EPISODE #1

This week: getting personal with Monica Gingold, a highly skilled, go-to makeup artist who transforms current trends into relevant concepts for the makeup industry. 

For Monica Gingold, everything fell naturally in to place once she built up her little black book of industry connections (and put a hell-of-a-lot of work in along the way!). 

If you’re just starting out or have been in the industry for a long time, tune in now, check out the key takeaways and subscribe for future updates. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

"Starting out".

Get exposure to the industry any way you can. Take a short course, do work experience in a beauty salon or retail. Practice doing makeup for family and friends and build your portfolio.  Monica always loved hair and makeup, from watching her grandma get glam on the daily to helping do the makeup at her school play – something sparked in her that she loved and she continued to chase that spark long into her career. As a junior, the best tip Monica would give is to be confident and always offer up your skills. 

"I had good direction very young and  knew I wanted

to work in the makeup industry, but I had no life

experience and grew up in a small community. I put my hand up

to work for free and assist as much as I could to start

building my portfolio and learning as much

as I could along the way.”

Monica Gingold

"Be a chameleon".

Monica emphasises the importance of learning how to read a room. Sometimes you’ll have a client who wants to chat, other times it will be an opportunity for you to network with the other artists in the room, and sometimes it pays to just be quiet. Learn by watching those around you and find a mentor in the industry that has opposite strengths to you. Makeup is more about how your client feels, rather than how they look. Read that again. 

"Making it”.

When did Monica make it? She is an overnight success, 10 years in the making. Monica has experience in theatre, film tv, special effects, fashion, bridal, events, everything... and encourages all mua’s to gain experience working across different demographics. You need to constantly practice to truly master your skills and be prepared for anything – every client and every job is unique. Your skills need to be versatile enough to slay no matter the job. Realising her strengths lay in the artistry, not the admin (and you better believe there is A LOT of admin being a freelance mua) Monica launched Tonic – a makeup education cross bridal agency company.

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“Tonic works because we were really smart about

it. Having good relationships in the industry is

everything. If you don’t have that organically

then having an agent is important.”

Monica Gingold