Conversations with Helen Robertson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Helen Robertson.

Hi helen, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am British and have been a makeup and hair artist for photography for over 40 years, I got into this profession principally as I love people, adventure, creativity and humor. I always enjoyed buying clothes and having a sense of the lastest London fashions and hair and makeup as a teen. At 22, I had a few jobs including background acting and some beauty modelling and realized the potential of being a makeup artist especially as i wanted a more permanent job that would help me travel overseas. Luck would have it that I met a boyfriend who was an excellent beauty photographer and he kindly helped me get a portfolio of my work together. I also completed a short film and tv makeup course which was essential for the basics of hair and makeup. These actions and walking many miles most days on ‘go sees’, meeting everyone including makeup brands to secure some ‘gifted’ makeup, helped me get work and also eventually land an agent. Landing an agent was one of the hardest accomplishments, however, through sheer hard work and determination I got one. I did many jobs for free to network and learn. I did everything I could to be a part of this ‘magic’ industry, viewing art galleries, museums and going to dinners, parties. events.

I continued to pursue a career in fashion and beauty in London where my clients now included some big brand advertisers and Christian Dior. Luck had it that I gained the recognition of British high profile photographer Terry O’Neill where I got my big break working with celebrities including Dirk Bogart. As I always wanted to travel with work, at 25 I set off to work in Milan for 6 weeks and Hamburg for 9 months. Both were incredible experiences, Milan, high fashion and the other more commercial.

At 26 I moved to live more permanently in Sydney, Australia and worked on various advertising campaigns, catalogs, commercials and music videos with local celebrities including Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Photographer Greg Norman and Director Baz Lurhmann.

Makeup and hair assignments took me to many exotic locations including New Zealand and Africa to shoot editorials including Vogue Australia, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar and Oyster. I eventually returned to London in my early 30’s where i perfected my talent in creating a natural yet edgy makeup look.

My love for portraiture makeup in photography blossomed and I began to groom many male celebrities for shoots with iconic photographers such as Mario Testino and Rankin. I worked with British Vogue, GQ, Elle, Esquire, Glamour, Dazed and Confused and I-D magazines. I worked with Quintin Tarantino and Andrew Lloyd Webber. I also was blessed to assist Val Garland at a Paris fashion show. (Although I rarely work at ‘fashion shows’ I always apprecate the super ‘high fashion’ sensibility and speed needed by these incredible influencial makeup and hair artists). I always felt an incredible sense of fashion and kept abreast of style by looking through the many hard copy magazines that were available in those days and to check out the runway fashion shown in them. I always could tell who shot the photo and who would have done the hair and makeup before seeing the credits. Something commonly known by the fashionistas. It was and is important to have what trend is current and make it your own, thinking outside the box.

At 40 I moved to LA since my ‘dream’ and goal was to make the most money and work with the ‘best in the world’ in magnificient USA. New York seemed a bit harsh after 12 years in the ‘beachy vibe’ city Sydney. I also had my young daughter in tow. LA was perfect for forging new beginnings. I was blessed to work with Nordstrom Beauty and Fashion doing makeup which took me to many great US destinations over the years. I also continued to see more of the world on press junkets including Australia, Singapore, Tokyo, Mexico. I also did a ton of celebrity mens grooming. I worked with amazing actors, directors, musicians, producers including Steven Spielberg, JJ Abrams, Jeremy Renner, Jeremy Piven, Tom Selleck, Aaron Ekhart, Mark Walburg, Diplo, Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock. I was fortunate to work with many influential photographers including Annie Leibovitz, Patrick Demarchelier, Art Streiber and Martin Schoeller for editorials including Vanity Fair, L’Uomo Vogue, GQ, New York Magazine and Wall Street Journal. I absolutely love working on a team. We usually all seem to be like minded and I sense we all realize how proud and lucky we are to be in this job.

I have been living in LA now for 25 years. In that time I returned to UK to ‘Fast track’, educate myself in barbering, cutting and color. I am still working with amazing clients and magazines. A lot of my work nowadays has transitioned to Red Carpet and Do and gos…more celebrity oriented however, I also still have diverse work i.e. families and kids for Kohls, TV /streaming Network show promotions, billboards, the odd commerical. head shots of CEOs. Fashion Magazine work. Spec shoots. I still love doing some background acting and checking out the lighting, clothing and sets. Some of my clients I have kept for many years. ‘Like Family.’ As in life, my career has seen some bumps and high points. I never have stopped learning. The industry is now ‘flooded’ with many artists and the competition is super harsh however i am so proud of what I did see and do. i believe I did experience some of the ‘best times’ since we travelled a lot more before digital backgrounds took the place of amazing landscapes and budgets declined. LA keeps me here no matter what. I look forward always to learning every day and being grateful to what I have every day. It has been a humbling, exciting and truly educational journey.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There can be rejection and worries about being ‘good enough’. Questioning did they like me. Were they just being ‘fake’.

I keep my personality pleasant, somewhat chatty but not overwhelming, meeting clients in the ‘middle’. I feel this works.

We are only as good as our last job. Will I work again fears.

I can feel tense before certain jobs and clients. I believe this is normal and like being on the stage.

I once was told to not show too much skin. It is important to dress the part and i have clothing that suits the mood of whatever client i work with. It is vital to always be super professional and have clean clothes, nails, nice makeup and not wear very low neck tops. It is important to have my perfume not be too overwhelming.

We can NOT be late in this business especially around celebrities. You have to be earlier than your call time so you are on time. Making a job on time also in heavy, unpredictable traffic is stressful. I always aim for half an hour before my call time sometimes leaving more time and waiting calmly in my car.

Bring a snack bar or drink with you. Some shoots do not supply much.

Not having enough space when you get to the shoot has its challenges. I usually do a lot of homework before each job and client so that i can be fully prepared.

My kit is so big now that is extremely overwhelming. Since i have such diversity of jobs i pack before each job. In the past. i had a simple one kit does all. The demands of barbering and. hair fillers has also increased my kit size as i love to do both hair and makeup equally so I have a lot of makeup and hair stuff to cart around. I also take a portable light and chair to all jobs. My makeup chair height is medium so i can reach to the top of the client’s head.

In. the past i used to wing it before the modern lighting of today. I would remove a shade from a lamp and work using that light and daylight. I would have clients sit on a chair or bed. Anything not to take too much especially when i relied only on public transport or taxis.

Some clients/their team can be lovely others not so kind with their actions and words. You have to have a tough skin.

The job has a lot of behind the scenes, cleaning, packing and reshuffling. Storing stuff also can take up a fair amount of room in an apt.

The disrespect artists get these days is alarming with challenges to our rates always a battle for both agents and artists. Clients are holding onto money. It got really bad during the beginning of the Instagram era when instagramers would work for free lowering our rates to rock bottom. The realizatiton that these artists did not know their craft brought rates up marginally. I feel clients are really unaware of what a good artist needs to supply and do in advance of any job. We have a ton of expenses and in my field, which is photographic work , we are freelancers and do not get a kit fee so supplies come out of our purse.

There is no union to protect us.

We are lucky that some hair and cosmetic and skincare companies will be very happy to supply products if they like your work and post on social media. This makes me very happy.

We have to use social media which not everyone is good at. So much today is self. promotion even if you are not that talented you can do better than someone who is truly a talent. Working social media also demands more time in our work day.

It used to be that work was pretty much 9 – 5 and we had so much more free time, however, now we are on call 24/7 with communication happening about any time of the day and night.

It can be hard to guide assistants who sometimes overstep their mark and feel offended by the lead artist asking them to do anything. Strange but it happened recently.

The ‘highs’ you come away with after most jobs seem to outweigh the negative feelings.

The relief of finishing some jobs is an equal high that they are over!

These days a lot of the jobs I do are Red Carpet events which are do and gos in their home or hotel and i work on on my own without the team say i would get on a photoshoot or commercial jobs….Working in a team has its merits for sure meaning that there can be an added tention due to it just being the 2 in the room, you and the client, often strangers. We have to have the courage to get on and make friends and also be able to have good conversation. This is mainly if you do both hair and makeup or just mens grooming.

I still LOVE MY JOB…😍

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Celebrity Makeup Artist and Men’s Groomer. I do makeup and hair on everyone. I work with kids too. I love to enhance the beauty of a person but not overwhelm them with product. I meet and feel the energy and we work as a team to get exactly what they are looking for. I always maintain a high standard of dress, and respect. Professionalism is the key. I love to learn from people as I hope they learn from me. We are on a journey together. I respect I know what I am doing after all these years and pat myself on the back for making it through each job. I feel i am liked because of the standard of my commitment and that I am truly humble and not pretentious. I like to put people at ease with a bit of humor. This always breaks the ice.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I loved shopping for clothing and even sold clothing when the big catalogues were around back in the day. I would save every penny I would earn from working Sat/vacation jobs and night jobs and go into London which was 1 1/2 hours travel away to go to the trendy markets of London to buy clothing, jewelry and shoes. I would always be current with whatever the fashion was for makeup and hair.

I loved and still love photography which I mastered at 26. This really made me understand how to work with lighting and how lighting effects the makeup and hair. It is an integral part of my job and photographers are always happy when i discuss the lighting before any job.

I also enjoy playing music, I have several instruments. I am not great at any of them but i love to just relax and do my own kind of jamming. I am glad to have been introduced to musical instruments since my family had them around. I enjoyed my cat and other animals I had when i was younger to show love to. I also loved to sew.

I loved to go to dances. The disco era was around when i was a teen. It was incredible! The dressing up and getting ready was so much part of it. The colors, the lights, the dances. There was a lot more interacting back in the day on the dance floor. I love listening to music. I always have. I have a diverse sense of music listening style tending to prefer ‘underground’ sounds. and not so much commercial music, although I will listen. to anything and jig around. I especially love ‘house music’. I collected records and did. some home. DJing with my own turntables in my mid 30’s

I always loved watching movies. Some of the American films I saw in the 70s enticed me to live in US. I still watch a ton of movies. I am hooked to watching TCM (Turner Classic Movies currently). I loved the dedication and talent. Film Nior lighting and attitude!! Whow! Amazing clothing too! The character actors stood out so much in older movies along with the film making team. All the team including the makeup and hair was extremely well thought out and executed.

Photoshoots are some of my favourite jobs to do working as a team as i love photography. At the studio we can also blast the music, unlike on movie sets (he he.!!)..

I always love color…I see so much around me. I notice everything. around me. It fascinates me. People, places, things.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cloutierremix.com/helenrobertson/. https://cloutierremix.com/helenrobertson-grooming/
• Instagram: helenrobertsonhmu
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helenrobertson0725
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/

Image Credits
selfie