We were lucky to catch up with Hollywood The Face Bully recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Hollywood thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?

The most important lesson that I has helped me as a artist is to never let anyone put you down when it comes to your craft and never let anyone make you feel like you are in competition with somebody else.

Before I became a full time freelance makeup artist, I used to work in a salon as a makeup artist in order to gain some experience and build my clientele. The lead makeup artist, who ultimately became my makeup mentor and helped me work and perfect my craft, she was the makeup artist that all the clients went to. Being the fact that we have different experiences when it comes to doing makeup, and me being new in the salon, the owners as well as the clients, they were used to the lead makeup artist’s work. Me being new, the owners of the salon always compared my work to hers. If it wasn’t to their liking, they would always tell me “it has to look like hers” or “you need to watch how the lead makeup artist does it”. So it definitely discouraged me to the point where I didn’t want to do makeup anymore. To go through the owners of the salon standing behind me watching my every move as I do client’s makeup to make sure I do the client’s makeup like the lead makeup artist and to hear the owners talk about you but disguise it as criticism, it hurts and its very discouraging and made me want to quit.

How I overcame this experience was by really buckling down and perfecting my craft and starting to realize that you need to have tough skin in the beauty industry. I am always so grateful for the lead makeup artist because not only did she help me grow and perfect my craft, but she also gave me reassurance whenever I felt discouraged. It took me a while to realize that if you have a passion, nobody’s opinion should matter when it comes to your craft. I also learned that people who don’t have your best interest at heart will always try to make you fail and put you against others, but instead of them succeeding in putting me against the other makeup artist, they only made us closer to where we were able to support each other and help each other grow and I’ll always look at that experience as a learning lesson.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I think of myself as one of the best upcoming makeup artists in New York City. My craft came at an early age. I was always obsessed with all forms of art, whether it be painting, drawing, or even doodling. In school, I always found myself drawing little pictures on the sides of my papers when I got bored in class. To interpret this in a beauty aspect didn’t come until middle school and high school where I started to get creative with my hair and my nails. Wearing different color extensions in my hair and having different nail art on my nails. Everything had to be coordinated with me, from my outfit matching my nails and my shoes, to having my hair accessories match everything too. By my senior year in high school, I started to get into makeup a little bit, but had a fear of looking “too grown”. Having the insecurities that I had, I made a promise to myself that when I got to college, I wanted to change my image and look like a whole different person.

Starting college, I started to get into makeup a lot more. I started to research different makeup looks and study them; studying different types of makeup such as theater makeup, special effects, prosthetics, etc. Every type of makeup there was, I would study it and try to recreate it on myself. From full glam makeup, halloween makeup, if i was able to draw it on paper, I would most likely draw it on my face. Over the years, I started to perfect my makeup looks on myself and thought I would be ready to do makeup on other people. But as it was shown, some people can do makeup on themselves but not on other people and that definitely was me. It took me a lot of practice to perfect makeup on other people and even to this day, I still find myself learning new things that can make my client makeup a lot better.

Being a makeup artist, I’ve come across a wide range of beautiful women ranging from all different skin tones. The biggest problem that I solve with my clients is matching their makeup to their shade. I’ve had so many clients that have a darker skin complexion tell me that they fell in love with the way I do my darker skin clients makeup and that its so hard to find makeup artists that cater to darker skin sometimes. What sets me apart from others is that I have built an entire brand around a word that has been used as something negative, but I turned it into something positive. We normally see the word “bully” as something negative, as someone who beats people up. But me, I’ve taken that and spun it into something different. Bullies beat other people, but in the makeup world, I’ve been told that I “beat” peoples faces, making me a “face bully”. To make it more personal, I’ve coined the term ‘The Bully Gang’ to show my clients that we’re locked in for life. Every client that comes in my chair is automatically part of the bully gang and becomes locked in for life because they end up coming back time and time again. My clients always get the best when it comes to me and I love showing my appreciation for them all the time.

What I want potential clients to know is that I’m not a regular makeup artist. I love to take a interest in my clients’ lives. I treat all of my clients like they are celebrities and make sure that my work is reflected in that way.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a makeup artist is the reaction of my clients after I’m finished doing their makeup. Just to see them so happy in the mirror when I’m finished gives me so much satisfaction. It shows that I made their day so much better and had a part in whatever occasion the makeup was for. Also, the referrals I get just from one person speaking well on me and my artistry. Being from New York, there are so many talented makeup artists here, and word of mouth travels fast here. It could either make or break your career, so to have clients speak well on me and my business and refer me to their friends and family, it drives me to keep doing what I do.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Being a creative, there are going to be days where you feel unmotivated. Unmotivated to put out content, and then there are some days where you become unmotivated because you’re doing the same look over and over and the repetition just becomes too much. But sometimes it’s that repetition thats going to drive you to do something creative and out of the box to where it’ll catch the attention of your audience that will want you to do creative things.

As a makeup artist, there are so many days where I feel unmotivated to do my makeup, record a makeup look, or just post on social media and thats okay. Its okay to take a break sometimes, but during that time, plan things out to where when you make your comeback on social media, it grabs the attention of your target audience.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hollywoodthefacebully
• Other: http://www.tiktok.com/thefacebully_