Experiences I'll never forget...

There are a few moments in my professional history which I will never forget. They changed everything for me, in a rather large way. Everyone goes through life with those "big moments". Moments in which at the time seem insignificant, or too big to fully grasp what's happening. Looking back, you realize that in that moment, everything changed. So far, professionally, there's a handful that come to mind.


The day I walked into my first legitimate photo shoot is one of the biggest. I was shooting with John Truong, Chelsea Christian, Adrienne Cheney and Justina Downs. I knew Adrienne through high school, and through her, I met some of the most creative minds I've ever known. That first day, my heart is racing, my mind is swimming, I don't know what I've gotten myself into.

I was worried I wasn't good enough, what they'd expect, that I wouldn't be able to make their ideas come to life. I met everyone with a handshake or a hug, and proceeded to get everything ready. Throughout that shoot, I came to life. I realized I was only as good as I would allow myself to be, so I reached for the stars and made it happen. Everyone loved my work, although I felt I could have done better of course. You're your own biggest critic, and never let anyone take that quality from you.

Adrienne Cheney at another shoot together.

The photos came out amazing from our collaborative efforts. I made long lasting friendships and working relationships that have seriously changed my life. Without meeting John, I don't think I would have been a part of so many amazing shoots. Working with his has been a blessing. I am allowed to let my creativity fly free, I'm a part of the decision making process, the conceptual stage and the final result. Not many makeup artists get that opportunity so early. I am incredibly thankful. What I learned from this was "Never underestimate yourself or your abilities. Once you believe you cannot do it, it becomes true."




Another life changing experience was attending IMATS in Pasadena this last summer. I was surrounded by incredible artists. I realized that this can actually and realistically become my career if I worked hard enough. Before this experience, I didn't think I could do makeup as my career. I thought I would need to do hair to pay the bills and do makeup for fun. Seeing all of these masters of their crafts was so inspiring.

My sister and I at IMATS 2011.

I walked into the building expecting to spend heaps of money on makeup, maybe meet some YouTube gurus, and see some cool stuff. I had no idea what I was in for. Not only did I get to meet some of the people who inspired me to do makeup in the first place, but I was able to see artists bring paint to life on skin.

I walked around the building in awe of what I was seeing. Things I didn't even realize were possible with brushes and cosmetics were in front of my face, without a hint of photoshopping possible. Special effects and body painting really caught my eye. The artists I met, talked with and watched work were amazing. There are no words for what they are capable of. This simple weekend in June changed my life forever.

A shoot with John Truong inspired by Katy Perry's ET video after being inspired at IMATS.

I dropped my plans to move to San Francisco, decided immediately I was going to move to LA, go to school, and actually live out my dreams. I started planning, and now here I am. Upon my return to my hometown, I started doing photoshoots like crazy. I was implementing concepts I had only dreamed of doing someday. I was doing things that real PROs were doing. The thing I took most from this was "Make your dreams become a reality. Don't sell yourself short or settle for less. If it's really your dream, you will find a way to make it come true."


The third most life changing event in my career thus far is moving to LA. I found an apartment, picked out a school, and started "making things happen" as my roommate likes to say. I packed up, and moved 400 miles away from home. Talk about jumping out of the nest to learn how to fly hah. I was terrified every moment of it. I still am most days. But I know that I'm doing the right thing. I know that I'm following my dreams. It's the best thrill-ride I've ever been on.

The drive down to LA!

While I've been here, I've already had some amazing experiences. I adore my roommates, I've met some amazing people, I've reconnected with old friends, and I've really felt a sense of standing on my own two feet. I took a master's class through MAC taught by one of my idols, Victor Cembelin, and was so inspired and touched by the end of it. I learned so much in those few short hours with him, not only about makeup itself, but about the way he works, his experiences, and his journey. I'm so thankful to have gone.

I've had many people tell me I'm inspiring for jumping head first into this adventure. I've had people tell me how proud they are of me, envious even. I feel completely and utterly blessed right now. I get to do what I love. I get to spend my days doing things that make me happy, and I get paid for it too. I still have an immensely long and hard road ahead of me, and I can't wait.

Following your dreams is rough. It's like walking on the very edge of a cliff. One wrong step, and you crash down to the bottom. Or so it feels. But the view is incredible. It's exhilarating. It's terrifying. It's absolutely worth every second of it. I wouldn't change anything for the world. "If your dreams do not scare you, they're not big enough."

Let's talk about makeup baby!

Makeup is art. You study it like art, you critique it like art, you learn it like art. So let's start with the basics of learning this form of expression. I credit my success thus far with my talent and skill, plus hard work, determination and luck, but those you can't learn. I learned makeup from a few different sources, and I'll definitely go over all of them. It's a combination of books, youtube tutorials and blog posts, and of course trial and error. 

I'll start with my all time favorite makeup book by Kevyn Aucoin. He was a world-renowned makeup artist, with hundreds of celebrities in his resume. After going through years of hardship and bullying, he got through it all by devoting himself to his career as a makeup artist. Although he is no longer with us, his art and lessons are something that will live on through the test of time, I'm sure. 

His career highlights have been influential on every major makeup brand and makeup artist. The first book of his I bought and read cover to cover immediately was Making Faces. The second was Face Forward. They both cover a range of topics, such as foundation techniques, contouring and highlighting, eyebrows, and different end results. These are a great way to learn the basics of makeup! You can find his books in generally any larger book store, or off of Amazon!

Next, I'm going to cover youtube tutorials. These were instrumental in my learning the skill of makeup, because they covered in depth different makeup looks. Watching multiple different gurus gave me a range of techniques I could try out, and later pick and choose which worked for me best. No two people do makeup exactly the same. I started out by watching Petrilude aka Josh. I fell in love with his Halloween series, his day to day looks and his overall personality and camera presence. He has a lot of amazing full face masks and fantasy makeup. I still watch his tutorials all the time, continuously learning new things from him. 

The next guru I started watching was xsparkage aka Leesha. She has tons of videos from tutorials, to favorite things, to themed looks, and reviews on products. She's incredible informative and covers just about everything you'd need to know. She also has a great personality, she's very easy to watch, and she seems like she could be your neighbor down the street. 

The next favorite of mine is MakeupByTiffanyD aka Tiffany. She's wonderful, pretty much straight to the point, and has great skills when it comes to makeup! She has a lot of celebrity-inspired looks which are really fun to try out. She's a sweetheart too! I'm sure there's hundreds of more men and women doing makeup tutorials but these are my favorites and the ones that inspired me to get into makeup in the first place! 

Here's a list of other youtuber's I watch too!

MakeupByRisa

Sphirex

sayanythingbrooke

EnKoreMakeup

QueenofBlendingMUA

macNC40

PurseBuzz

Another great place to learn about makeup are blogs. Most of these youtube gurus have blogs as well, however there are some blogs that I follow with or without their youtube videos. My all-time, favorite makeup artist to follow is Kandee Johnson. She is an incredible spirit and overall human being. She's wonderful at what she does, and stays down to earth even though she's quite popular and famous! She's incredible with makeup and I have learned and still learn so much from her! 

Another blog I follow is Zoffe. She's in Denmark, but I started seeing her work on a livejournal community for MAC-obsessed guys and gals! I used to love her FOTD's (face of the day) and now I follow her blog as well! She masters color like no other! Plus she has these rockin' cupid's bow shaped lips that I would die for! 

This is me doing my best friend's makeup on her wedding day. What an honor that was. :) Photography by Ryan Jay.

All in all, I learned what I did by practicing, learning from others, and paying attention to where makeup is in the real world! I would break down all of my friends' makeup at school in my head, thinking about how I would recreate their look if I did it myself. I would try different looks, either inspired from the makeup tutorials, or using new products. I loved watching or reading about makeup because I felt like I was learning something new every few minutes! That's a great feeling. I hope you enjoyed this and found it helpful!

xo, jm

Topics to blog about...

These are some photos from a shoot I did with Chelsea Christian and Adrienne Cheney. Johnny Truong was the amazing photographer I worked with and I continue to work with!

My goal with this blog is to help people aiming to be makeup artists get into the business. I have a list of topics I'm planning to blog about listed below. For those of you that do read my blog, feel free to comment telling me what you would like to read about!

Topics List:

• Photoshoots
• Weddings
• Special Events
• Learning makeup
• Marketing strategies
• Word of mouth
• Presentation
• Kit
• Where to start
• Branding
• Getting your name out there
• Social Media
• On location events
• Working with models
• Working with photographers
• Working with new people
• Maintaining balance
• Loving what you do through it all
• Youtube tutorials
• Learning from peers

This is by no means a set-in-stone list, nor is it in any sort of order, but it's a list of topics I would like to cover in the future! I would love to hear back on what you're interested in hearing about, such as topics I may not have listed, sub-categories, specific concepts, etc! I think I'm going to write about learning the art of makeup next!

xo, jm

Where to start...

Here I was, writing down a list of things I want to eventually blog about, trying to figure out where to start today, and BAM! It hit me, I need to start at the beginning. Where I really started, how I got into what I do, and why. So here we go...

I was recently reminiscing with an old elementary school best friend and she said to me "I should have known that's what you would do. I remember when I went to your house and you were making your own perfumes." I guess I started loving the beauty industry at a very young age. Fast forward to middle school, I was the "daring" one because I wore blue eyeshadow. I cringe at the photos to this day. Fast forward again to high school, I was a trend follower for the early years, wearing the blackest of the black eyeliners around my waterline, and the darkest mascara covering every lash. Every girl wore it like this. It was almost a right of passage. Our mother's stopped controlling our makeup usage, so we went overboard. Shortly after this, I started experimenting with trends, with makeup itself. I learned what bronzer was, how blush can be fun, and that eyeshadow can be pretty actually on your face rather than the container.

So now we're in the middle of my sophomore year of high school, right after Christmas. I got a Nordstrom's gift card for 50 buckos, and went off with a friend to spend it. I had never been to Nordie's before, and didn't have the time to shop around, so I stopped at the first place I saw inside - the MAC counter. This day, as unremarkable as it had been then, literally changed my life. I bought my first two eyeshadows, Carbon and Forgery, and a 208 angled brush for eyeliner. I became obsessed from that day forward. I bought MAC whenever I could. I educated myself on the brand, the products, the lifestyle that is associated with it. I secretly dreamed of being a makeup artist, but didn't think I could ever be good enough.

That was my first mistake in the grand scheme of my life. I didn't think I could. I didn't think I was good enough. I didn't pursue my dreams, instead I did it behind closed doors, or just for fun. I can only imagine where I would be today if I actively did things back then. However, no use looking backwards when there is so much ahead. I started watching youtube tutorials on makeup, reading blogs, and became a member of a group on livejournal. I was active in the online world of makeup, as well as doing makeup on myself. I invested more into products, and more time into practicing techniques. I started doing makeup on my friends, understanding that every eye, skin, face shape, etc is unique. That was hard at first. I had to learn that just because I was good at doing makeup on myself, doesn't mean I was going to be good at everyone else's as well. I kept practicing and practicing. I kept educating myself on techniques and facts and products. I kept at it, and that was the key.

People started asking me to do their makeup for certain events, like proms or nights out. I did other people's makeup as often as I could. Some of my early work is slightly embarrassing, but I learned so much through this time. The more I practiced, the more people complimented me on my makeup, and the more requests I got from friends to be their makeup artist. Somewhere during this time, I decided I no longer wanted to be a psychiatrist, I wanted to do hair and makeup. I wanted to go to school for this, and although I had to fight for it within my family, it just reaffirmed my passion for what I do. I went to beauty school, hated the school itself, and dropped out, and I am now pursuing an education through a Paul Mitchell partner school. I do makeup on a professional level, but I'm lacking in the hair department. I'll get there eventually, it's these stepping stones and learning experiences that make everything worth it.

Most people see makeup and the cosmetics industry itself as necessary but shallow. I see it differently. Yes, women can be just as beautiful without makeup on as they look with it, however do they feel the same? Typically no. That's what got me into makeup in the first place. I noticed a change in myself every morning after I had my foundation, eyeliner and mascara on. I felt better. I was happier. I smiled. That's the reason why I do what I do. It's not about layering cosmetics on a woman's face so they look like a stereotypical magazine model, it's about making them feel as beautiful as the world sees them. Watching their faces light up once I've finished my work because they feel beautiful is the best feeling in the world to me. Some people have larger goals than I, they want to cure cancer, fight AIDs, relieve hunger, while I just want people to be happy. Everything else will follow.

xo, jm

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

I suppose I should start with a name, a story, some background information, and the like, however I'd rather start with a quote. "Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." -Confucius. Take that however you'd like, but what it reminds me of every day, is that it is our purpose in life to make the world more beautiful than we started the day with.

Onto formal introductions, for those of you that don't know me already... My name is Jessie Marie, an aspiring yet professional makeup artist in California. Over the years of being almost psychotically obsessed with makeup, makeup blogs, youtube tutorials, etc, I notice the how to's of makeup itself are what drives this niche. Where does that leave everyone who wants to make this a career? That's what I'm writing about, and you are who I'm writing this to. I'm not looking to be an inspiration, I'm not looking to be your hero or your idol, I'm looking to show you through my experiences how I've gotten where I am today, and show you how I get to the place my dreams come true. Call it crazy, call it mundane, call it whatever you'd like. I call it The Misadventures of a Makeup Artist.

I'll get into specifics later, but for now I'm going to briefly give you my background. I'm 19 years young now and I have technically been a makeup artist since I was 16. Yes, at 16 I was doing weddings and proms and homecomings. Yes, I mostly did it all for free on my best friends, but those were the stepping stones to get me where I am today. Now I have business cards and a website. Doesn't that make me feel fancy! Now, I've worked with quite a few photographers on various different events, from weddings to photoshoots. I really enjoy what I do, especially those 10 hour long shoots where my feet want to melt into the ground. I feel like I spent my time doing something I love, and making this world a more beautiful place.

I've gotten to where I am today with a lot of hard work, good luck, bad luck, perfect timing and practice. There is not right and wrong in the beauty industry, it's all about finding that place where your abilities shine. Getting to the top is the hard part. In the beginning, I would Google "how to be a professional makeup artist" and everything but the right answer would pop up. My goal with this blog is to show girls, and boys of course, how to make something you love into your dream career. Maybe it's hair, maybe it's makeup, maybe it's something else, but in the end, this blog will hopefully be something to help you along the way.

xo, jm