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Welcome back to another episode of the Artist to Artist podcast. If you are an artist that has ever wondered how to develop a signature style in makeup artistry, this episode is for you. I am going to be honest with you as I normally am. Developing a signature style isn't something that happens overnight.
It's not about copying what's trending on social or replicating what another artist is doing. It's about creating a cohesive and a unique aesthetic that becomes your trademark. But the catch is that developing this style or your signature style. It takes time, practice, and a ton of real world experience.
Today I'm going to break down what that means, why it's important, and how you can start working towards developing your signature style, even if you feel like you're still figuring things out. I know we always hear signature style, but I want to talk about what signature style actually means in makeup artistry.
Your signature style is essentially the makeup aesthetic that you're known for. [00:01:00] It's the type of look that clients can expect from you. It's cohesive, it's recognizable, and it is your thing. But the catch is, this is not something that you can just choose or decide on right away. You can't just wake up one day and say, okay, today is the day where I start doing all of my makeup applications in my signature style.
In the beginning of your career, especially, it's actually, I would say, impossible to even know what your signature style will be because you haven't really gained the knowledge, the experience, and you haven't had the feedback that you need to help define your signature style.
It's something that comes out of a consistent effort and learning over time.
I want to share a bit about my journey because I know a lot of you are probably in the thick of it right now When I started out I was of course passionate about makeup like we all are I loved it, but I didn't have the time or the resources necessarily to do all of the looks that I wanted to do. The first few years of my career, it's just [00:02:00] this series of trial and error.
I'm sure a lot of you are in this phase right now. I was learning about color theory, how it actually worked in makeup artistry. I was trying to teach myself this. I was trying to learn about the different products in my kit, how to incorporate new ones, how they translated to camera, and how things showed up in lighting, on set, on the monitors.
I was really just figuring out how to make things look good on camera and come together in a way where I looked like a pro. The other challenge was I felt like there wasn't enough time. I had to work quickly on everything that I was being booked for.
I didn't always have models with ideal skin or features for the looks that I was asked to do or trying to create, and this is still the case now. And to be honest, a lot of the times I didn't have the right products, tools, lighting, all these things that I needed to, to have to really fully showcase what I could do.
I I really struggled with this, and I know a lot of us struggle with this, especially in the early days because I couldn't get things [00:03:00] how I wanted them to look with all of these limitations, but the reality is that's our job. We have to make things look the way our clients want them to with all of these other factors that are pretty unpredictable happening on the days that we show up to set, to a wedding, to whatever it is.
The more I worked under pressure, the more my style started to develop, and that became my sweet spot, and it's kind of where all the magic happened.
When I first started, I wanted to do everything, and I'm sure you're feeling like you're in the same place that I was. I, of course, was looking at other established artists work. I was watching celebrity makeup artists. I was, of course, flipping through magazines, just absorbing so much. , and now I'm sure you're on social media constantly scrolling, looking at other artists, what they're doing, the products they're using, the techniques, you get to see all of this on social, but you see all of these things, and I was looking at all of these images and taking them in and being inspired and buying the same [00:04:00] products as artists that I looked up to,
And seeing all the things they were able to do was really inspiring, but in my world, that wasn't my reality, and I had to adjust. I started focusing on natural makeup looks, that, that's what I was hired to do all the time. And over time, natural makeup application became my signature style. It wasn't something I consciously did, but instead it's something that came from working day in, day out, refining specific techniques.
The shades I was using, the application process, and the pressure I was constantly being put under by my clients actually helped me hone my signature style.. It wasn't immediate. It took years and years and years. And while I was getting better at executing these natural makeup looks, I also began to learn that your signature style. It isn't about being perfect. It's not about imitating another artist. It's about what you can consistently bring to the [00:05:00] table, what you're known for, and what your clients come back for.
If you're in the early stages of your career, focus on mastering the basics. Master the foundational skills of makeup. Learn color theory, learn how products work together, the products that you specifically have in your kit right now, how you match foundations perfectly. Don't stress about your style yet.
Get comfortable with your tools and your techniques and the time frames and conditions that you have to work under. Once you have those things down, your style will naturally develop as you get more experience. And if you're listening right now and this sounds very overwhelming for you, focus on really mastering one area of makeup at a time, and if you're newer in those first, like, zero to three years of your career,
get your foundation matches right first, then branch out to other things like more dramatic eye makeup looks if that's something that you want to do, contouring, shaping the face, bold lip looks.
Don't bite off more than you can chew, and go slowly [00:06:00] with the fundamental skills and those foundational skills. So build them up as you go.
I think when we talk about signature style, it's also good to know that it's not always what you want it to be It's also about what the market is telling you, and by market I mean your clients, your audience, the types of jobs that you're hired for, the work you're being asked to do day in and day out plays a huge role in defining your signature style as an artist.
When I started, I was mostly hired for natural makeup looks. That's what people wanted from me, and while I had an interest in doing, of course, more creative looks or. bold looks or colorful looks. The demand for me was for natural beauty. So I leaned into that. The market was telling me what my signature style was becoming even before I consciously knew it.
That's how my style started to really shape itself. And I know it's frustrating when you feel like you're not getting to do the work you really want to do. And that doesn't come till much, much later in your career. And [00:07:00] I hate to tell you this, but a lot of Things that we have to do in our career.
It's a lot of it is not going to be what you want to do
and a lot of work that I do that I'm paid for, With clients that I love to work for, a lot of the times I don't like the looks I'm doing. I just follow what they're looking for for their brand or for whatever vision they have for the job. I may not post photos all the time.
And this is just part of being a makeup artist. Not every look is going to be 10 out of 10. You really need to embrace every job, every opportunity, even if they don't align with your signature style or your dream look. I'm doing air quotes here. Those types of jobs, whether you love them or not, they teach you something, they help you grow, and you can't really skip over that part of the journey of being a makeup artist.
To my artists that, again, are newer to the industry, take the jobs that come your way, regardless of what the looks are. Even if they aren't exactly what you want, you will learn so much about your craft, and those jobs will help you, in fact, refine your style, whether [00:08:00] you realize it or not. And you know, we have to talk about social media.
I'm going to be talking about this a lot in my content, in my podcast. It is one of the most important tools that you have as a makeup artist. And to be clear, social media, and I'll repeat this again a million times, I will keep saying it until you all hear it. It isn't about. Likes and follower count for us.
It's about showing our work and telling people what we do If you want to attract your ideal clients that fit in with what you think your signature style is You need to show them what you can do and you need to show them consistently So a lot of content post over and over again the types of looks that you want to be hired for
when I was building my own social media, and I mean my personal account, not the Artist2Artist social, there's things that I have to do that are similar for Artist2Artist, but with my other account, I was very intentional. about what I posted. I posted my natural makeup applications and really only showcased the work that [00:09:00] aligned with the style that I was developing or what I felt was work that I enjoyed doing, what I wanted to do, what I was getting paid for.
It became very clear to my social media following and anybody that was looking at my social what I was all about. I didn't try to do everything. I didn't try to be every makeup artist. I just focused on one thing and those were the looks that I love doing and that my clients were paying me for. I can't stress enough how important it is to document your work.
Make sure you're taking photos, take videos, behind the scenes footage, get as much content as you can because you never know when you're going to be able to use it. The more you post, the more potential clients will see your style and the more they'll think of you when it comes to hiring somebody for a specific Type of work or makeup application or makeup look that they want one thing I'm sure we can all agree on doing if you're newer to makeup artistry if you feel like social media is too much what I'm Telling you about the importance of social is just you can't digest it all right now And you don't know what to do.
Just commit to [00:10:00] posting one makeup look per week. You can do before and after shots You probably want to incorporate some video, all unretouched please, you can make a reel with some behind the scenes stuff, the final look, whatever you feel like doing. Your goal with this content should be to let your audience know who you are as an artist.
I also have to acknowledge that there is a certain level of luck involved in the industry. Some artists have the opportunity or get the opportunity to work with brands or get special collaborations that allow them to refine their style more quickly. Could be a right place, right time type of scenario.
They might get the tools, the budget, and Certain opportunities that help them develop their signature style faster. For most of us, myself included, it's a slower, more difficult process, and that's okay. I'm here to tell you that your style will come. It does take time, but as you continue to work, to learn, to grow as an artist, your signature style will develop naturally, It won't happen in a few weeks or [00:11:00] months, but it will happen.
The other thing that I had to mention in this episode, part of developing a really good signature style is also about taste, taste is something that is Developed over time as well. It's about understanding what works and what doesn't and this could be The actual looks that you're curating and putting together how your social media looks How the feed looks I mean what you choose to post what you choose not to post how you crop in with your photos the little details that you're paying attention to taste is really about developing an aesthetic that feels refined cohesive marketable professional
taste is really what separates good work from great work. , some of the most established and successful makeup artists that you see out there are also taste makers. They set trends, they influence the industry, and their work is often the work that gets shared, reposted, and from that there's the obviously that snowball effect that happens.
Taste is really what allows these artists to create looks [00:12:00] that speak to people, not just visually, but emotionally. There's certain things that we see on social where we're like, oh my gosh, repost, share, you want to recreate a certain look.
And that is something that you're going to have to work on developing as well. When you are deciding what to post on social media, make sure that it represents your taste. And taste isn't about being flashy or dramatic or too conservative and safe. It's about knowing what works with your aesthetic and how your work is received by people looking at your work on social.
It's about understanding what looks good on camera, on social, and of course on your feed, and to potential clients or anybody that is visiting your social media account.
Just make sure that what you share is appealing, it's cohesive, and it really reflects the image that you want to project as a professional makeup artist. You are not posting for fun, you're not posting because you haven't posted in a certain amount of time, you're posting to build your brand, your reputation, and your business.
[00:13:00] Another tip for you from this episode, pay attention to what. works and what's getting noticed when you post on social media. It's not a numbers game. It's not what goes viral and what doesn't. Let's say you post 4 things in a month. There's 2 posts that get 10 likes and 2 of the other posts are getting 2 or 3 likes.
Look at what you're doing in those posts that are getting 10 likes and do more of that. When you're posting, be selective with what you post. Don't post everything. Don't post just for the sake of posting. Focus on what best represents your style and the type of work you want to be known for and booked for.
Here's the takeaway from this episode. Developing your signature style, it's a long game. It's not something you can force. It's something that happens naturally over time through repetition, feedback, and consistency. Don't worry about trying to be perfect right away, just keep learning, keep practicing, and keep posting your work.
And that's everything for this episode. You can check the show [00:14:00] notes for some resources. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode. If you have any follow up questions, Where you want to continue the conversation. This episode is also available on YouTube and you can leave your questions in the comments there.
Make sure you follow artist to artist on Instagram. And I think that's everything. I will talk to you later. Bye.
