IMAGES COURTESY OF AIMIEE TWIST
At the peak of the global pandemic, all creatives were faced with the uncertainty of what would come next. Some have been lucky enough to go straight back into work; like nothing has happened. However, make-up artists have seemly had the most setbacks when it comes to the new Covid-19 legislation.
Here at F Word, we wanted to provide a rich insight into what it has been like to be a make-up artist during this pandemic and to find out about our creatives lockdown experiences. This, along with asking for some predictions for the future of the industry, discovering how their day-to-day work has been affected during this unpredictable time, and discuss all things from their careers to their creative passions.
To accompany this, F Word set the task for these creatives to produce a visual representation- through any medium of their choice- that showcases themselves and their career over the past few months.
How has your creativity been affected during lockdown?
Aimee Twist: My creativity was very up and down during lockdown, it was difficult for me as I’m used to being really busy on projects. I’m also not used to using my own face as a canvas but found I had to do that again, so I tried to use different ways of making it more interesting by creating collages and working on different edits. Mostly I found that it was a great time for me to switch off and take a well needed break. It can be quite draining when you are constantly coming up with new ideas. I’m somebody that usually really struggles with not being busy but I adapted a lot better than I thought I would. I found that having this break made me feel a lot more creative coming back!
What beauty trends do you think we will see going forward and any predictions for the beauty industry?
A.T: I think the industry is far more open to unapologetic beauty and creatives are able to do things that are far out of the normal beauty standards we had seen in the last few years. Editorial makeup previously was seen as unattainable and something you only see in magazines. I think we’re even seeing normal people or influencers using editorial makeup as a way of expressing themselves and things that wouldn’t have been considered as beauty are now being celebrated. I hope that in turn the industry becomes more diverse and we are able to push the limits!
Why did you become a make-up artist and how long have you been working as one?
A.T: I always enjoyed art at school but when I left I didn’t have many prospects and didn’t feel very inspired to further my education. I decided to become a makeup artist after many years of working in customer service roles and hating it. I had always been super inspired by fashion and fashion history, but I don’t think I ever saw that as a feasible path for me. It was after I went travelling that I decided it was now or never and I had to something creative. I always loved makeup and I think I decided that it could be an option when social media had really started to take off. I started an Instragram page and I did a short course, I just tried every style I could and finally found my feet when I started connecting with other creatives. Collaborating is my favourite thing about being a make-up artist, and it has really pushed me to pursue it in editorial and beauty. I’ve been doing make-up professionally for about 4 years now, sometimes it feels like a lifetime and other times it feels like no time at all but I love what I do and I’m excited to continue now that I’m able to do it again!
Have the last few months made you contemplate a career change, if yes that did you consider and if no, what have you done to adapt to the new restrictions?
A.T: I definitely felt that lockdown was a bit of crossroads in my career, at times it felt like I might not ever be able to do it again but I just couldn’t imagine doing anything else now and luckily I’m finally back to doing what I love most. Being back has spurred my creativity again and I feel more inspired than I did before. It’s now grown my interest in creative direction, which is something I want to get into more. I’m much more interested in all aspects of imagery and find myself more vocal in this. I think as things start to go back to normal I want to explore more art direction and explore styling and photography. I love film photography and I think I would like to learn how to take photos on film.
It has been hard adapting and using my hands less has been a bit of learning curve. At first I found the additional PPE quite restricting but it’s a fact of life now and I would rather be able to do my job with additional restrictions then not be able to do it all. I think everyone has had to adapt in different ways, we are all desperate for things to go back to normal but I think some of these changes are probably here to stay. I’ve had to accept that I’m probably not going to look very glamorous on a job anymore and learn other ways of expressing myself, like wearing more colour and using fashion rather than makeup.
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