see on Instagram . I PROMISE YOU .