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| Karla (LEFT) at work.... |
I studied beauty,fashion and media and theatre make-up straight after school learning new skills and building my confidence and realising this is what i want to do everyday....which eventually lead to teaching make-up and hair at a local college for 3 years which was the best experience in my first years of being a make-up artist as i love to inspire aspiring make-up artists. I have pushed myself over the last 3 years to get my work noticed, networking with the industry people and building my portfolio while teaching make-up. I am now living the dream working in London as a head make-up artist.
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| Karla's work |
*Whats your day to day work routine?
The life of me is varied and exciting- and challenging at times. The day can vary from getting models ready for a photo shoot, followed by 10-12 hours of work that same day. Or sometimes its an easy 10am call, shoot for a few hours and then you are done. Being in the office at FB beauty picking products shades for new upcoming lipsticks,picking names for the shades of eye shadows, creating make-up looks to inspire others to use FB Beauty products on either You Tube or Blogs. Meeting with fashion designers or photographers to design a make-up look that co-ordinates with their latest collection for a runway show. One thing for sure is its never a boring job!
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| Karla's work |
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| Karla's work |
*Whats the best part of your job?
One of the best parts of the job is getting to work with people all day. I make friends and professional connections constantly due to the nature of the job. Sometimes you yourself are tired from a very long shoot and have to remember to be positive and help keep everybodys spirits up and working well. I have met some wonderful people in this job and made friends for life.
*Where are you currently working?
I am currently working with a cosmetic brand. I now have the opportunity to inspire,teach and showcase other make-up artists how we can achieve anything with high street budget brands. I love the fact that i can actually get involved with a make-up company that does so successfully and help other make-up artists achieve dreams and learn how to become a professional make-up artist using our products. I know with my skills and knowledge with my companies brands that anything is possible.
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| Karla (RIGHT) at work |
*What interests/hobbies do you have other than make-up?
Keeping Focus, Drawing and researching make-up looks, reading inspiring fashion magazines, MAKING SURE I TAKE IN THE ‘DETAILS OF LIFE’…
*Whats your favourite make up brands to use??
Fashionista
VIVO
Look Beauty
FAMOUS
MUA (of course!)
*What make-up brushes do you use?
Crown
Illamasqua
Sigma Beauty
MAC
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| Karla's work |
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| Karla's work |
*Top 5 beauty products at the minute?
MUA Shade 13 lipstick! We all need a red lipstick in our beauty bags!
MAC Cream colour bases in all colours
Airbase foundation
Look Beauty stretch factor Mascara
Origins Skin care
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| MUA shade 13 |
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| Airbase Foundation |
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| Origins Skincare |
Look Beauty Nail pops- They are amazing!
NUBAR- I love using NUBAR'S base and top coat.
I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for pushing myself and getting my name out there via blogging, tweeting and Facebook. This industry is all about investing and in you, so showing your fans what you are about and what you do is very beneficial. With a lot of motivation, passion and love for the area you want to go into you can achieve whatever you want and social media has changed us industry professionals to get our name out there for easily for us. It’s a great networking tool which I am a massive fan off! Oh and I am very addicted to it! He he.
*What celebs would you love to work on?
I have been very fortunate in my area of work to work with celebrities the last 2 years however i would love to create magic on Lady GAGA, Beyonce or even Rihanna! My top 3 girls!
*Any Make-up tips??
My top tips i swear by;
- You should use two colours of blush to get extra dimension in the face. Layer a lighter shade over a darker, or just blend two similar shades.
- To get a more natural lash look, but still really open and frame the eye, use black mascara on the roots and brown on the tips.- To get covetable brows if you can’t get to a pro, use a very sharp pencil and “feather” on individual brows if yours are sparse. Finish with some brow powder.
- Never use black on your brows because it looks unnatural–brown is better. Then brush it all through for a natural look.
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| Karla busy at her work! |
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| Karla's work |
*What tips do you have on working towards being a Makeup Artist?
Assist makeup artists & get as much work experience as you can! You see the good, bad and everything!
Karla's links are below~
Personal Twitter: @karlapowellmua
MUA Karla Twitter: @MUA_karla
Facebook Make-up page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karla-Powell-Make-up-Artist/150258315035261?ref=ts#%21/pages/Karla-Powell-Make-up-Artist/150258315035261
Karla's personal blog: www.karlapowell.co.uk
*Do you have any tips on breaking into the business?
The beauty of working with Make-up is, it’s constantly changing with trends, products, seasons and having skills like myself within teaching, fashion, photography, media & theatre you can choose any career path at any time which will keep your skills and techniques fresh with the on-going changes of makeup. Keep you’re options open and learn everything aspect of make-up you can. I would say the best advice for you now is Working for free, which has given me experience working as a freelance make-up artist. Meeting some amazing creative people and finally to build a portfolio which I am now happy to show clients. I ensure you this has open up a lot of doors to my make-up world and I have learnt so much, your contacts grow and grow. I chose to work for free to build my experience within the make-up industry and to gain a strong portfolio. I do believe that all trainee make-up artists should only work for free if it benefits their portfolio/experiences and they gain something out of it. Unpaid work comes from particular photographers that I feel their work is outstanding and knowing with my skills we could produce some strong images for both our portfolios. So therefore we are returning favours in both parts. So I have now had a handful of collaborations with different photographers, and my work really has grown as a result. I was able to be comfortable with them and try new things, and saw results. Each photographer I worked with on test moved my work in a different direction and I am grateful to all of them. I would say my confidence, skills and knowledge within this industry is at a very high level now and I would say that is all thanks to working UN paid and meeting some amazing inspirational people along the way who believed in my abilities. After all if I didn’t do this I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Finally......
*ASSIST
*KEEP LEARNING
*NETWORK YOUR BUTT OFF!
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| Karla's work |
Karla's links are below~
Personal Twitter: @karlapowellmua
MUA Karla Twitter: @MUA_karla
Facebook Make-up page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karla-Powell-Make-up-Artist/150258315035261?ref=ts#%21/pages/Karla-Powell-Make-up-Artist/150258315035261
Karla's personal blog: www.karlapowell.co.uk
With love Tara...xxx
