Irish Beauty Show 2020 Preview

Emma James, Digital Marketing and Communications Executive at Flair Hair & Beauty Supplies, talks with the best in the beauty business.

Beauty Talk

Michelle Regazzoli Stone is a Make Up Artist and founder of MRS Makeup, and new project, MRS Glam, launching in March. Tell us a little bit about yourself…

“I grew up on the Navan Road and went to the local schools. In second year, I moved to Mount Sackville…when I left school I started in Dun Laoghaire College and I completed a one-year course in Theatrical and Media Make-up. That was the best year of my life, I absolutely loved every second of it!

“That was the first year they had ran a make-up course. Make-up was still relatively new in Ireland. MAC would have still been very new in Ireland. That summer, I went into MAC every single Saturday. I used to show them my portfolio…I plagued them; I was so focused on working for them! It paid off; I got a job with them that August. They were opening a store in Blanchardstown that year and the following year they opened in Dundrum. I was there for both of those openings which was brilliant experience… I was with MAC for 10 years! Persistence is key.”

After a fantastic experience at MAC, what gave you the push to build your own business?

“When I was on my second maternity leave, I was starting to watch social media develop. I was based in one of my friend’s hair salons and I was going from two faces on a Friday and Saturday, to five to eight to ten, and people were just getting their make-up done to go out on a Saturday night. I was starting to see just how much the market was starting to change because of social media. If you were going out with the girls on a Saturday night out you wanted to look glam, smokey eye and hair blow-dried, because now it was going to be online.” Instagram, reaching out to them sending messages. A lot of it was free work but it paid off in the end; I never shied away from doing something for free because it always came back as a positive!”

Social Media is a massive platform in the beauty industry, how has this impacted your business? “Social media was an absolute game changer, 100% the catapult for me was flying over to Ibiza to do the wedding make-up for Rosanna Davison in June 2014. I had to hire somebody a month later to look after my emails and messages because I had so many enquires. It completely changed everything for me.” You are best known for bridal makeup, celeb clients, magazine and TV work. How did you break into that side of the industry? “When I left MAC, I could see again how things were changing with the likes of social media. I went out to Cari’s Closet, into designers in town, I went to anybody that I could walk through the door and let them know who I am and hand them a business card. Even if they said to me ‘no sorry, not looking for anybody’ they still rang me back when they needed somebody. Similar to what I had done with MAC, I was persistent, I’d make sure they knew who I was. “I think with us being such a small location, it really is about trying to stand out and make sure people know who you are. I got in with VIP Magazine and again followed people on

You worked in Essex for a year, tell me about that...

“I absolutely loved working in Essex, even though we’re so close to the UK we’re completely different in every way. Their studios are warehouses, our studios are a room. Everything was bigger, it was incredible. You’re working in bigger teams, you’re learning from everyone whether it’s the lighting people, the stylist, photographers and others; it was invaluable in my experience.

“The stylist would have a lot of input in your make-up and I wasn’t used to that, but I really appreciated that they’d come in and say that the lip needs to be darker or the contour needs to be stronger. “What I learned in the UK was to read the room. If I had of gone in and created an Instagram make-up – so cut creases, heavy eyes and too much highlighter – OK magazine would never work with me again because it’s not their style. I had to learn to still be true to my own style and what I create but also know what the shoot requires. “I’ll never forget there was one top guy I was working with for OK magazine and he said I don’t even have to Photoshop your make-up it’s incredible. I’ll never forget it! Obviously with editorial there is always slight tweaks and edits, so that was such a compliment!”