I was really excited a few weeks back to be contacted by my secondary school and was asked if I wanted to come back in to talk to the year 10 students during their activity week. They wanted to know about my own journey since leaving the school and my path to my career as a hair and makeup artist. I of course jumped at the chance...partly because I wanted to be totally nosey and step back in time to see what it looks like inside nowadays (I left 11 years ago).. but also because I thought it was a really great idea for young girls to meet an older version of themselves and learn about a career that they may potentially be interested in pursuing.
I did have an enjoyable afternoon, and even got a sneaky sentimental tour too, however I was mostly left surprised by the view of beauty that these teenage girls had.
I adore Instagram and YouTube and spend far more time than I should, watching and scrolling through some amazing inspirational accounts everyday. However...I do feel that it can be quite damaging to some young women and it really gives a very unrealistic view on the world of beauty and makeup artists. Anyone who has a passion for beauty can become a 'beauty blogger' nowadays, which is fantastic, and a lot of girls have created wonderful channels and look pretty incredible each day in their pictures. My issue is this...the blog and Instagram world has created a makeup style that everyone has adopted and young girls aspire to look like. It consists of a heavy base, super strong contouring and highlighting, very dark sharp eyebrows, thick winged liner and very over-drawn lips coated with a liquid matte lipstick. It mirrors the style of the Kardashian's and aims to make you look like you are walking around with a permanent filter over your face.
Now don't get me wrong-I love a winged liner, it is my signature go-to look and for an evening out I am all about the glamour and a smokey eye. Makeup is definitely fun and something to be played with, however as a professional makeup artist, this Instagram look just doesn't appeal and doesn't sit right with me.
Whilst chatting with the year 10 girls about the life of a makeup artist, I was amazed that none of them had heard of actual artists such as Lisa Eldridge, and only thought about the well-known bloggers, who despite creating a great following, are not actually trained at all.
They believed that my day must entail of re-creating this look every day, as this is how to 'do makeup'.
During my training I was told, and remember very clearly, that you want someone to say 'You look beautiful' not 'Your makeup looks beautiful'. This is something that has always stuck with me and I really believe in. I personally think it's sad that young girls don't hear this enough, and are always presented with images of super contoured and heavily made up girls.This also isn't what I do everyday as a makeup artist...in fact quite the opposite. If you look through the pages of Vogue and look at the fashion stories, or even look at celebrities often on the red carpet, you will see that the beauty of the person shines through. It is often about just creating a perfect, dewy skin...and that's it! Or focusing on brows and lips...maybe just blush. Brows are often left natural and combed to show the hairs, not filled in and drawn to create a harsh block.
I love seeing the beauty in individual faces and complimenting it through colour and texture. Being a makeup artist is all about this, and not just creating one rather 'fake' look for everyone. Everyone is different, one look certainly doesn't suit all...and women don't have to look like this everyday. It just isn't real life.
Recently I have found myself talking more and more about millennials and the affects that growing up in a generation immersed in social media must have, and this is definitely one of the down sides that I notice. I mean using flour to 'bake' your makeup?! Who made people actually do this? Perhaps this is just my opinion but I for sure am happy to have grown up without such a pressure to conform to one 'perfect look'.
Let me know your thoughts on the world of beauty online...
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