Hey everyone, new here. I'm from the UK and for this past week I've been browsing through demo stories and what to expect at my interview. Well today I had both my interview and demo together and thought I'd just give a UK point-of-view and let you know how it has worked for me.
Just like to thank all the members who have posted their stories as it prepared me immensely for all the situations I could possibly expect (made me FRICKIN nervous too) but definitely want to thank miss_supra and davidsito in particular because I learned quite a bit.
So basically Im a novice. As much as a novice as someone in my position can be. I'm 20 and a guy for one; I've never done make-up professionally and have a background as an illustrator more than anything. I've only done make-up here and there, for work, for others, for events etc. Just something that I fortunately am fairly good at at which comes naturally to me. I decided to apply after this year at university proved to be fruitless and I needed to decide what kind of path I was going to take now.
After leaving university in London I came back home to Nottingham/Derby and applied within the store at Nottingham which I was familiar. The staff there recognized me from my foundation year where I used M.A.C products for my Final Major Project in Styling, Make-Up and Fashion Photography. I was lucky to hand my CV in on the day I did as both manager and resident trainer were present and I was able to talk to them about my situation. After a few weeks I got a phone call asking me to arrange my interview date. I was applying to cover maternity leave with a progression to permanent hours position after New Year. I visited the store here and there to show my perseverance (without being annoying) and got the staff more familiar with me and had some long chats with one of the artists in particular, Tasha, who said she would be keeping an ear open and putting my name forward because she would love it if I could work there.
Fast forward to today. I had been called to see if I could combine my make-up demo with my interview on the same day and if I could bring a model at short notice. THANKFULLY my older sister finished teaching at school at 3.30 on a friday and was able to make it out of Derby to shoot straight across to the store.
I arrived there about 3.55pm before my sister and the resident trainer, Tanya said we could get the make-up interview out of the way first then do my demo, then have the rest of my verbal interview with the managers. So we went downstairs, all the girls working there looked excited lol and we sat down in the office. She complimented my outfit which put me at ease ( I wore a black shirt with a black tie, tied as a bow and underneath my black Cavalli tuxedo jacket; navy denim skinny jeans and my brown leather ankle boots). I realised this was the more technical aspect of the interview;
Colour theory.
Monochromatic: Tint, Shade and Tone.
If M.A.C was a colour what would it be?
Describe your personal and make-up styles.
Favourite make-up artists.
What inspires you?
How would you determine someone skin type?
If someone had very dehydrated skin, what foundation/products would you recommend?
What would you use first; foundation or concealer?
Describe to me a typical 1940's make up style.
There we more... :S
So afterwards we went upstairs to the shopfloor where my sister had finally arrived and we sat down and Tanya prepared my workspace with a brushbelt, petri dishes, sanitizer, alcohol, lash wands, qtips and wipes. She said she would like me to focus on any area of the face I wanted or full-face
and I was to execute a look I thought was in trend now. She pretty much let me use full reign over anything and said I was to treat Vicki as if she was a customer. I was allowed 20minutes and some time before that to collect everything I needed.
I grabbed prep and prime everything; the Mineralize Satinfinish Foundation SPF in NC35 as my sisters skin is pretty much combo and I wanted to go for a healthy glowing face; Studio Finish Concealer in NC30; Eyeshadow in Espresso, Forgery, Print, Silver Ring; Fluidline in Blacktrack; Powerpoint eye pencil in Prussian; Zoomlash mascara; Mineralize Skinfinish Duo in Dark/Natural; Lipstick in Fresh Brew and Lipglass in Florabundance.
After applying p&p face using the 190 brush I found in the belt, I applied a light coverage of the foundation which matched damn well! Tanya wanted to make me aware of the time (WHICH I SURE FELT!) but just wanted to keep me updated every couple of minutes.
Then all numbers went out of my head and I used whatever she had given me, applying the concealer with a 242 over slight blemishes and under the eyes just to illuminate some dark circles.
After her face looked clear, I filled in her brows a little with Espresso shadow using a 266 and lengthened them slightly just to give them prominence.
I was going to go for classic smokey eyes, golden skin sunkissed skin and a nude, coffee toned lip.
I then applied a little foundation to the eyelids, Tanya put me at ease about worrying about using the right product for each step and said that she just needed me to complete a chosen area and follow through the whole look. SO I turned my attention to the eyes, took what was closest to a 213? and dusted the Silver Ring over her lids and under her lower lashline keeping it fairly tight around her lashlines. Pressed Print into her crease and outer lid portion, a little along the lower lash line, deepening it as it got closer. And Forgery in her inner tearduct and a little up near her brow bone.
Using the 209 I painted Blacktrack along her upper lash line, winging it ever so slightly into the Print. After all of this was done I used the 224 to blend as much as I could and get it looking as crisp as I could in the time I had left. Prussian eyeliner along her lower lashline and in her waterline to connect the gap and Zoomlash to volumize her lashes.
Now I was rushed! Dusted the Mineralize Duo Bronzer across her cheeks and a little to her temples, a TINY dab down her nose bridge.
And before I could finish her lips with the Fresh Brew, my time was up!
I was panicky and really worried about not finished perfectly, I suddenly started picking it all apart but Tanya put me at ease, said I didnt need to do the full face but she was glad I managed to get the eyes finished. She asked me to talk me through the look. I told her how I was going for classic smokey eye with a healthy summer glow and nude lips. I had chosen slate grey shades rather than black with a hint of cool blue. The lighter silver to illuminate her inner corners and make her eyes appear wider. And the choice of a navy blue eyeliner to really make the green/teal of her eyes stand out (rather than obvious purple).
She said I had applied everything really well, the base was light and even, good match, She said the smokiness was done well and that she was really happy I had really laid the liner down well and connected the gap between waterline and lower lashes. She said this gap left untouched is her pet-peeve about other artists. I then cleaned up my space and she got the managers to bring me downstairs again.
By this point I was exhausted lol and and not nervous at all really. I met the managers Danielle and Ruth who were both really nice and put me at ease for the second-half of the verbal. These questions were more typical interview questions:
What do you understand about the M.A.C philosophy?
Why did you choose M.A.C?
What is your personal style and how do you think you would fit in here?
How would you keep yourself motivated working for us?
What are your ideal work partner qualities? Your worst work partner qualities?
etc......
So thats it.
I'm pretty lucky to have got this far without any make-up experience but I made sure I looked as confident as possible and presented myself well. All the girls working there were whispering that they were keeping their fingers crossed, that they would really like a guy to work there, and that they would be rooting for me. That of course makes me feel a lot more confident but it'll be down to the trainer and managers decisions on whether I was good enough.
So now I wait, hopefully I should know by next week at the v most 2 weeks. Sorry about the length but thanks to everyone again for their useful posts
Ben
Just like to thank all the members who have posted their stories as it prepared me immensely for all the situations I could possibly expect (made me FRICKIN nervous too) but definitely want to thank miss_supra and davidsito in particular because I learned quite a bit.
So basically Im a novice. As much as a novice as someone in my position can be. I'm 20 and a guy for one; I've never done make-up professionally and have a background as an illustrator more than anything. I've only done make-up here and there, for work, for others, for events etc. Just something that I fortunately am fairly good at at which comes naturally to me. I decided to apply after this year at university proved to be fruitless and I needed to decide what kind of path I was going to take now.
After leaving university in London I came back home to Nottingham/Derby and applied within the store at Nottingham which I was familiar. The staff there recognized me from my foundation year where I used M.A.C products for my Final Major Project in Styling, Make-Up and Fashion Photography. I was lucky to hand my CV in on the day I did as both manager and resident trainer were present and I was able to talk to them about my situation. After a few weeks I got a phone call asking me to arrange my interview date. I was applying to cover maternity leave with a progression to permanent hours position after New Year. I visited the store here and there to show my perseverance (without being annoying) and got the staff more familiar with me and had some long chats with one of the artists in particular, Tasha, who said she would be keeping an ear open and putting my name forward because she would love it if I could work there.
Fast forward to today. I had been called to see if I could combine my make-up demo with my interview on the same day and if I could bring a model at short notice. THANKFULLY my older sister finished teaching at school at 3.30 on a friday and was able to make it out of Derby to shoot straight across to the store.
I arrived there about 3.55pm before my sister and the resident trainer, Tanya said we could get the make-up interview out of the way first then do my demo, then have the rest of my verbal interview with the managers. So we went downstairs, all the girls working there looked excited lol and we sat down in the office. She complimented my outfit which put me at ease ( I wore a black shirt with a black tie, tied as a bow and underneath my black Cavalli tuxedo jacket; navy denim skinny jeans and my brown leather ankle boots). I realised this was the more technical aspect of the interview;
Colour theory.
Monochromatic: Tint, Shade and Tone.
If M.A.C was a colour what would it be?
Describe your personal and make-up styles.
Favourite make-up artists.
What inspires you?
How would you determine someone skin type?
If someone had very dehydrated skin, what foundation/products would you recommend?
What would you use first; foundation or concealer?
Describe to me a typical 1940's make up style.
There we more... :S
So afterwards we went upstairs to the shopfloor where my sister had finally arrived and we sat down and Tanya prepared my workspace with a brushbelt, petri dishes, sanitizer, alcohol, lash wands, qtips and wipes. She said she would like me to focus on any area of the face I wanted or full-face
and I was to execute a look I thought was in trend now. She pretty much let me use full reign over anything and said I was to treat Vicki as if she was a customer. I was allowed 20minutes and some time before that to collect everything I needed.
I grabbed prep and prime everything; the Mineralize Satinfinish Foundation SPF in NC35 as my sisters skin is pretty much combo and I wanted to go for a healthy glowing face; Studio Finish Concealer in NC30; Eyeshadow in Espresso, Forgery, Print, Silver Ring; Fluidline in Blacktrack; Powerpoint eye pencil in Prussian; Zoomlash mascara; Mineralize Skinfinish Duo in Dark/Natural; Lipstick in Fresh Brew and Lipglass in Florabundance.
After applying p&p face using the 190 brush I found in the belt, I applied a light coverage of the foundation which matched damn well! Tanya wanted to make me aware of the time (WHICH I SURE FELT!) but just wanted to keep me updated every couple of minutes.
Then all numbers went out of my head and I used whatever she had given me, applying the concealer with a 242 over slight blemishes and under the eyes just to illuminate some dark circles.
After her face looked clear, I filled in her brows a little with Espresso shadow using a 266 and lengthened them slightly just to give them prominence.
I was going to go for classic smokey eyes, golden skin sunkissed skin and a nude, coffee toned lip.
I then applied a little foundation to the eyelids, Tanya put me at ease about worrying about using the right product for each step and said that she just needed me to complete a chosen area and follow through the whole look. SO I turned my attention to the eyes, took what was closest to a 213? and dusted the Silver Ring over her lids and under her lower lashline keeping it fairly tight around her lashlines. Pressed Print into her crease and outer lid portion, a little along the lower lash line, deepening it as it got closer. And Forgery in her inner tearduct and a little up near her brow bone.
Using the 209 I painted Blacktrack along her upper lash line, winging it ever so slightly into the Print. After all of this was done I used the 224 to blend as much as I could and get it looking as crisp as I could in the time I had left. Prussian eyeliner along her lower lashline and in her waterline to connect the gap and Zoomlash to volumize her lashes.
Now I was rushed! Dusted the Mineralize Duo Bronzer across her cheeks and a little to her temples, a TINY dab down her nose bridge.
And before I could finish her lips with the Fresh Brew, my time was up!
I was panicky and really worried about not finished perfectly, I suddenly started picking it all apart but Tanya put me at ease, said I didnt need to do the full face but she was glad I managed to get the eyes finished. She asked me to talk me through the look. I told her how I was going for classic smokey eye with a healthy summer glow and nude lips. I had chosen slate grey shades rather than black with a hint of cool blue. The lighter silver to illuminate her inner corners and make her eyes appear wider. And the choice of a navy blue eyeliner to really make the green/teal of her eyes stand out (rather than obvious purple).
She said I had applied everything really well, the base was light and even, good match, She said the smokiness was done well and that she was really happy I had really laid the liner down well and connected the gap between waterline and lower lashes. She said this gap left untouched is her pet-peeve about other artists. I then cleaned up my space and she got the managers to bring me downstairs again.
By this point I was exhausted lol and and not nervous at all really. I met the managers Danielle and Ruth who were both really nice and put me at ease for the second-half of the verbal. These questions were more typical interview questions:
What do you understand about the M.A.C philosophy?
Why did you choose M.A.C?
What is your personal style and how do you think you would fit in here?
How would you keep yourself motivated working for us?
What are your ideal work partner qualities? Your worst work partner qualities?
etc......
So thats it.
I'm pretty lucky to have got this far without any make-up experience but I made sure I looked as confident as possible and presented myself well. All the girls working there were whispering that they were keeping their fingers crossed, that they would really like a guy to work there, and that they would be rooting for me. That of course makes me feel a lot more confident but it'll be down to the trainer and managers decisions on whether I was good enough.
So now I wait, hopefully I should know by next week at the v most 2 weeks. Sorry about the length but thanks to everyone again for their useful posts
Ben
..I tried to elaborate on my transferable skills from being at university, raising a family, *scraping the barrel a bit here* even mentioned p/t retail work I did in the hairdressing industry more than 10 years ago *shameful*.
as a supervisor in the uk, anyone have ideas on what i should wear on my eyes etc?
