More Than a Pretty Face

When working as an esthetician, I often had depression-era women come in for facials, as a gift from their children or grandchildren. Women who had never done anything nice for themselves before. I have been hugged and thanked profusely by women for "changing my life". When I became a makeup artist, I was happy to find a career that made use of my background in art, modeling and skincare. I was thrilled to have a job where I could be paid to be creative. However, I was worried that through leaving the esthetician room, I would no longer be able to provide as much comfort to my clients, that my work would only affect people on a superficial level.

I didn't expect that the makeup artistry would require the same amount of nurturing. Women can be so brutal toward themselves when it comes to their appearance. "I look in the mirror and all I see is ugly" one woman said as she sat in my chair. This poor woman carried around such self-loathing, that she would fiercely deny anything positive about her appearance that her daughter would point out to her. There have been many occasions where I had to interrupt a client to say, "Stop and listen to yourself. Would you allow someone else to say these things about you? Why are you saying them to yourself?"

This last week, a woman approached me. She was frail, and looked exhausted. She had an autoimmune disease, but was on the mend. She asked me for a bit of lipgloss, and her plea was heartbreaking, "I just want to feel pretty again." As much as makeup artists like to say "it's a makeup brush, not a magic wand" when it comes to unrealistic requests, sometimes that makeup brush really is a magic wand in diguise. Sometimes a little lipgloss can make all the difference in the world, transforming a woman who is down on herself to someone who holds her head a little higher. And sometimes the makeup artist is so moved by your gratitude and rediscovered pride that she lets a couple of tears fall in the back room after you leave.