Best day ever!!

I had the best day in my entire life! Let's go back a little bit to the beginning. I recently posted about wanting to focus more on my makeup career and have taken some steps to do so. I made a Facebook page for my work, started doing some photo shoots and even did makeup for a wedding last weekend. While all of those things are wonderful and make me extremely happy, this next bit of news trumps all of it. A few weeks ago, I was looking through the casting calls on model mayhem to try and get some more experience when I came across a posting for a studio in the area that was hiring for a makeup artist. I emailed the company my resume and website and waited to hear back. The next day, the lead photographer called me and told me that they received my email and really liked my work and wanted to invite me in for an audition and interview. Of course I jumped at the opportunity and spent the next week researching the company and really preparing myself for the biggest opportunity in my career to date. Last night I started really getting worried about it. I'm used to putting makeup on people who are consumers and not on someone who is in the industry who will have their own critiques. I spent all night really getting myself sick with all the second guessing and doubting myself which I never do. This was a totally different experience for me because I'm generally pretty self assured and have an easy going attitude when it comes to job interviews. I still can't explain what happened to me and why I was so anxious. Luckily, all that stressing out about it last night seemed to diminish while I was sleeping. I don't know if it's because I left myself just enough time to get ready before my interview that there wasn't time for me to be in my head with all those doubts or what but as soon as I got to the interview I put my interview hat on and got to work. I ended up using the photographer who I spoke with on the phone as my model (who thankfully informed me that she knew very little about makeup) and I started in on a bridal look while the owner was upstairs doing a hair appointment. We talked about different kinds of makeup and I asked questions about the company and it ended up being really easy. When we were done, the owner took some time to come downstairs and gave me feedback on the makeup saying that while she liked the look, the foundation was a little heavy which I agreed with because the girl had really amazing skin. We talked while I got my kit packed up and then continued to talk for about another hour about all sorts of things. It was honestly the easiest interview of my life because it didn't feel like I was trying to impress her, it was just like talking to a friend who likes the same things you do. After all of that, she offered me the job! I was so excited to hear that, I immediately started grinning and gladly accepted. I am so thrilled to finally be doing something that I really love that could turn into an actual career for me. I was talking to my older sister who does not say nice complimentary things very often (she's very supportive but we have a superficial relationship) and she said "you know, you're really lucky to have found something that you love to do that you're good at and can make a career out of. I wish I had that". She is absolutely right and I never thought about it like that. A year ago, I didn't think that this was something that I could actually turn into a career and I thought this makeup thing was doomed to be a hobby and I'd be stuck in the business world miserable for the rest of my life. Sorry if this post seems a little self indulgent and has little to do with makeup in regards to product and I can assure you, upcoming posts will not disappoint. Anyway, thanks for reading if you did get all the way to the bottom of this post. I plan to do a little Ulta haul/gratis post pretty soon featuring some pretty exciting products.

Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation Review

I've started thinking about my life (getting really deep here haha) and what I want to do and so I've decided to really buckle down and get this makeup artist career up and running.  I've applied to a few different studios and have a few photo shoots coming up in the next couple weeks.  With these upcoming jobs comes new products for my kit.  The first one being a foundation that is photo friendly.  Enter Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation.

$34 Sephora.com

Recent "photoshoot"

For those of you who were interested in the pictures from my makeup day a few weeks ago that didn't want to look on my Facebook page, I decided to post a few of the pictures here.  Let me know what you think.

MAC Dark Deed Lipstick

Update!

Some exciting new things happening in my life (maybe an excuse for being MIA recently).  I've stated in previous posts about how money hasn't exactly been flowing in like I'd like and so I've decided to do a few things about it.  I've started to really focus on my Makeup Artist career because ultimately, I'd like to make enough from that to stop working at my full time job.

About a week and a half ago, I got a bunch of my girl friends together and had a little makeup day.  I think there were 7 people all together and I spent about 6 hours putting makeup on my friends.  Then my best friend, Morgan who is a professional photographer, set up a little studio in my house and had a photo shoot with each of the girls.  It was so much fun getting everyone together to do that and I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out.

Along with that, I have decided to create a new website where I can direct prospective clients to see my portfolio, prices, and contact information.  I'm actually pretty proud of it and it turned out looking nice.  I'm hoping to get some business from that.  New business cards have also been ordered and I've also set up a Facebook Page to get myself out there as well.  You may notice the new addition to this page...go ahead, you can click like.  Look around at the pictures, share with your friends...it'll make me a very happy girl.

My biggest obstacle in being successful with doing makeup is getting myself out there.  I also have a slight fear of rejection but I've decided that I am getting too old to let that get in my way.  I'm hoping that all this time and effort (and money) will pay off in the long run and I'll get to have a career that I love.

Speaking of careers that I love, guess where I started working?  Ulta!  I applied online in the beginning of May, went for an interview about 3 weeks after that and a month after that, I finally got hired.  I believe that persistance really does pay off because I stalked the crap out of the manager at that store (just like I did at MAC).  I've only been working there for about a week and haven't done a whole lot yet.  I will be working in the Prestige department where all the fancy fun makeup is and I've gotten to do applications on a few people.  It's really nice to be able to talk about things that interest you when you're working instead of the most boring topic in the world - office supplies :(.  I hope that this will also advance my career in makeup artistry but if not, at least it's something that I like doing.

Last but not least, I have my first wedding of the season next weekend and I'm so excited for it.  I ended up doing the trial last Saturday for the bride and 2 bridesmaids.  They came to my house and we had a lot of fun trying on different makeup and taking pictures.  I can't wait until next Saturday when I get to do it all again (and then some).  I'm going to include some of my favorite shots below but you can see the rest on my Facebook Page.

Here is the bride, Katy.  She wanted something glamorous for the wedding but Saturday was also her bachelorette party.  The eyes will be toned down the day of but she asked for a little bit more since they were going out to a club that night.  What do you think of those red lips?

My friend Holly (the Maid Of Honor) let me use the same lashes from her photo shoot the week before and they were not cooperating.  She still turned out looking really pretty and had a good time. 

Amy wanted something soft and smoky that didn't look too done up.  She ended up looking very feminine and this was my favorite look of the day. 

I'll be sure to post a bunch of pictures from Katy's wedding as well as the pictures from the photo shoot last weekend.  Let me know if you want tutorials from any of these looks.  Until next time, lots of love.