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Nikki Makeup's Success Story
1 Million+ Instagram followers, Celebrity Clients and The Makeup Bag Essentials You Can't Live Without
Interview by Shemaiah Gold
Nikki Wolf aka Nikki Makeup @nikki_makeup on Instagram is the British born, London based Makeup Artist with over 1 Million followers on Instagram & has celebrities and makeup enthusiasts drooling over her looks. Some of her clientele are amongst the likes of Kim Kardashian, Sharon Osborne and Rosie Huntington- Whiteley and being featured in esteemed magazines such as Vogue, Esquire and Harpers Bazaar. When looking up Nikki via google you won't find much information and in some cases she has been mixed up with well known makeup artist Nikki Tutorials via the internet however Instagram is the main home of inspiration for Nikki where she shares her clientele, looks and thoughts. It's clear that she keeps her private life private as I was surprised to learn that she was accompanied with her new born baby during the Interview! How Cute!
I was already excited to interview Nikki as I had been following her for a while with most of her posts in my 'saved' section on my Instagram account but learning she is now a mother made me even more keen to dig in to the conversation. I wanted to know more about her story and couldn't believe how consistent she had been with working and posting on social media whilst maintaining the privacy of her relationship status and motherhood.
For those of you who haven't heard of Nikki prior to this interview, she is well known for her signature brushed up brows and dewy glass like skin, all of her looks have the Nikki stamp on it and are extremely unique, you'll know a Nikki look when you see one. It would have been great to meet up physically in a cute café in Mayfair but instead we had to settle for Zoom with the latest COVID-19 restrictions. As I put on my 'zoom meeting' attire and sat down with my hair tied back, I waited ready in anticipation to have an amazing conversation with one of the most distinctive makeup artists on social media right now. As an LCF alumni & ex Hair & Makeup student myself, it was exciting to see her growth and success, I felt as though I could relate with her on the grounds that we had been to the same university and even completed the same course!
Let's take it all the way back to the beginning, Where did the journey begin?
"Well, It was something I always knew I wanted to do, ever since I was a young girl and even before I knew that being a makeup artist was a career. I went to London College Of Fashion to study makeup and it was there that I met a photographer, he liked my work and I was able to get an evening job working for him….that was my first little taste of the industry and it cemented my love for it. I then went to work for MAC Cosmetics and I was apart of the events team so I used to do fashion week as well as some other events in London. That was an incredible experience, especially back in the day which was about 15 years ago now. MAC was heavily artistry based so I feel like I learnt a lot there, I then went freelance and I guess you just meet lots of people as you go along.
I've always been passionate about making other women feel their most beautiful, I think that is maybe the best way I would describe my style. It's always been priority to me that a woman wears makeup rather than the makeup wearing her, it was never trend based when i did makeup, I just created looks that I felt were the most beautiful for the moment and that often correlated with trends without even meaning to.
Instagram was a natural thing, I didn't join with any intention…I was just on set one day and a model asked me if I had Instagram, I then said 'oh i'm not really into social media' and she responded with 'it's really easy, you just take a picture of the work you're doing, hashtag a few things and take it from there'. I downloaded Instagram and my following grew so quickly. People would see my work and book me that way, which is how i got to meet a lot of the celebrity clients I've worked on.
So you've been working as a makeup artist for 16 years, a long time to stick at something, what kept you going for so long, how did you remain consistent and was there ever a point where you felt as though you weren't seeing the result of how much you were putting in?
"Absolutely, there's a few people that come up really quickly but for most people it's a long hard journey and it takes a lot of dedication. You have to be resilient to the rejection you inevitably get along the way, there were years that I felt like I was never going to turn it into a career and make a living but it didn't really matter to me because I had so much love for it that I continued anyway, that's the key to a successful career - reliance & wanting to keep going even when you don't see anything coming from it."
I loved this response because most people don't consider the rejection part when they set out on their career, i think i prefer the word journey as Nikki describes it. The reality of climbing up in your career are the parts of the story when things don't go your way, the majority give up but the small percentage that become successful are always those who don't. As Nikki continues to give me an insight into her world, i get a true sense of genuine love for what she does rather than it just being 'work' for her.
She goes on to describe the industry now in comparison to when she first started.
"It's a different world now. When I started, a makeup artist was one of the last things to be thought of, it was always photographer, stylist, model , hairstylist and then makeup artist somewhere down the line. Now, the makeup artist on set can be the most important person and on some occasions make the shoot. I feel like, people have realised that a good makeup artist compared to a bad one can make or break their career so in favour of all the makeup artists out there, we've finally become more valuable."
So..a bit more about you, who is Nikki Makeup and what is your definition of true beauty in this time?
"I remember when I was about 5 years old, my mum put mascara on me for the first time and i remember being in awe of the fact that you could do this thing that was so easy and fun that elevated your beauty. As a young girl I had this fascination for making people beautiful, like truly enhancing their beauty, so I would scribble over pages in magazines and give people lashes, different shaped brows and colour in their lips and this was all before I knew that being a Makeup Artist was a career. I was 12/13 when I found an article in a magazine about makeup artists and i ripped it out and stuck it on my wall and said 'that's what i want to do'.
I know it's cliché to say but Beauty is about confidence and I think it has a unique meaning to every individual. It can be so many things to so many different people yet there's always something that will catch everybody's eye about a beautiful image. I believe there needs to be a point of interest, it's no longer about a pretty girl with pretty makeup.There needs to be something, even if it's a tiny detail like a brushed up brow or a slightly enhanced lip shape that can make you stop and look at an image and if the women wearing the look are comfortable and confident in it, that's what will stand out.
That's beauty - if we see an image of a woman that looks like she loves herself, we're drawn to that immediately."
Taking into consideration the trending body enhancements, filters and harsh contour lines over the last few years it was refreshing to hear Nikki's idea of beauty and It gave me more understanding that as a makeup artist, it's not just about the makeup application itself but also the psychology behind why it's being applied, especially the confidence she gives her clients. I'm thoroughly enjoying this conversation but i wanted to move on quite quickly as we didn't have much time, Nikki had been waiting for another client whilst we had our zoom call so I ensured that i made the most out of the 15-20 minutes I had with her.
What is your main source of inspiration, what keeps you inspired and what inspires your looks? Especially in a time like this during COVID where it's very easy to feel mundane. Most people will be spending more time indoors than usual and most galleries and museums in London are closed which is a big pain for creatives.
"Social media is a great place for finding ideas. I love Pinterest for pulling up mood boards for shoots and inspiration. However I get my main inspiration from the faces i'm working on. I can only plan a look roughly but it's only when I see a face close up that i will decide what i'm going to do. For example, i'll find that their particularly eye socket shape is so inspiring that i want to create a look based on that, or finding that they have great bone structure so most of my ideas come from someone being sat in front of me."
Okay, I haven't heard that before.. it's really interesting that you can be inspired by something so simple and overlooked.
"That's good I always like saying things people haven't heard before, it's not easy." Nikki responds as she laughs delicately.
I find that with social media, nowadays, it's so easy to be so glued to Instagram that coming up with original ideas becomes difficult because you're constantly looking at what other people have done. How do you stay original and consistently churning out distinctive looks?
"It's a really good question because that's probably the side of my work that I find the most challenging, to come up with ideas that are truly unique because to be honest, almost everything has been done before..
I've had instances where someone has seen what i've done and said 'you've copied me, i did this 6 months ago.' and i'm like this has been done so many times before, I have no idea who you are and it's not an original idea so has nothing to do with your work.
There's one particular artist who's style is similar to mine and we follow each other. Often i'll post a picture and he'll send me a DM saying look what i've just shot and it's uncanny that we think so similarly, we often shoot the exact same things at the same time. On one occasion I shot something with pearls on the eye and he literally messaged me showing that he had just shot a similar look with pearls so i'm really big on not calling people out for stealing ideas, I know there's so much of that on social media. But then under the same breath you want to be original, you don't ever want to look to someone else's ideas for your own inspiration.
I do spend time scrolling through social media referencing artists that I like for inspiration. However, when i'm about to do a shoot, I try not to look just before because those ideas stick in your head and it is natural to think 'that's a beautiful image' and then take an element of that and recreate it, so i try to avoid looking.
In fact, when I think back to my most original work - it has to be a shoot I did for Vogue Arabia where i did a design with eyeliner and I can honestly say, i'm pretty sure I haven't seen it been done before or maybe it has but not the way I did it, so to do something like that and then to have that feeling afterwards of it being a truly original piece of work was a great feeling. The inspiration literally came from painting on her eyes and just seeing the shapes that worked, then coming up with an idea. I really feel that, that is the best way to be inspired because you'll create unique looks that will be the most beautiful for the person you're creating them on."
What advice would you give to the younger you, budding makeup artists freelancing and hungry for an open door?
"Everybody's journey and pace is different so try not to compare yourself. Comparison is the root of disappointment, it really is. I used to say to my mum (who was very supportive of my dreams and trusted in what i wanted to do) 'look at this person, they're doing this'.. and she would respond with 'how old are they?' and they would usually be in their late 30's early 40's, then she would say 'you're only 22, you're still young, you have time'. So I learnt to give myself time even though it's easier said than done but i just understood that my journey was different, others spent years assisting Makeup Artists whereas I chose to never do that. So i think that's the best advice really , look at things that inspire you but stay true to who you are and it will be the love for what you do that will carry you rather than pressure to match up to the standards that are around you.
Unfortunately, we live in a world now where it's all about comparison.
Everyone is looking at who's got a smaller waist or prettier face, we have ideas of what we want but i think just finding your own spot and being comfortable wherever it is, is difficult to achieve but if you can get there, it's the most secure and powerful place to be."
What are your 3 makeup essentials for a Personal Makeup Kit vs Makeup Artist kit?
"For a general makeup bag, keep it super simple.
I don't go anywhere without my lip balm or it could be a tinted lip balm for a bit of colour on your lips. Another easy essential to keep in your makeup bag is a brow comb. My pet hate is eyebrows that get messy throughout the day. Lastly, Mascara. The brand i use depends on how I feel but I love the Classic Dior Pump & Volume, Urban Decay Lash Freak & Marc Jacobs.
For the Makeup Artists Kit, soap is absolutely essential.
I feel like I can't do makeup the same without soap.
Good Tools is also essential. It's important to have good tools because when doing your own makeup, you can get by using your fingers and sponges, feeling your way with products on the skin. However, If you do someone else's face you're feeling different things, so yes, good tools."