Interview with Monica, MAC Freelance Artist

Temptalia caught up with twenty-three year old MAC Freelance Artist, Monica, this week. She’s worked as a makeup artist for about two years, and she has been trained through both Sephora and MAC. Additionally she’s attended seminars at the Make Up Show, read beauty books, and found beauty forums to be a real help in the beginning.

Temptalia: What surprises you most about working as a makeup artist?
Monica: Probably that it’s really difficult to get paid as a freelance artist and how many ladies don’t know how to properly apply make up.

Temptalia: When did you first fall in love with makeup?
Monica: I’ve had a love affair with make up for a long while now have been experimenting with different looks since I was about seventh grade but I didn’t really get into make up until probably the latter half of 2005.

Temptalia: What do you consider “beauty” to be?
Monica: There’s so many aspects to beauty. There’s a person’s personality, personal style, the cosmetic, and the skin care side of it. All these thing can be attributed to beauty. It all comes together to paint a complete picture. It’s about being aesthetically pleasing.

Check out the rest of our interview,

Temptalia: Where do you find your inspiration?
Monica: I find it everywhere nature, magazines, people.

Temptalia: What’s your favorite way to achieve the perfect natural look?
Monica: A natural dewy finish to the skin, subtle glow to eyes, a little flush to the cheeks, and a nice tinted lip gloss completes the look.

Temptalia: Do you love working any specific brands or lines?
Monica: I do. I love MAC, Make Up Forever, Urban Decay, NARS, Smashbox, and there are other products other that I love but not the entire line.

Temptalia: What advice do you have for those wanting to become a makeup artist?
Monica: Practice on everyone and really to immerse yourself in the industry to learn everything you can because that can only make you better and definitely put yourself out there.

Temptalia: Could you share your three beauty tips you could not live without? 1. good skin comes first. I am a huge skin care person 2. always have well groomed eye brows it frames your entire face 3. always prime because it makes a difference

Temptalia: What’s in your makeup bag right now?
Monica: Honestly a lot of things – I have 1 bag for my travel brushes so I’ve got MAC, Stila, NARS, Alison Raffaele, Lancome, Tarte, a no name brushes and a brush cleanser and my other bag is where my real make up is -nail filer, blotting papers, Urban Decay Deluxe Eye Shadow Palette, Sephora brand powder foundation, Fusion Beauty Glow Fusion bronzer, MAC Holiday 06 Viva Glam Palette, MAC Love Nector L/G, MAC Bare Study Paint Pot, Urban Decay Primer Potion, MAC Shroom E/S, Covergirl Black Brown Perfect Blend Eyeliner, NARS Orgasm, Lola lipliner, Max Factor Volume Couture Mascara, Tarte the toolbox brow kit, MAC Chocolate Brown Pigment sample, Smashbox Tint Softlights, Shiseido peach concealer, Kinerase Clear Skin Blemish Disolver and my Honeydew Melon lip balm. You never know what situation you may encounter. I like to be prepared!

Temptalia: What does your 10-minute look consist of?
Monica: Brows, eye primer, 1 all over shadow, 1 darker color in the crease, brown liner, mascara, face primer, foundation (most likely a powder), sweep on blush, lip gloss and that’s it sometimes if I’m a real time crunch, I’ll skip the eye primer, darker eye shadow, face primer.