Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Faulkner.
Hi Nicole, 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’ve always had a natural gravitation to art. Growing up I was always drawing or painting something, so when I started playing with makeup, it just felt right. I remember looking up pictures of Jeffree Star and Ru Paul and replicate those looks on myself or my friends in high school. I loved that makeup could literally transform someone into a work of art. I started doing makeup for friends every time we’d have a school dance. It started as 2-3 people, then grew to 5-6, eventually I had 15 people on prom getting their makeup done in my parent’s living room. After high school, I moved to Burbank, CA and went to MUD Makeup Designory to learn what pro artists do on film sets and photoshoots. It was incredible getting to learn HD Beauty makeup, special effects and everything in between.
After makeup school, I had to move back home and start saving if I wanted to get back out to LA eventually. I was working a lot in film and tv, collaborating with photographers and models, etc but work was definitely not consistent so I started working for MAC Cosmetics part-time in Orange County for about a year, then took a risk by applying for a transfer to the MAC store on Hollywood & Highland which at the time was a very hard store to get transferred to being that it was majority seasoned artists who had all been with the company for 8+ years. I got the job and moved out to LA the next month! This is the store I would eventually meet Todrick Hall and Jeffree Star at.
I was filling my schedule up every day with either freelance work or MAC shifts, anything to meet people and get my name out there. After about a year, I left MAC and went freelance full-time, which was terrifying but I wanted to really push myself and give it everything I had! The next few years were filled with the coolest, most random gigs ever like Playboy Mansion parties, Music Videos, Music Festivals, and I even started teaching some classes at a small makeup school in town.
During this time, I also met Michelle Visage for the first time who asked me to come and work on “Ru Paul’s Drag Race”. What I didn’t know was that I would eventually work on this show for the next 9 years and win an Emmy because of it! (I still work on the show to this day!)
Eventually, I made it to the convention world of Makeup and was getting to meet owners of these brands whose products I use every day, including a brand called Morphe Brushes. Morphe was still a very small indie brand at the time ran by a brother and sister duo who knew how to create good quality tools but didn’t necessarily know a lot about makeup itself. We were introduced through a mutual friend at a popular LA trade show and instantly hit it off. Shortly after that, I began traveling with them to trade shows all over the country selling brushes in major cities. Somewhere in this part of my life, I was also working a lot with Todrick Hall and Jeffree Star doing makeup for them for whatever creative project they had going on at the time. I got a call from someone at a record label who said Todrick had referred me for makeup for a band that needed a MUA to go on tour with them, it was Pentatonix! I met with them and they ended up asking me to come on a world tour with them! I put my stuff in a storage unit and went on the road for the next three years completing three world tours all over the U.S., Canada, Asia & Europe. It was an amazing experience and time of growth for me as a person getting to experience all these different places and people while doing what I love! After some years on the road though I felt I needed to plant some roots back in LA and reconnect with my other clients again so I stopped touring and went back into freelancing full-time.
Shortly after I returned from tour, Morphe called and said they were expanding their company and offered me a salary position as their Director of Global Artistry, I accepted! Now I was getting to experience the corporate side of beauty, help with product testing and development, do makeup for these major campaigns and learn the inner workings of a beauty brand all while having some stability and savings for the first time in my life! I knew I wanted to start my own business, so when I finally felt ready and stable enough I pitched an idea to my best friend/manager and that’s how our salon, Pout Beauty Bar, was born! We worked hard to create a unique space that makes professionally makeup artistry and hair styling more accessible and affordable. I personally hire, train and mentor every artist on our roster and we’ve not only been able to service clients inside the salon, but we now are the go-to hair and makeup team for top event & production companies in LA!
Over the years, seeing Pout grow and learning what is takes to run a business has been easily the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. I’m now back to freelancing full-time, mentoring my staff, teaching virtual online makeup courses, and creative consulting!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely NOT been a smooth road. I think when you choose to make art your career, you have to accept from the start you’re gonna face challenges. I personally struggled with low self-esteem, finances, budgeting, work/life balance, and imposter syndrome. I’ve always been able to put on a brave face, but behind the scenes, my life would sometimes be in shambles and here I am just smiling and blending away like everything’s fine, lol. Once I started to get myself more organized and realize I’m a human not a makeup machine, I started to be able to relax and enjoy my craft a bit more. It helps that I’ve always had lots of support from my friends and family, cheering me on from the sidelines.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
People definitely know me for being bold, colorful and creative! My clients come to me for MOMENTS not necessarily everyday glam. Yes, I can do that but that’s not my signature look. They’re either shooting a big campaign or something where they want to be transformed and really make a statement. I would say my favorite type of look to do is a statement piece where I can be creative, use bold colors and freestyle line work.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
It’s shifted so much in the past five years with the whole rise of the YouTube influencer/makeup guru era, which I think was great because it really helped people at home feel confident to try new things or products that they might not try and empowered them to follow along at home with someone through a computer who essentially felt like a “friend” while they get ready. It was definitely cool to see that whole moment in time where everyone was wearing a cut crease and ombre lip with a full face of makeup. Lol. But I do think we’re shifting back slightly to a place where Pros are seen and appreciated as Pros again, and that makes me really happy. There is such an art to being pro artist, not just with what you can do with your products on a model but how you carry yourself, educate yourself, educate others, inspire others, take care of clients, take care of your kit, communicate, etc. All of these things are what makes a pro a pro!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.poutbeautybar.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poutbeautybar/
Image Credits
@Jonsams @marcelocantuphoto @jessyjphoto
