Make-Up Demo with Smudge Make Up Academy

Hey hey, lovers!

Goodness, last ours of the weekend already but that means we’re an inch closer to the holidays too! (and my birthday, whut whuuut)

Well, the last week has also flown by! It’s hard to believe a whole week ago I was in a make-up chair being watched intently by a class keen to learn the basics of doing make-up on black skin. Yup, I was a demo model for a day when Cape Town-based Smudge Make-Up Academy came to Port Elizabeth to offer a 3-day course on everything from lips to lashes to contouring.

As you all probably know I’m a freelance model in a small city with a very quiet fashion industry. That means my life needs to be a hustle for as long as I’m here. Work is not at all easy to come by, if there is any. Which is why I have to create my own work sometimes.

So I e-mailed Kristy, the owner of the school who would be coming down and told her straight up; ‘

Hey, I model, I have some scars that could be useful to teach coverage, hit me up when you get here

.’ Which she did! And so there I sat while she worked her magic and explained the differences between working on darker and Caucasian skin.

Left: Me after getting done up by Kristy! Right: Erin, one of the students.

(Photos from Smudge Make-Up Academy Facebook Page)

Listen up, MUA’s, this is important knowledge if you plan on working in a diverse industry like South Africa and if you plan on doing any worldwide fashion weeks/campaigns/whatever. More than a couple of times I’ve been made to look like Casper the ghost on a set or just not done up at all, probably because the make-up artist didn’t quite know what she was doing. So best believe I always have my own foundation and hair products with me when I work! Sad but true.

But this day was about avoiding all that, and I’m glad to say I now have a whole bunch of new contacts in the make-up industries of Cape Town and PE. It’s all about making connections and networking, y’all! I loved meeting these make-up artists, such fun ladies!