Makeup artist Paddy Mcgurgan is fast becoming a renowned makeup artist in the UK and Ireland with accomplishments such as winner of the Distinction of makeup artistry by Illamasqua as well as previous winner of European creative makeup artist. Recently he was key artist for brands such as Avelon at Paris fashion week, as well as running a makeup training academy, he has also opened two niche makeup stores stocking brands such as Embryolisse , Balance me , Makeup Atelier and Make up studio. We interviewed Paddy to find out his beauty secrets, stand our career moments and who are his main influences?
Institute: Can you tell us a bit about your background? How did your career begin in makeup?
Paddy: Art and Music have always been my two obsessions. So initially I chose to pursue, a career in Music studying a music degree in Belfast, University of Ulster. During this transition, I had a friend who began working for MAC Cosmetics which had only opened six months previously. In Belfast at that stage, there had not been any male make-up artists and so to gain extra money over the Christmas period my friend convinced me to go and apply for a retail sales position there. It was then that my love affair with the art of make-up began, and I have been hooked since!
Institute: What has been a stand-out out moment in your career so far?
Paddy: After many years of freelance make up artistry, I eventually gathered the courage to fulfil one of my dreams which was to open my own make up store with niche make up products for the general consumer and make-up artist community.
Institute: What is your number one beauty tip?
Paddy: To always remove your make up and use appropriate skin care which in turn allows make up, to look its most beautiful.
Institute: Do you like creating out-there looks, or do you prefer classical beauty?
Paddy: I believe there are two different types of artists; Cosmetics Artist and Creative Artists, I find exceptional make-up artists that I train that love to produce beautiful, wearable looks and on the other hand Creative Artists such as I, love the mixture of doing Cosmetic Artistry and highly inventive looks.
Institute: What is your favorite makeup brand? Make-up Studio.
Paddy: I first fell in love with Make up Studio, when I was working on a show in Greece almost 8 years and purchased a selection of their products. I adore their high performance foundations and highly pigmented eye shadows.
Institute: What is in your makeup bag?
Paddy: My life…obviously as a make up artist one does try to prepare for every eventuality, in terms of styling brief, my main brands that I feel give me the best artist results are;Make up Studio, Make up Atelier, Senna, Embryolisse, Ben Nye and Kryolan.
Institute: Does everyone look better with make-up?
Paddy: I believe that a good make-up artist should identify, always, what is wrong with the face, so they can fix what they see, in terms of achieving better symmetry, skin textures, or simplistic colour correction. From the ordinary client right up to the Victoria Secret model, make up is tool that is used to show the individuals natural beauty, or in the fashion world is there to convey a mood and majesty.
Institute: What would be your advice to someone who suffers with bad skin?
Paddy: First of all try and find someone who has a good understanding of skin and skincare, someone impartial on recommending a specific brand, and making sure your skincare is tailor made on improving the condition of your skin. For e.g. extremely oily skin, make sure your moisturiser is oil free, if your skin breaks out ensure blemish control, is applied to the specific areas, and to not subject your unblemished areas to this intensive treatment, this can dry the skin out and aides aging .
Institute: If you could obtain a Super power what would it be?
Paddy: As a make-up artist, we already have the greatest super-power, the ability to transform.
Institute: How do you keep yourself occupied in between projects?
Paddy: I am very lucky to get a day off (*Paddy laughs*) so for me it is more important to make sure I set aside time to work more on my own, more personal projects, where i don’t have a client giving me a specific reify I get more freedom to create concepts that I have been bubbling under the surface that I would like to create.
Institute: Who influenced you in your early years? Who is your biggest influence now?
Paddy: I remember at the very beginning being very influenced when I watched various music videos and the creative make ups it really helped to open my mind to what I know now. The endless possibilities that you have when you work with make up. I distinctly remember watching a video by Christina Aguilera called ‘Fighter’, many years later I discovered the make-up concept was created by one of my icons Francesa Tolot, she remains a make-up heroine to me. Other influential artists currently range from Kabuki, Val Garland, to the creative looks created by the many Instagram kings and queen that I also channel inspiration from.
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