August 29, 2016

Meet Los Angeles Makeup Artist: Michelle Barrios

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Barrios.

Michelle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started my journey as becoming a makeup artist my first year of college I went in to get a degree in music at SMC. I had been in music school since middle school and I thought that was my calling. Once I was in all my classes close to receiving my AA in music I started to lose interest in it. One day when I was hired to play for a wedding the bride was complaining to me how much she didn’t like her makeup since I had been doing my own makeup and friends makeup since around the time I was 13 I gave her some advise telling her she just needed to blend out the contour and shadow. She gave the brushes and at the moment I knew what I really wanted to do in life. I left SMC and enrolled in makeup school everyone I knew was extremely supportive of my decision a few where not but I knew this was my passion. Getting my certificate in makeup has been the best decision I’ve ever made. I immediately fell in love with special effects and film but I also love being a part of someone’s a important event. Today my clientele consist of mainly event makeup such as bridal, prom and beauty.

Has it been a smooth road?
The biggest struggle I had on this road was the beginning. I was paying for school out of pocket and it was hard to keep my jobs and attend school while also getting gigs on the side. Time management was something I had to learn the hard way. I had two jobs, three if I got a gig and on top of that school. Getting up for work at 2am and having to be at school by 10am across the city and back at my other around 5pm to closing in Los Angeles traffic was defiantly stressing to say the least. As time went on I let one of the jobs go and started to focus more on my career. Which was hard because I still hadn’t finished school so the biggest struggle on this road was defiantly my financial issue. It was a hard time trying to balance all that but I was able to do it.

When you look back, what are you most proud of?
The proudest moment of my career so far has been the day I “saved” a brides wedding day, A close friend of mine asked me super short notice if I could be available for a wedding apparently her cousins makeup artist had canceled on her hours before the wedding because she had booked another client who paid more and never informed her she wasn’t going to make it. I don’t like to take clients on such short notice but once I heard what happen I was up for it and luckily I was available . I winded up having such a great time the bride cried to me telling me she didn’t know what she would have done If I wouldn’t have been able to make it. She had never worn makeup before so she didn’t know how to apply it herself. She told me I saved her day and that made me feel so filled with joy. The fact that I could bring someone so much happiness with makeup made me feel so proud. It’s one of my favorite memories I have working in this industry.

Were there moments when you had to struggle?
When I first started my journey it was defiantly very difficult for me I had emotional support everywhere but I defiantly needed financial support I was working three jobs while going to two schools. My sleep schedule ranged from around 3 hours of sleep or no sleep. It was a hard time but I pushed through because I knew this is what I really wanted to do. I had to make a decision on what career I wanted to really focus on so I waited until the semester ended and I didn’t continue music which was what I was studying at Santa Monica Community college. Coffee became my best friend and I started becoming more time efficient. Once I had some experience doing makeup I began getting gigs more frequently and was able to let go of two of my jobs, When I first started picking up jobs I still didn’t get the hang of how the business side worked so unfortunately I would get ripped off so much I would finish a makeup application and never see a dime. As time passed I learned that it’s okay to let some jobs go because I couldn’t afford to do free work and it really opened my eyes as to how unappreciated the makeup industry is. I got my name out as much as I could passing my business cards out to everyone it wasn’t too long until I started to build a clientele and I learned how to manage the business side to land me where I am today.

Is there something we can do as a city to improve the outlook for professionals like you?
Los Angeles is the place to be! It’s definitely an eventful city something is always happening here and someone will always need their makeup done. Hollywood is famous for film if you want to do makeup for on screen this is the perfect place. I believe you can make it anywhere you try but Los Angeles just makes thing so much easier.

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