Maybe this infamous article in the Guardian reignited my fire. I don’t know. What I do know? The day I was hired as a MAC make-up artist was one of the best days of my life, and this is just a little of my story. I had dreamt about being a MAC artist for years, and after working for Lancome and Estee Lauder, I landed the chance to “audition.” First, there was a group interview, and then a round of cuts. Then the rest of us left had to do make-up on a model while some of MAC’s highest ranked makeup artists looked on, silently, with their elite judgey eyes. Nerve.Racking. Except? I was in the zone. I didn’t give a damn who was watching me. My model looked fierce when I was done with her.

My experience with MAC and since, freelancing, define my happy place. Doing makeup for a fashion show or photo shoot? I don’t think I’ve ever felt so alive! How fun is doing prom make-up and talking to the giddy and nervous 16 year old in your chair about her dress, her date…and smiling at her mom, trying to communicate with your eyes that you will not have her daughter looking like a streetwalker when she leaves. There is nothing like doing bridal makeup. Nothing. Period. Being a part of someone’s wedding day?! A pretty intimate part too, especially if I’m on site. It’s an honor. For the rest of her life, that bride will look at her wedding pictures, and she has trusted in me that each time she does, she’ll see herself as beautiful as ever. And there is nothing as simple, but as lovely, as spending ten minutes with a young girl who has saved up for a few new lipglosses.