Rebecca Frances - Clothes Show Make Up Artist of the Year

Makeup artist of the Year is Ex Jemma Kidd Student

 

We were utterly delighted  when former six week student, Rebecca Frances, beat off stiff competition to win the prestigious first place slot for makeup artist of the year at the London Clothes Show Live event.  Former contestants have gone on too work for noted designers, within Hollywood and for the bbc. 

We managed to grab some time with Rebecca last week for a cofee and Q and A,  to ask how she did it and where she might be going from here.

“So Rebecca,  you have won, but many of our readers, who are new to the industry and might be considering their first steps are really interested to know how your phenomenal achievements have been accomplished, all by the tender age of twenty.  Going right back, when did you decide you wanted to work with makeup – was it always your first career choice or did you have plans to work in something else originally?

For me it started when I was very young.  I have a skin condition called vitaligo which is a skin pigmentation disorder affecting production of melanin.  This means my skin colours unevenly and I have quite noticeable white patches which became particularly  apparent when I was 11/12 and at that important teen phase.  I used makeup to cover but learnt to enjoy it as a way to express myself creatively and practised on friends – doing makeup for discos etc so it was really clear to me from that point onwards that this was the career route I definitely wanted to go into. 

So you had a bit of a different introduction really.  Obviously its a big step between wanting to do something like makeup artistry and working within the industry.  How did you go about getting trained? 

(Laughs)  I was very determined.  I went to college to study beauty but didn’t feel stretched and didn’t suit my personal ambitions –it was too theatrical for me and I wanted to work specifically on catwalk shows.  I Returned to formal education and heard about Jemma Kidd Make Up School just as I was finishing my A levels.  A week later I applied and was accepted.

So you seem pretty determined about getting where you wanted to be.  Were there any particular obstacles in your way when becoming qualified that you had to work really hard to overcome and if so can you talk a little about how you did this?

I had done some work experience whilst doing levels but found travelling to London from the midlands really hard.  I had to face leaving my family at eighteen to live in London to get the experience, which is the same as many university students but it was still a big step.  Getting to London for work experience after I graduated was also difficult at first.  I built a support network down here though and now it’s like a home from home.

Speaking of work experience, after qualifying how did you get experience in the industry?  Was this a difficult or easy process.  As anyone looking to work in the industry should be aware, working in makeup is incredibly difficult and good work experience is vital to your future career success, what set you apart from the pack when looking for jobs?

For me I found the Jemma Kidd twelve month nurturing period really helpful, although I remember going home after the course and wondering how on earth I was going to get started.  Networking really helped me get myself started (the website model mayhem was brilliant for this) which I found tough at first but really got moving eventually. This got me really valuable work at London and Paris Fashion week.  I also got work on beauty counters to up my income which was slow to start with, which also allowed for me to have time testing with photographers. I had to be very proactive and contacted agencies and photographers myself, knocking regularly on doors to get experience and up my profile.  I took a lot of knockbacks though and you have to learn to be fairly resilient to cope with it.

Sounds Great!  What would you say the best thing about working in the industry has been for you so far?

Paris fashion week was a real highlight – I love to meet people and be part of the whole buzz of backstage and Paris felt like a real culmination of it all. All the models and designers rushing around is crazy but it’s what I trained for and was just the best experience.

And the hardest? 

Finding the right contacts in the early days was really hard at a time when I had no experience and people didn’t really listen.  Also it is not a regular income so I had to work quite hard to balance the books whilst building my profile.

So back to the Clothes Show.  For any of our readers interested in how to get through a competition like this, how did you prepare for the day?

My time was mainly spent researching seasonal trends and devising various looks which meant assessing my strengths and weaknesses.  I am really technical so it was a case of devising a look that was technical but creative and allowed me to feel comfortable under pressure. In total I rehearsed it three times but had to stop as each time the look changed and I had to reconsider the overall look.  A key element was the orange lip liner which took some work to balance!

Talk us through the day – did it all go smoothly, were there any hitches, were you always confident you would place or did you have to work hard to deal with nerves?

I did tons of research on the other makeup artists and felt there were two that really stood out as tough competition.  I had an awful journey there and got there with fifteen minutes to get started so was on stress mode to start.  I found I was was really nervous about not being as nervous until I got backstage, when the real adrenaline kicked in.  I was careful to chose my model really carefully and as  a result I felt comfortable which calmed me right down. In the final I beat four other girls  in the on stage in front of a panel, which was nerve wracking but I just pretended not to see them and got on with the job in the same way I would do with any other client.

In hindsight would you have done anything differently on the day?

No – not just because of the outcome other  than the travel but because for me it was just one of those “magic” days where everything comes together to create a day that just sits as a perfect result in your mind.

What are you planning next – have any particular doors opened as a result of winning the award or are you planning some big career moves?

 

I am continuing to promote my work but I am aware that I have a much better platform to work from.  I have been approached by an upcoming blog written by industry experts, Beauty Central, to be on the experts panel and will just keep pushing hard to making progress. I am also continuing with agency work at the moment and will be taking some time to consider next steps!  I am also looking at creating a new blog for myself to give tips on how to apply makeup really professionally to those with no experience.

What piece of advice would you like to offer people considering a career as a makeup artist?

Research, research, research and expect to work VERY hard for very little money.  Learn how to network really, really well and don’t think you will ever be able to stop practising – you have to continually be getting better to stay ahead of trends.