00:02makeup artistry is a very serious career and it does matter it's not just what you do on someone's
00:09face that people remember it's your attitude and it's if you're on time be there for the work
00:22hi welcome to my trailer this is where I spend most of my time on a daily basis come in
00:27and
00:27check it out voila this is my party bus so you want to know how I became the department head
00:33of
00:33makeup on euphoria take a seat I'm gonna tell you what it takes number one how I learned to do
00:39what
00:40I do hi welcome so my career journey started when I graduated from art school I went to Pratt
00:52Institute in Brooklyn New York this was 2012 I studied photography I think my background in
00:59photography and visual art really influenced my work today that sort of like understanding and
01:05appreciation for people in their element and in their space definitely lends itself to the work
01:11that I do now because so much of it is about storytelling and figuring out the backstory to
01:16these characters and then making sense of what the makeup would look like on them I have like a pretty
01:22good understanding of lights and cameras and like how light can really shift a look and then from
01:28my visual art background growing up I did a lot of like painting and drawing and stuff a love of
01:32color
01:32is something I've had for a really long time how I built my portfolio I really didn't want to wait
01:39to get hired for the job to then be able to put you know the work in my portfolio so
01:44I would often
01:45like do looks on my parents my sister my boyfriend at that time I was doing like experimental like
01:51glam looks and like huge like scars and like bullet holes like whatever whatever I thought people
01:58like directors might want to see in my portfolio I just had a regular digital camera photographed it
02:03like in daylight and threw it on a website and then I turned to Craigslist and I started answering any
02:13makeup ads so like I would go to like corporate offices and like help people get ready for like
02:17their headshots and then I finally started working with some film schools in LA my name started going
02:25around at like AFI USC UCLA so I started working with film students and I would department head their
02:32short films so I like learned how a set functioned that was really my training ground which led to my
02:40first feature film and on that film I met a producer who would bring me on to work on the
02:46film
02:47Moonlight that was such a low-budget film I didn't even have a makeup trailer we were all like so
02:52intimately involved in the in the shooting of that beautiful film when Moonlight won the Oscar for best
02:59picture in 2017 to see it win and get recognized and like know that my contribution helped the audience
03:07like feel something when they were looking at the actors was like everything for me and obviously
03:13like being a part of a movie that wins such an incredible award is super special
03:21find a mentor I actually accidentally found my mentor I didn't know any makeup artists at the time
03:27so me knowing nothing and being incredibly naive I cold called at Hollywood film and tv makeup artist Jane
03:35galley and I offered my free services and she ended up teaching me it was just a two-week crash
03:43course I learned everything from like special effects makeup to beauty and I was just like she's a human
03:48and does makeup and I think I want to do that I would never reach out to someone like that
03:53early on and
03:54expect to be hired the point is to learn as much as you can right and to be helpful for
04:00them so that they
04:00want you around you know you're going in you're asking questions you're you're learning most
04:05importantly you know you're observing how this person is in the workplace and kind of learning to
04:11anticipate their needs they'll really be honest they'll tell you what the industry is really like
04:17they'll they'll explain to you you know when you've done something you know that you could have done
04:23differently and had a better outcome how to build your makeup kit so you actually don't need that much
04:31in your kit for the beauty portion of your kit I started with like drugstore makeup which is really
04:37good by the way there's like amazing products out there I would save money from my job as a wine
04:43server
04:43obviously you need concealers and foundations in a huge range of skin tones and if possible
04:51I would transfer those liquids into like small smaller little bottles to condense your kit
04:58it's just easier to work out of lip colors you don't need 20 shades you could have like 10 lip
05:04colors
05:05and you could mix them to make custom colors then you can really tailor your makeup to exactly you
05:12know the person's face and then with blush you want to have like some cream products and some powder but
05:18again you can mix you can layer bronzer highlighter the same you could get the cheapest products you
05:25could get like the cheapest powder highlighters and blushes you can find it's all about how you apply
05:31it and then you know your your own critical eye knowing when you've done too much knowing when you've
05:36done not enough so that you'll learn like by trial and error I love having like a palette and scooping
05:43out
05:43product and creams and kind of putting them on a palette and and everything is sort of happening
05:48on the palette like you're kind of custom mixing your stuff how to create a unique makeup look that's
05:54also authentic for that character so when I'm reading the script I also am sort of trying to read between
05:59the lines a little bit I will go and meet with a costume designer I'll look at some outfits that
06:05have been pulled
06:06try and get it a sense of like what you know what colors they wear what their style is of
06:11course we
06:11know how costumes and clothes you know inform who someone is and then my favorite part is looking
06:18at the set designs it's going to be like the atmosphere for whatever they're doing so whether
06:22it's a bedroom or like just their apartment their car I like to know what all that stuff looks like
06:28it's never just one look brewing in my head it's like their whole kind of vibe and style their color
06:34palette the textures I'll talk to the actor I always like to sort of connect with the person
06:38first and ask them like how they usually wear their makeup what kind of products they like and I sort
06:44of try and tailor the experience to sort of like gain their trust and then I sort of add things
06:49on top
06:49of that I've had more success doing it that way than just sort of like going in and and doing
06:54what I
06:54think and I know when I am nailing it when like they leave the makeup trailer and they are like
07:00embodying
07:00their character and their behavior has changed so that's a good indicator to me a lot of what I do
07:06is sort of like toning down certain things making the lipstick look like it's been faded I do have to
07:12like stop myself sometimes because I want the makeup to look amazing especially on euphoria you know like
07:17there's a big makeup audience but the story is more important I also know what it feels like to be
07:23watching a show or a movie and for the makeup to be distracting when it feels like why is she
07:29waking
07:30up with like eyeliner and mascara and lip gloss on I mean I've seen this before and it like I
07:35like
07:35never understand being a makeup department head what it entails it's accounting and budgeting and
07:45scheduling delegating the successful department like you really need to give responsibility away
07:50try and channel your like type a organize person that's not me I'm not a type a organizer but and
07:58so I struggle with this a little but like you gotta be on top of everything that's coming if everything
08:03is organized if my team is ready to help I feel like I can make amazing things happen in a
08:09very short
08:10amount of time it sucks if you miss something because then it's like your fault and you have to scramble
08:16and I've scrambled so many times the producer's like you know how's the fake arm going the one
08:22we're shooting next Tuesday and I'm like yeah it's great and then like my head I have like forgotten
08:29to check in with the person and I don't know if it's going to be ready by Tuesday and like
08:32I've been
08:32in this situation a lot and I've been doing this for 10 years you really have to be super prepared
08:37for
08:38anything how to make sure you're hired again so the people that are doing the hiring on a
08:44commercial or tv show or movie or short film or whatever they're looking for people that have a
08:50really good team playing attitude they're looking for people who can get the job done who show up on
08:57time and who can remain calm under pressure they don't want any drama and they want someone who can
09:03really take the work seriously and if you really love what you do and you love makeup and like designing
09:08looks and contributing to whatever the story is for whatever the project is this will happen pretty
09:13naturally it's it's really easy to see when someone really cares it's about doing something
09:18doing the look looking at it and making a decision is this good enough is this done am i ready
09:24to show
09:24this to my department head make sure it looks great from all angles remember that the camera is going to
09:30be like over here here here here whatever the lights could go dim it could be really blown out make
09:36sure
09:36you understand what your work is going to look like because you don't want to be surprised once
09:41you get out on set how to stay sane if i could give my younger self a piece of advice
09:47it would be
09:48don't be so hard on yourself when you up i have had moments on set where i'm like practically having
09:55a panic attack i've learned over the years a really helpful thing is to move a little slower
10:02breathe stay calm tackle one thing at a time good thing to remember is like this is makeup it's not
10:10rocket science
10:10we're on set it's okay the act of putting on makeup i think is so therapeutic it's so connected to
10:19mental health i feel like it has uplifted me i've experienced like being kind of too shy to wear certain
10:25looks and i now have experienced what it feels like to confidently wear the looks i want to wear
10:31i hope you know to inspire others to do the same things for themselves because life is short so do
10:37what you want with your face thanks so much for spending the day with me and make sure to check
10:43out my new makeup line half magic beauty
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