Michelle Dube is a Sydney award-winning makeup artist who is in huge demand for advertising, editorial, fashion and TV work.
She recently won the Face2Face Makeup Artist Awards Editorial Section for 2016, and has also been awarded in the Film and Fantasy, Runway and Bridal sections. Michelle has worked on countless editorial and red carpet events; her work has been published in magazines such as Laud, Italian VogueOnline, Bride to Be, Stellar Magazine, Good Weekend, Studio Bambini, and she recently worked on The Bachelor TV series. Women Love Tech grilled Michelle about technology and the makeup industry.
Beauty looks created by award winning makeup artist Michelle DubeIn what ways do you think Technology has changed the makeup and beauty industry, particularly social media?
Instagram has opened up a whole new world in the way of marketing your work as an artist to potential clients not just in Australia but worldwide! I often refer people to my Instagram account to view my work as it can be viewed quickly and easily.
People are always looking at their social media accounts so it’s easy for them plus, if they like what they see, hopefully they will follow me, which means more followers, which is the aim! If they follow me and like my posts then it is an easy form of networking as their followers can see their ‘likes’ as well so it just builds and builds.
Pinterest is an incredible tool as well for artists.
So many artists have private Pinterest boards to create ‘mood boards’ for shoots they are working on or for inspiration. Boards can be shared with photographers, stylists and models. Everyone can contribute their ideas with photos to the boards as well. Pinterest is amazing for inspiration with a world of photos at your fingertips.
What are some of your us about your favourite social media sites and how do they help you?
The beauty industry has lots of Makeup Artist related groups on Facebook. They are an incredible source of information and support. Many of them are ‘closed’ groups so makeup artists can discuss topics without it appearing on other feeds. They are a great place to also share jobs and generally network with other artists. Most makeup artists work on their own so we don’t get to mix with other artists very often. It’s great to have a place we can go for product suggestions, questions, critiques on our work.
Instagram is the place where it matters how many followers you have.
Some clients will choose their artists based on the amount of followers they have. Clients will also often search hashtags to find artists so it’s very important to be active and engaging on Instagram.
What are some of your favourite apps that help you as a makeup artist?
As a makeup artist one of our busiest jobs is Bridal Makeup. In the past, we’d have to document each bridal trial by writing down every product we used and doing a face chart (basically a drawing of a face filled in with details on products used and placement). Sometimes, trials are done up to a year in advance so it was very difficult to remember exact details. Now, there is an incredible app called Bridal Beauty Pro App. You can start a file for each bride noting down all the important information for her wedding day, date, time, location and venue, along with a record of what products you used at the trial to create her look and the photos you took at the trial. Everything is in one place, available at the tap of a finger. All your information is stored in the cloud, and can be accessed on any device. No more scrolling through emails, notes and thousands of photos in your camera roll!
You can see more of Michelle’s work on her Instagram page @Michelledube_mua