PushTheButton
New member
Hi everyone, longtime lurker here. Looooots of questions.
Ok, but first, a little history. I enrolled in cosmetology school 5 years ago at age 19, wanting to be a Makeup Artist. In the particular state I was living in at the time, you don't need a license to be a Makeup Artist, and Cosmetology school is pretty much strictly a hair-only thing, but they don't TELL you that in shady, cheap Cosmetology schools when you come in for a meeting and you represent several thousand dollars in their pocket. I was interested in hair, don't get me wrong (mostly color), and I'm very glad I finished school and now have my cosmetology license and all, but obviously I didn't get what I thought I was getting when I signed up. Frankly the thought of doing hair in a salon pales in comparison to the thought of doing makeup all day. No worries though, soon after I finished school, I landed a job with Sephora which took me happily through the next 2 and a half years. I LOVED my job, I LOVED the company, I LOVED my coworkers. Then I had to move from where I lived to Georgia, and thoughts have begun to enter my mind about maybe not just going back to Sephora and trying MAC instead. I feel kinda like a traitor, but I want to push my artistry to the next level and let's face it, MAC MAs are FIERCE! Who doesn't wanna be like them? Which leads me to my questions.
Firstly, I've been in the Perimiter MAC store a grand total of once, for about 3 minutes. I'm a bit timid, and have a tendency to be easily intimidated when I'm the customer, and I was the ONLY customer, and I dont know. The lady seemed perfectly nice, and I asked for an application, which she gave me, but I didnt stick around to chat much because I didn't look my best (I did have my makeup and hair done, just not in a way i was in love with, and my outfit was a bit not-right, just one of those off days). What I wanna know is, do the SAs and MAs at this particular MAC have any particular reputation for being nice? Not nice? Snobby? Particularly helpful/unhelpful? Pushy or standoffish? What am I in for here? I'm kinda timid, like I mentioned, and I can handle tough clients because that's really unavoidable (and I grew a thicker skin with them out of necessity, given the mall I worked at in my home state), but I do have a hard time with unfriendly work colleagues, the people you spend entire hours of your days with. I'm sensitive to a fault at times, and take things to heart when I probably shouldn't, and I put a huge emphasis on being NICE in my every day life, and in a perfect world would like the people around me to do the same. How's it looking for me, Atlanta people?
Also, before I get too excited about this, I should probably know... does/did the hiring freeze apply to the Atlanta area? If so, and if it's just recently been lifted, they probably have an enormous pile of applications to muddle through and may not even consider me at this time anyway.
The other questions aren't necessarily Atlanta specific..
I'm a bit worried about my "portfolio", or my mostly lack of one. The only freelance work that I own pictures of, are 2 weddings and one fashion photo shoot. It just so happens that none of them called for particularly unusual makeup. The wedding makeup is pretty run of the mill. And even in the fashion photo shoot, the designer requested a relatively natural face with just a hint of "metal", and we decided on little tattered bits of gold foil up on the cheekbones. it looked pretty neat in person, but (as i feared) didn't photograph all that clearly, and mostly the makeup looks very pretty, but not exciting. Also, I realized today that all the models and brides in all my pictures ( a total of 5 people, 4 really as there aren't good face shots of one model) happen to be fair skinned caucasian girls, which also happens to be the category I fall under. Atlanta obviously is very ethnically diverse, as is the area I moved from, and I *do* have experience doing makeup on all skin colors and I wish my portfolio demonstrated that. If only I'd had a digital camera with me on the floor at Sephora doing makeup on clients! A few really stand out in my memory that I wish to this day I had pictures of.
Unfortunately I know a grand total of two people in Atlanta so far and alas, they too are pale and caucasian (I had friends back home of many other races, I swear
!! And am sure I will here too). I may be able to wrangle them into a last minute "avant garde" makeup session, to spice it up a bit, but it still doesnt help the issue of having a rather, erm, homogenized portfolio, which bothers me.
Other question is... if by some miracle I actually get the job... where are some good places to get cheap work clothes that are MAC appropriate? I have black clothes coming out my ears, mostly from being the Token Goth Girl for about ten years (I've since moved on to "bored and apathetic", but excited about remedying that) and cosmetology school, which also had an all black dress code, but I lost 50 pounds a while back and nothing from "back then" fits well, so I'm going to have to start pretty fresh. Is black lace ok for dress code? Obviously with stuff underneath, i'm not trying to be kinky at work here. I just have a serious love for lace and won't be able to stop myself buying anything I see with lace on it anyway, and it would be nice if it qualified as work clothes too. Also, knee-high boots have always been a staple for me. I realize shoe policies vary depending on region and managers and such, but in general do you think they'd be okay? Specifically the lace up kind, more specifically my beloved knee-high Dr. Martens which I want to marry. What are their chances?
Help me out here, I had a uniform for 2 and a half years, I've forgotten how to dress myself!
That's all I can think of for now. Thanks for humoring me!
Ok, but first, a little history. I enrolled in cosmetology school 5 years ago at age 19, wanting to be a Makeup Artist. In the particular state I was living in at the time, you don't need a license to be a Makeup Artist, and Cosmetology school is pretty much strictly a hair-only thing, but they don't TELL you that in shady, cheap Cosmetology schools when you come in for a meeting and you represent several thousand dollars in their pocket. I was interested in hair, don't get me wrong (mostly color), and I'm very glad I finished school and now have my cosmetology license and all, but obviously I didn't get what I thought I was getting when I signed up. Frankly the thought of doing hair in a salon pales in comparison to the thought of doing makeup all day. No worries though, soon after I finished school, I landed a job with Sephora which took me happily through the next 2 and a half years. I LOVED my job, I LOVED the company, I LOVED my coworkers. Then I had to move from where I lived to Georgia, and thoughts have begun to enter my mind about maybe not just going back to Sephora and trying MAC instead. I feel kinda like a traitor, but I want to push my artistry to the next level and let's face it, MAC MAs are FIERCE! Who doesn't wanna be like them? Which leads me to my questions.
Firstly, I've been in the Perimiter MAC store a grand total of once, for about 3 minutes. I'm a bit timid, and have a tendency to be easily intimidated when I'm the customer, and I was the ONLY customer, and I dont know. The lady seemed perfectly nice, and I asked for an application, which she gave me, but I didnt stick around to chat much because I didn't look my best (I did have my makeup and hair done, just not in a way i was in love with, and my outfit was a bit not-right, just one of those off days). What I wanna know is, do the SAs and MAs at this particular MAC have any particular reputation for being nice? Not nice? Snobby? Particularly helpful/unhelpful? Pushy or standoffish? What am I in for here? I'm kinda timid, like I mentioned, and I can handle tough clients because that's really unavoidable (and I grew a thicker skin with them out of necessity, given the mall I worked at in my home state), but I do have a hard time with unfriendly work colleagues, the people you spend entire hours of your days with. I'm sensitive to a fault at times, and take things to heart when I probably shouldn't, and I put a huge emphasis on being NICE in my every day life, and in a perfect world would like the people around me to do the same. How's it looking for me, Atlanta people?
Also, before I get too excited about this, I should probably know... does/did the hiring freeze apply to the Atlanta area? If so, and if it's just recently been lifted, they probably have an enormous pile of applications to muddle through and may not even consider me at this time anyway.
The other questions aren't necessarily Atlanta specific..
I'm a bit worried about my "portfolio", or my mostly lack of one. The only freelance work that I own pictures of, are 2 weddings and one fashion photo shoot. It just so happens that none of them called for particularly unusual makeup. The wedding makeup is pretty run of the mill. And even in the fashion photo shoot, the designer requested a relatively natural face with just a hint of "metal", and we decided on little tattered bits of gold foil up on the cheekbones. it looked pretty neat in person, but (as i feared) didn't photograph all that clearly, and mostly the makeup looks very pretty, but not exciting. Also, I realized today that all the models and brides in all my pictures ( a total of 5 people, 4 really as there aren't good face shots of one model) happen to be fair skinned caucasian girls, which also happens to be the category I fall under. Atlanta obviously is very ethnically diverse, as is the area I moved from, and I *do* have experience doing makeup on all skin colors and I wish my portfolio demonstrated that. If only I'd had a digital camera with me on the floor at Sephora doing makeup on clients! A few really stand out in my memory that I wish to this day I had pictures of.
Unfortunately I know a grand total of two people in Atlanta so far and alas, they too are pale and caucasian (I had friends back home of many other races, I swear
Other question is... if by some miracle I actually get the job... where are some good places to get cheap work clothes that are MAC appropriate? I have black clothes coming out my ears, mostly from being the Token Goth Girl for about ten years (I've since moved on to "bored and apathetic", but excited about remedying that) and cosmetology school, which also had an all black dress code, but I lost 50 pounds a while back and nothing from "back then" fits well, so I'm going to have to start pretty fresh. Is black lace ok for dress code? Obviously with stuff underneath, i'm not trying to be kinky at work here. I just have a serious love for lace and won't be able to stop myself buying anything I see with lace on it anyway, and it would be nice if it qualified as work clothes too. Also, knee-high boots have always been a staple for me. I realize shoe policies vary depending on region and managers and such, but in general do you think they'd be okay? Specifically the lace up kind, more specifically my beloved knee-high Dr. Martens which I want to marry. What are their chances?
Help me out here, I had a uniform for 2 and a half years, I've forgotten how to dress myself!
That's all I can think of for now. Thanks for humoring me!
