Los Angeles Firm Inc. Magazine July/Aug 2014 | Page 62

VISIONS OF AN ARTIST

Photography by Caron Westbrook | Model Maisy James | Makeup Artist Mercedes Hayward | Hair stylist Kasia Fortuna

When I started doing full time freelance makeup (about a year and a half ago now) I knew
that most of my money would go on my kit.
I’m one of those makeup artists that tries
not to share my personal makeup with my
kit so, I decided to invest heavily on good
products that will work on most skins,
travel well, stay on for a while, have good
pigmentation, photograph well and that
are easy to assemble in pots and palettes.
Of course you have to bear in mind that when
I’m called in for a job I would get a call
sheet or a brief telling me who the models
are and what is the theme of the shoot. This
helps me massively when I need to pack my
kit. I will know roughly what skin colour
my models have and what needs to be done
therefore what products I will need. Also,
most of the times I need to provide mood
boards or face charts with my ideas of what
makeup will suit the model, clothes and the
theme. All this helps me pack very specific
products for each shoot. Of course as everyone else I have that panic thought that I will
need whatever I leave behind so I always pack
some other items that I can’t live without.
So, having said all this these are my “main”
powder shadows I carry with me on jobs.
As a rule I always make sure I have a good
selection of matte, shimmer and stain finishes
as well as good selection of colours. Remember you can also MIX shadows to make other
colours! So, do not panic if you need a colour
you do not have...just think what other two (or
three) colours you need to make it and magic!
In my kit I always have lots of browns, creams,
bieges, greens, purples, coppers, golds, etc. I

also have a few “crazy” colours like pink, orange, yellow and red. Also, I have a highlighter
palette (by Inglot) which I always use for brow
bone highlighting or for an accent on the tear
duct or when the look needs a little bit of light.
The brands I favour for my kit are Inglot, Makeup For Ever and Estee Lauder (for regular colours) and Bitchlap Cosmetics and Sugar Pill
(for crazy bright colours). I also bring my Naked palettes by Urban Decay on occasions and
my never ending collection of Sleek palettes.
So, that’s it. These are my “main” shadows that
come with my day in day out on my makeup jobs.

Article by UK blogger/makeup artist Mercedes Hayward