Urban World

Make Up Star on the Rise

Ever wondered what it takes to be a Professional Makeup Artist? Well, it’s more than putting a bit of blusher here and a bit of liner there! In speaking to aspiring Makeup Artist, Nicole Gale, she has assured me that it’s definitely harder than you’d think!

Nicole Gale, 30, from North London, always knew she wanted to be more creative with her career, but wasn’t entirely sure how she was going to make this happen. Then it dawned on her!  Makeup!

Nicole worked in Human Resources but it was just getting boring. Being a make- up fanatic, she found herself always volunteering to do her family and friends makeup. She says, “I used to buy loads of products – all different colours – and just did Makeup for whoever wanted it. Then I thought, ‘I’m good at this, I love Makeup. I wanna be a Makeup Artist!’... I don’t wanna sit behind a desk for the rest of my life!”

She wasted no time in taking up a ‘Fashion Photography Makeup Course’ at the College of North East London, which are praised for their Makeup and Beauty courses. The college helped her build a portfolio, deal with various skin types and learn how to do different looks for TV, catwalk and fashion shoots. “I love doing looks with bright, fashion forward colours, but what I really love to do is the smoky eye look. The course challenged me and helped me jump out of my comfort zone – it was great.”  Thankfully, Nicole passed receiving a world class qualification in ‘Fashion Photography Makeup,’ and ended up leaving her mind-numbing job, to further her dreams in Canada for a year.

It’s here where she landed her first professional gig on a short film called, “Vauder Villians,” set in the 1920s, and was aired on the Bravo Channel. From that point, other Makeup gigs followed in Canada.

Missing London, Nicole came back, still building on her portfolio and acting as an assistant Makeup Artist for shoots in FHM, The Metro and freelancing under Makeup agency, Agent Beauty. Nicole stresses that building on her portfolio has not been easy at all. She says, “I definitely love what I do but it can be very long hours and tiring at times. A normal day on a shoot can involve a lot of retouching and requests to change looks...”

Although, she aspires to do Makeup in fashion shoots for the likes of US Vogue in New York, Nicole is more than happy – for now- working as an artist in Central London and freelancing.

Nicole urges for other up and coming artists is to get in as much practice as they can. “If it’s your passion, then get into it as early as possible- the earlier the better! Do a course, and try to get work on a Makeup stand - just keep practicing and practicing.”

[Model photographed by Karoli Czfra]

Written by Krystle Osafo-Jones