A New Dawn

Today marks the end of one of the toughest years I have ever had.  In January 2011, I started what I thought was my dream job as an Account Executive at an innovative integrated marketing company, only to find that the dream job was making me ill, stressed and generally miserable.  Three months later I was made redundant from that job which, in hindsight, seems like a blessing.  After six months of being in and out of work, I had lost the passion for events and marketing and lost confidence in my ability to do the job.  And that’s when I found make-up and you know the rest....

Becoming a make-up artist was honestly the best decision I made all year.  I’ve found the creativity that was missing from my life since I gave up dancing and met some lovely, talented and inspiring people.

I want to say a big thank you to my family and friends and everyone that has read this blog, liked the Facebook page or followed me on Twitter and commented on my work.  I started this blog just to document my journey in a new career, not expecting the reaction it got.  Readers from all over the world have somehow found my little blog. It’s amazing!

My main New Year’s resolution is to continue to learn and grow as a make-up artist.  I want to produce beautiful work and make every job I do better than the one before.  For this blog, I would like to keep writing about things that you want to read.  I don’t want to fill it with make-up tips and tutorials- there are already many, many blogs and vlogs on the internet:  two of my absolute favourite are the video tutorials on youtube by Pixiwoo and Gossmakeupartist.  They are absolutely amazing make-up artists and a great inspiration to me.  But I would like to do more product reviews for you.  The cosmetics market is an absolute maze – there are so many products available on the high street, online and in professional make-up stores.  I would like to be able to let you know what I think the best products are for different skin types and tones, whether it be for a night out, a photoshoot, or a catwalk show.  And, as always, I’ll keep you up-to-date with what’s going on in my life in 2012. It's going to be a great year!

But, for now, all that’s left for me to do is to wish you all a very... (Click here)

Love,

The Make-up Darling xx

A mixed bunch

I cannot believe it is half way through December and I haven’t written a post for this month!  Time has really got away from me this month and I’ve been quite busy.  Among other things, I’ve had two photoshoots, a trip to The Clothes Show Live in Birmingham (which was amazing, by the way), another fashion show and an audition for Benefit Cosmetics, which I passed, so I may be a ‘Benebabe’ on a shop floor near you (final interview pending)!

I wanted to share with you some photos from a recent shoot I did at Clerkenwell House in London.  It was a crazy shoot with a whole group of photographers, about ten amateur commercial models and three make-up artists.  We had use of the entire three floors of the club and the models had shoots with many of the photographers throughout the day.  It was a really good way to work with lots of photographers and get lots of images for my portfolio.  It also tested my speed at applying make-up or adapting a look as we only had about 20 minutes to work on each model.

I haven't received all the images from the photographers yet but here are a few of my favourite images from that day:

Photographer: Konrad Dziedzic
Model: Kelly-Marie
MUA: Donna Harris

Photographer: Ian Clark
Model: Kelly-Marie
MUA: Donna Harris

Photographer: Ian Clark
Model: Shefta
MUA: Donna Harris

Photographer: Dominique Moreau
Model: Shefta
MUA: Donna Harris



Photographer: Craig Chmiel
Model: R'Nay
MU/H: Donna Harris



Photographer: Nain Dziyauddin
Model: R'Nay
MU/H: Donna Harris

Photographer: Nain Dziyauddin
Model: Royal
MUA: Donna Harris

Photographer: Dominique Moreau
Model: Kelly-Marie
MUA: Donna Harris



I would love to hear which images were your favourite as I am currently trying to decide which ones to use on my business cards and in my portfolio.  You can message me through this blog or through my facebook and Twitter pages.  Also let me know what you'd like me to include in this blog in the new year. Perhaps you want to hear less about me and more about different products on the market. Or perhaps you want more  make-up tips. Just let me know.