- 14 minutes ago
Being a makeup artist means being ready for anything. Lucie learns the tips and tricks as she tries being a makeup artist for a day.
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00:00I'm Lucy Fink. I'm a video producer at Refinery29, but every so often I like to try other people's jobs.
00:06Today I'm working with makeup artist Stephanie Page Vivian to see if I have what it takes to be a
00:11makeup artist on set at Refinery29.
00:13This is Lucy for Hire.
00:19Stephanie is a New York City based makeup artist who's worked with Refinery29 a bunch of times in the past.
00:24I do makeup as a freelancer, but I also work for a subcontracting company where I go to people's houses
00:31and put makeup on them.
00:32But her path to success was a little bit different from many makeup artists today.
00:37I personally didn't go to beauty school. I'm already 85K in debt from college, so I can't afford to do
00:43that.
00:44But if you have the means to, I would absolutely recommend it.
00:47I learned how to do makeup solely through trial and error.
00:51Stephanie began with a focus in special effects and fantasy makeup.
00:55But she's now expanded to editorial, fashion, and even bridal makeup.
00:59Okay, money. Great. I love being broke all the time.
01:05Income wise, it varies. So it can be as low as like 20K a year to 5 million a year.
01:14You know, it depends on where you're at.
01:15I think sometimes the misconception is that if you become a makeup artist you're immediately going to make a lot
01:20of money.
01:21But that's not always the truth. And sometimes you're waiting on the money that you're going to get for weeks,
01:27months at a time.
01:28So once I knew the dirty details, my first challenge was to set up.
01:33Setting up is kind of assessing what you're going to need and taking out what's necessary.
01:39What is your least favorite thing about your job?
01:42Can I grab it and show you?
01:44Yes.
01:45Oh God. Here she comes.
01:47This!
01:49I mean, I love her. She's great. She makes me all my money, but she weighs in total, like both
01:54of these bags, probably about 60 pounds.
01:57Stephanie's kit is no joke.
02:00Man, this is heavy.
02:02As a makeup artist, when it comes to building your kit, you want to make sure you're considering three things.
02:07Quality, Sanitation, and Multi-function.
02:11I don't even know where to start.
02:13Stephanie is a little bit protective over her kit.
02:16Lucy's going to set up her kit.
02:18My kit.
02:19And it's going to give me agita.
02:20She's going to set up a clean, easy to find everything workspace.
02:24Let's see what you got in here.
02:25Foundation on foundation, on concealer, on everything.
02:28Highlighters, powder, bronzers, eyeshadow, some glitter.
02:32Most of the hygiene and skin prep.
02:36Hygiene?
02:36Mm-hmm.
02:37And just when I thought I had seen everything, I realized she had even more.
02:42This is the size of a small child.
02:44Every single makeup product that exists, you have to have it.
02:48You don't have to bring it to every shoot, but you have to have it and you have to have
02:52it for everybody's skin.
02:54Every skin tone, every skin type, everything.
02:57So, step one out of everything, you better not be sitting down.
03:01Gotta get up.
03:02Yeah.
03:03I'm up on my feet.
03:04I'm ready to move.
03:07Girl.
03:08So, how do you know where everything goes?
03:09I just know.
03:10All right.
03:11Bring in the model.
03:13Your second challenge is to prep the skin.
03:16Our model, Katarina, was at Refinery29 for an editorial shoot.
03:21She came in completely makeup free, and my first step before touching her was sanitizing my hands.
03:27Something that should be done regularly as you go through the process of applying makeup.
03:31I began by checking the model for any dryness.
03:34A very good question that I started incorporating is, is it okay if I touch you?
03:39Oh, before I pet you.
03:42Is it okay if I touch you?
03:43Yes.
03:44Some people do not like to be touched.
03:46Asking if she had any allergies.
03:48I am allergic to avocados.
03:51Do you have to check every ingredient in everything?
03:54Mm-hmm.
03:55Okay.
03:56We won't hurt you.
03:58Okay.
03:58And finally, moisturizing her skin.
04:00Question, do you moisturize your face with one finger?
04:03Do you want me to just get in there?
04:04You can just get in there, yeah.
04:05I have to say, this feels very unnatural.
04:08Yes.
04:09One thing I hadn't anticipated was how awkward it felt to get fully in someone else's personal space and touch
04:15their skin.
04:17Next, we match the model's foundation and concealer.
04:20And keep in mind, just because it looks away in a tube, doesn't mean it looks the same way outside
04:25of the tube.
04:26How do you feel?
04:27I think that looks beautiful.
04:29Your third challenge?
04:30Apply the makeup.
04:31One of my favorite things about my job is all of the people that I get to meet and all
04:35the people I get to work with.
04:36As Stephanie told me, the makeup artist is rarely the one deciding what makeup to put on the model.
04:42In this case, the photographer was our creative director, and she had given us an inspiration image ahead of time.
04:48Look at her.
04:49I'm looking at her.
04:50She's glowing.
04:50And then it was the moment of truth.
04:53Because we're working with glitter today, I do want to start on the eye.
04:56I added primer.
04:57That's not eye primer.
04:58Okay.
05:00You don't have to be so incredibly gentle.
05:02I mean, you want to be gentle, but you don't need to, like, not touch her.
05:05We'll do a basic eye contour, which I think will be easy for you to grasp.
05:09My best practice advice here is, like, you can always add more, but you can't take away.
05:13Start here.
05:14Blend inwards.
05:15If you need more color, pick up more color.
05:17Does it feel incredibly unnatural, too?
05:19Yup.
05:23Wow.
05:24Yeah, I love it.
05:24Pack the product a little bit on the outer corner, and that same motion of pulling just inward, and just
05:30buff out that edge.
05:31All you have to do left is a lid color.
05:34Just the inside?
05:35Mm-hmm.
05:35I also maybe wouldn't rest my whole fist on her forehead.
05:39Good to know.
05:40Okay, so next is the liner.
05:42Don't be afraid of it, because it will know.
05:45When you do a wing, go from that tip and pull inward.
05:49Open.
05:51Beautiful.
05:52Next is glitter.
05:54Ooh.
05:55Fun.
05:56Stephanie was great at guiding me through the process and teaching me various techniques along the way.
06:01Pop right in here.
06:02Please don't pump my mascara.
06:03Just one pop?
06:05Well, the reason when you pump mascara...
06:06Please don't.
06:08You're pumping air into the mascara, it dries out quicker, so you just need to do one scoop.
06:12But she also let me make my own decisions at times.
06:14She has such long lashes that I don't even know if fake lashes are necessary.
06:18What do you think?
06:19Cool.
06:19That's your call.
06:20Ooh.
06:21It looks like she has false lashes on, actually.
06:23It does.
06:24Yeah.
06:24And then I applied makeup to her face.
06:27Foundation.
06:27You want to focus it where you feel like she needs the coverage.
06:30Don't be afraid of her face.
06:32And that's why blending is bae.
06:34Now put your head down and look up.
06:36So here's where we want to get that little tiny bit of correction.
06:39And then I applied contour, bronzer, blush, and highlighter.
06:43I'm learning a lot of techniques that I will be implementing on my own face.
06:46And for her lips, I lined and filled them in with a red liner and applied red glitter on top.
06:51Oh my god, you're like Dorothy.
06:52Dorothy.
06:53Dorothy's shoes right on your mouth.
06:55This challenge, above all, revealed just how clumsy I am.
06:59What did you do?
07:02I'm going to go in really...
07:05I was dropping things left and right.
07:07A big no-no in this industry.
07:10I am a mess.
07:11This is a hard job.
07:12It also took me a little while to realize that it's okay to ask the model to tilt or move
07:18her head.
07:18Okay, let me have you turn towards me.
07:20After I had gotten the hang of it though, I was starting to feel a lot more comfortable.
07:24This looks really good.
07:26I'm not just saying it because I did it.
07:28And once the makeup application was complete, we quick styled the model's hair for a photo shoot.
07:33We're shooting.
07:34Let's go.
07:34It's happening.
07:35Your final challenge is the shoot.
07:38So it's just about being very vigilant and at the ready to go in whenever you need to fix something.
07:44Our photographer, Maya, met us in the studio and the photo shoot began.
07:48Maya's a photographer that I've worked with many times in the past, but I'm used to being the one in
07:54the photos.
07:54When you're behind the scenes as the makeup artist and the hairstylist all in one, your job is to remain
08:00fully attentive and keep an eye on the model's full look.
08:04As the photographer is shooting, if there's a hair out of place or any fallout from the makeup, you need
08:09to fly in and fix it.
08:11Flying in.
08:12She's great.
08:12Flying out.
08:13I even accidentally called hold and jumped on the set before realizing that only the photographer can call hold.
08:21Hold, hold.
08:22You don't get to call hold.
08:24Oops.
08:24Flying out.
08:28Look how good she looks.
08:31Oh yeah.
08:32She's a natural.
08:33She is.
08:34I didn't realize how fast-paced this set would feel.
08:36You don't have the time to switch brushes.
08:38I didn't realize just how much goes into being a makeup artist.
08:42And not just the skills and knowledge you need to have, but also the energy needed to ensure your model
08:47feels comfortable and well taken care of.
08:50Love those.
08:50Love those.
08:51Love those.
08:52Love those.
08:53Love those.
08:54Love those.
08:56Stephanie's the makeup artist who's going to be doing my makeup on my wedding day.
08:59And now that I've gotten a taste of her job, I am absolutely blown away.
09:04Lucy did great.
09:05She listened to direction well.
09:07She was excited to learn new techniques.
09:09She's not a bad makeup artist at all except when she dropped every single one of my tools all day.
09:16But I think that Lucy has a lot of promise in makeup artistry for sure.
09:19Let me know what jobs you want to see me try next time and we'll see you then on Lucy
09:23for Hire.