Hello all! I’m sorry that I haven’t posted anything for a while. It has been a crazy couple of weeks for me. There is so much I want to share with you so expect more than one post this week. You can also now follow me on Twitter (@donnaharris_mua) and of course there’s The Make-up Darling Facebook page (link at the bottom of the page), where I post extra photos of my work and chat about products that I like.
This post is a cautionary tale. I recently received an email, forwarded from a very reputable source, asking for trainee make-up artists to assist a make-up team backstage at a big fashion show in an exclusive London nightclub. The position was unpaid but as catwalk make-up is an area that I am very interested in getting into and as the email stated that we would be assisting “top industry professionals”, I jumped at the chance as I thought it would be a great way to gain experience and network with top make-up artists that may like my work and want to use me again in the future.
So in an effort to impress and appear professional to these top make-up artists I made enquiries into what was the go-to foundation of choice of make-up artists when doing a fashion show: something that was certain to photograph on a models skin when all the flashes from photographers’ cameras go off. I went out and spent money I don’t really have on three different shades of the recommended foundation (MAC Face and Body) to make sure my kit was full. I also bought a new outfit as I was told by the organiser that they’d be a videographer and photographer doing backstage interviews and taking photos. Well, a girl’s got to look her best, hasn’t she...especially when it could be her big break!
So last night I turned up at the venue (which, incidentally was on the other side of London from where I live) all giddy with expectation and the effects of a hastily downed can of Red Bull, only to find that there were no top make-up artists to be assisted – only around seven other students or recent graduates of various London make-up schools, just like me! Imagine my disappointment! And what made it worse was that (maybe naively) as I thought I would be assisting a professional, I had not asked the fashion stylist/organiser who emailed me what look she was going for with the make-up because, well, why would I when I thought I would be briefed by a professional make-up artist? So I hadn’t packed my craft box full of gold leaf, sequins, diamante, feathers etc, which turned out to be exactly the type of thing the stylist wanted! Thankfully, I had enough black and gold eyeshadows, gold glitter and eyeliner to get by, and what I did not have was provided by another student make-up artist.
The poor models were call complaining because they had been at the venue for hours, un-fed and un-watered, and some didn’t know how they were going to get home after the show (which was due to start at midnight). I ended up playing counsellor and pharmacist to many of them who had headaches and came to my makeshift make-up station (in the disabled toilet!) for paracetamol and a chat. Thank God I’d packed a First Aid kit. These girls were working unpaid to with the promise of a professional photographer backstage taking shots for their portfolio – again, something that never materialised.
In the end, we managed to fulfil the stylist’s make-up brief and make the models look gorgeous. The MAC Face and Body foundations went on beautifully on one model’s face and another model’s legs (mysteriously covered in cuts and bruises) so I am thankful that I bought them. But last night served as a harsh reminder that not everyone out there is as genuine as me and that some people will lie to get what they want at the least expense. It’s a lesson I learnt in my dancing and modelling days; people will always take advantage of your passion for your art and your desire to reach your goals.
Oh, the joys of working in a creative industry....!
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| Make-up by me except for the gold leaf, which was added by another MUA |
