I did my “what I want to be when I grow up” report in 5th grade on being a hair and makeup artist. I even used the fancy “cosmetology” word in it.
My adoptive mom was a hair and makeup artist, so besides hanging around the salon on Saturdays, I got to occasionally help her when she did theater. I absolutely loved being backstage, on stage, near the stage…but I think that’s because, like every 14 yr. old girl, I was a drama queen. It was way cool. I’d like to say all these promising beginnings round themselves out to be the Lifetime show special, but I had some curves to turn before I ended up where I am today...
I know for a fact that the Waffle House has been used in dirty song lyrics. I didn’t realize this until I got back to Vegas after a dumb relationship. I moved to New Orleans for 3 whole weeks, but the bridges over swamps scared me and he was an idiot, so I left. But I got to eat at the Waffle House while I was there, so now I’m excited that I finally understand that song. That was fall of 03, and by spring of 04 I was professionally doing hair and makeup, including doing makeup for brides and acting as their wedding hairstylist.
At the onset of my return, I had done a few up-dos by request for Homecoming. I left for New Orleans pretty young, so when I came back I still knew somebody who knew somebody who needed their hair done for Homecoming or Prom. Still young, still broke by the next year I found an ad hiring for someone who could do up-dos. Ok, I’ll bite. A few months of that and more out of curiosity than anything, I ended up at a beauty school where even I could get full financing. Granted, almost everything useful that I know today came from someone who let me work under them, or simply trial and error. I really, really love doing hair and makeup, and it’s a good thing too; I would have never worked so hard both in beauty school and out during that time to learn if I wasn’t enamored with the subject.
This field is a blast to work in. I’ve worked as a wedding hairstylist and have applied makeup for brides who don’t speak English whatsoever. Getting calls from productions wanting you for a shoot or a film crew is great, and has been the reason for many cabbage-patches in my kitchen. If you don’t know what the cabbage patch is, watch some SNL. I still get a high off a really great photo shoot. Like any artist, if I get inspired by an idea I dwell on it by night and day until it comes to fruition. Small things, like the perfectly glued lash, are a cause for inner celebration. There is also an immense amount of satisfaction from taking on a challenge and ending up with amazing results, even if you did have to use chicken wire and a Styrofoam cone.
Other random things to indicate that I am indeed a real person: when I get ornery about something, it can usually be solved by blaring Salt ‘n’ Peppa loudly out of my car. My husband ritually embarrasses me at restaurants if there is a recent accomplishment he is particularly excited about. No, my waiter does not need to be treated to “101 Great Things About My Wife”, but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside just the same. I have an obsession with really expensive cookware, but my husband has to sneak my favorite old black flip-flops out of the house if he is to get me into cute, even if uncomfortable, shoes. I’ve got a really dry sense of humor that can see me through just about anything. I plan on saving the juvenile delinquents through literacy and saving the planet by living green and eventually cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
And all that’s just fabulous. I love my life and I love being a wedding hairstylist and a hair and makeup artist.
Copyright 2010 Amelia C: Hair and Makeup Artist. All Rights Reserved.
