7 Challenging Scenarios as a Makeup Artist and how to tackle them.
It can be hard, being an industry where we are customer facing all the time, because as we know - being customer facing comes with its own challenges sometimes. And believe me, over 10 years I have probably faced every single one of those challenges. Business AND clients can be unpredictable and part of our job as makeup artists is managing expectations. So today I am help you face some of those challenges that crop up from clients.
1) The client not being happy with the makeup
The absolute nightmare right? All we want as makeup artists is for our clients to walk away feeling 100% happy with the makeup, to be confident and excited. So when a client turns around and says they aren’t particularly happy or it isn’t what they expected, we feel our hearts break a little bit. I’m very lucky in that a client hasn't actively told me they haven’t liked the makeup but on rare occasion as I walk away from a trial, I know I’m not getting booked. Does this mean I’m a terrible artist? Absolutely not. What it does mean is this clients expectations did not get met. In the early stages of my career I was not told that a huge part of our job as artists is being able and confident enough to set expectations from the get go, during our consultation process AND during the trial or on set. If expectations are not met, the client can run wild with what they think can happen which sets them up for disappointment and sets you up for failure.
How to tackle: Be sure to always be setting expectations during every stage of the process. If a client pulls out a picture of Kylie Jenner and they do not look anything like them, stand your ground with confidence and say that whilst Kylie is a beautiful woman, so are they in a different way. Different bone structures, different skin tones, different features require different artistry. If on set you are given 20 minutes to do a look that takes 1hr, set the expectation that you CAN do this, but you can’t do that.
2) The client has an allergic reaction
Another nightmare right? I bring this one up because this indeed happened to me. Let me paint the picture, I was hired to do a wedding, just the bride, mother and 1 bridesmaid. The typical situation happens where the sister of the bride decides they want their own makeup done after seeing all the other beautiful makeups and how happy everyone was. I am in the process of packing my kit up to leave, when said sister comes over to me and asks for her makeup done. I explain the price and the lack of time (setting expectations AND her sister was literally walking down the aisle in 20mins) and we agreed to do just her eyes. “Do you have any allergies” I ask as I reset my station. “Nope, nope none” she replies, in a hurry because we can literally HEAR the ceremony starting. I proceed to use a cucumber face wipe to wipe off the fall out of a very hurried (but very good!) smokey eye, ready to clean up with concealer. “Ouch, that stings, what was that?” She asks me as I’m wiping. I hand her the packet of wipes and she gasps. “OH MY GOSH IM ALLERGIC TO CUCUMBER”. Instantly I zone in on the area I have wiped (both her undereyes) and see them start to swell and flame up before my very eyes. She runs screaming to the toilet, whilst I stand there in complete disbelief as she had stated she had no allergies. The hair stylist and my good friend Cass ran after her and I can hear her screaming how I had ruined her day, look at the state of her, yada, yada, yada. My mind starts to run wild, that whilst my contract states the bride and her bridesmaids have stated they have no allergies, I didn’t account for my legal liability if a walk up had only verbally told me she had no allergies. She didn’t sign anything. I then hear Cass firmly tell her “But you said you had no allergies, why didn't you bring up the cucumber?” to which she instantly stands down, upon hearing a witness had heard this vital information. I offer to cover up the redness, but she runs away and I sheepishly pack up my kit and leave. This is a nightmare, let me tell you. I still to this day think about this occasion and now I strictly refuse to take on bridesmaids or extra people on a wedding day.
How to tackle: The best way to avoid this sort of situation happening is to cover your bases legally with a contract, that states ALL allergies must be reported to the makeup artist prior to makeup. I have this in my contract, but at the time it didn't count for walk ins on the day. If you are ever in a situation on set, where you can’t contract say, models - always have people around when you ask if they have allergies. This is an essential safety net that can really back you up in times of need.
3) Copycats
Trust me, if you haven’t experienced this - you will at some point in your career and it can be extremely frustrating. Let me talk about two instances where I have been directly copied. The first was a few years ago. A young makeup artist had contacted me a few months before looking for advice. I happily obliged and she went on her way. I then had a pop up that she had subscribed to my newsletter a few months later. I wondered to myself how she was doing and checked her website... which to my absolute shock, was identical to mine. Right down to the copy. Even her FAQ's and about page, completely ripped off. I approached her directly, being absolutely furious, and whilst she denied it (its pretty hard to deny) she did eventually take her website down. Just a heads up guys - there are now websites that can let you check if your copy has been.. copied!
The second was more recent, when Etsy recommended a store to me, selling my own forms. The same copy, the same design, even the same description. This is highly illegal, because these are 100% my own design and copy. Again I reached out and the store was deleted, but since then I have seen 3 other stores do the same thing.
I have had makeup artists come to me and say they have created lash businesses which have been copied right down to the box, branding that has been completely ripped off and on several occasions, websites.
How to tackle: First of all, know your rights. If this is your copy, your designs, your artwork - you do have a legal right. You OWN that, so you can go to that person with a copyright claim. I always try and protect my business with my legal rights, but I also can't allow this energy to take over my life. There are times in business YOU will come across a copycat, especially if you have a product/design or idea that sells and does well. Just look at Apple, look at any amazing first of its kind business idea. Everything trickles down. Don't let it upset you or anger you. Let it fuel you. These people do not have your brain or your original ideas. They can copy, but YOU and your uniqueness will always be one step ahead. When I see copycats take my Etsy designs - I strive to make them better. When I had someone take my website - it only pushed me to make it even more unique, even more ME. Let haters, let copycats, let poo pooers (is this a word?!) let them make you better. Welcome them, because they will only make you more successful. Trust me.
4) Getting a bad review
Another situation I so hope none of us are ever in, but it happens. I recall one day seeing on my phone (I was out to dinner) that I had an Etsy review! I excitedly opened the notification to see my first 1 star bad review. It simply said “didn’t print”. This issue, is SO out of my control. Their printer has nothing to do with my forms, but because this person felt they needed someone to blame for their frustration, I became that person to blame. I didn’t let it ruin my night, because out of 1000 happy customers, 1 customer complaining about their printer, and not my forms, was not my problem. But I do dread the day that perhaps I get a bad review that is to do with my product OR my makeup business. It can be soul destroying when it happens, especially on such a public platform that can stop other customers from booking. But I’m here to tell you, bad reviews are not the be all and end all of our business. In fact, my store didn’t get affected in the slightest from this review because the numbers, the sheer amount of happy customers, far outweighed the bad.
How to tackle: First of all, don’t stress. Whilst it seems right now, to be the end of the world. It isn’t. In fact, take a look at the amount of bad reviews Disney World has, or Apple. Does it stop them being multimillion pound businesses. Second, take a moment to respond. No response looks worse than a well crafted, well thought out response. Take your time crafting it and get others to read over it before responding. It should include an apology, and if for example, the complaint is absolutely NOT your problem, like my Etsy one, explain that with sympathy. Explain you are so sorry the forms didn’t print, but in fact this is a printer issue and perhaps if they give you a message, you can help them troubleshoot it. Turn this bad PR into your own good PR.
5) Not getting on with someone on set
This is one I do have a lot of personal experience with. When you hop on set with 30 or 40 people, there are always individuals you won’t vibe with. I had one particular example of a PA who could not resist telling me how to do my job, despite the fact I am a seasoned professional of 10 years. I’ve had photographers tell me to powder when I am in fact, on my way to powder (literally my brush, is 2 seconds away from their face) and I’ve had many many, many opinions from people on matters they quite frankly, have no idea about. The thing with makeup is everyone feels like they have a say in it, but wouldn’t dare say these opinions to the photographer, the director or the producer. It’s challenging, its frustrating and it can be hard to stomach at times.
So how do we deal with it? I take a deep breath, smile and ignore it. I’m sorry this advice isn’t any more profound. Over the 10+ years I have learnt, these opinions only reflect on THEM. Perhaps an insecurity about their own job or a need for the job to go absolutely perfectly. Sometimes of course, its because they are an idiot with no filter, but should we let their idiot-ness affect our day? Absolutely not. There are occasions where I do speak up. If a photographer is being misogynistic or if someone is being over the top - I will explain “hey guys, you hired me because I am a professional, you hired me for my 10 years, you hired me and should trust me so this is why X needs to go like this.” We are hired as professionals so we should be treated like one, but we should also act like one. Choose your battles before saying anything and choose, will this create tension or will this solve the problem?
6) An assistant taking your contacts
Oh lord, this is extremely challenging as a makeup artist. You have got to the point in your career where you can hire an assistant. YAY! And then you learn, that assistant was managing their own business whilst operating on behalf of yours. It’s super tricky, its hard and it can make you super cynical of the industry as a whole. I had this on occasion, where I have hired an assistant to take over days due to emergencies. On one occasion, a company I had built a super good rapport with, they hired me pretty consistently, multiple times a month didn’t hire me again. I heard from them maybe a year later, and asked what they had been doing in their break from shooting. Turns out they didn’t break, they had been hiring my “employer” but she was booked, so they hired her assistant (AKA me). I was shocked, it had been spun that I was the assistant and she had been shooting with them an entire YEAR. The contact I worked hard to curate and maintain. This does happen. In business, people do use dirty tactics, its not all sunshine and rainbows and here at By Kayleigh we believe education is key to ensuring this doesn’t happen. It can make you mad as hell, it can make you want to keep all your knowledge and secrets closed in a box.
How to tackle it: When hiring an assistant, set boundaries in place. I let an assistant I had barely worked with, waltz onto a set that I wasn’t part of with no boundaries or “rules” in place. I practically handed the contact over, which would be fine, if this was an assistant I knew, trusted and worked with regularly. When hiring an assistant that you are sending on a job, make sure you have worked with them a fair few times and know and trust them completely. I always like to take ownership of the communication and invoicing and if I am sending an assistant out, I let them know what the expectations and boundaries are. Sometimes this does mean explicitly saying that under no circumstances, do you operate your business whilst working in mine. Its more than OK to set those boundaries and makes it obvious and clear to the assistant how to operate.
7) Differences of opinion
A fairly common challenging scenario that can crop up. You’re doing makeup and a photographer, or even the client will ask for something that you just KNOW isn’t going to work. Let’s do blue eyeshadow or “can we just do this” with this meaning it would ruin the look OR potentially take you a long time to fix. Here’s the thing, we are the experts, a photographer has trained for years to understand cameras, lighting, angles. We have trained for years to understand colour, concept, faces. You are well within your rights in this situation to explain WHY this will or won’t work. That’s why you have been hired after all, because you are the expert and they are paying you money to have this opinion and knowledge on set. Having this confidence comes with time and can feel really hard to do if you are introverted or afraid of confrontation. But here’s the thing, it’s not confrontation. It’s you explaining the very thing you are being paid to do, to enable people to understand. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out. I tried telling a client the other day, blue eyeshadow to the brow and blue lipstick is NOT the one. And he still wanted it. The model looked awful, she felt awful, there was no way she could pull it off but the client ultimately is paying for what they want. All we can do is explain and hope they understand.
So those are some of my personal most challenging scenarios in my career, and that I see pop up constantly for others. Business is a challenge, life is a challenge, don’t be afraid of challenges. Welcome them. They make you grow, they make you better and ultimately they are a puzzle to be solved.