From the beginning of her own career as a two time Blanche Macdonald graduate (Makeup and Fashion Marketing), Tracey Payne has been a sought after talent; a gentle yet powerful force who has impacted every environment she touches. She has helped cultivate an open and engaging structure within Canada’s artistic communities, cementing Blanche Macdonald’s connections with industry professionals and high profile organizations including Film and Television Unions IATSE Local 891 and ACFC, and international makeup organizations Make-up Artist Magazine, IMATS and The Makeup Show. Tracey has built successful and enduring relationships with some of the World’s leading Makeup Artists and brought them through Blanche Macdonald’s doors to share their wisdom with our students. She’s played a pivotal role in welcoming Emmy Award-winning artists Eve Pearl, David DeLeon and Todd McIntosh, Academy Award-winners Howard Berger, Tami Lane, Maurice Stein and Ve Neill, and Celebrity Makeup Artists including Lyle Reimer, Mimi Choi, Timothy Hung, Roque Cozzette, Sharon Gault, Janeen Witherspoon and Ayami Nishimura to our School.
Committed to educational excellence, Tracey regularly draws upon her own vast and inspiring experience, sharing her stories, insights and dazzling passion with each person that she encounters. The strength of her spirit and the warmth of her smile encourage students to bring out their ‘A game’ and reach for their fullest potential.
It’s so important to remember that we need joy in our careers!
“We practice what we teach,” explains Tracey. “It’s essential that we acknowledge every student’s specific needs, their individual effort and their personality. My favourite thing about this job is being able to witness each student’s artistry develop and inspiring those artists to be accountable for their own future.
“We thrive on doing great work and we love to champion the creative journey. It’s so important to remember that we need joy in our careers!” The Makeup Department is inevitably filled with laughter when Tracey is around. Her sense of humour celebrates the power of a great giggle. She is a burst of colour and personality on campus, shining in a style utterly her own, bringing on smiles and leaving us in anticipation to see which custom designed skirt and limited edition Fluevogs she’ll be sporting next. Not to mention the magnificently bold and masterfully blended shadows of her eye-du-jour!
Strong, beautiful, compassionate and fierce, we’re grateful to have Tracey at the heart of our Makeup Program.
Makeup doesn’t merely transform faces. It has the power to change lives.
If proof were ever needed, look no further than Makeup Graduate Ilona Verley, whose message of Two-Spirit Indigenous positivity is poised to shine across the country and beyond as a star on the first series of Canada’s Drag Race.
Ilona rocks a truly iconic look custom-designed by Blanche grad Evan Clayton
“Growing up as someone inherently queer, I was always asked if I’m a boy or a girl,” explains Ilona. “It bothered me then but now I chuckle and say, ‘I’m both!’ During the last couple of years of high school I started diving into my creativity and Makeup. That gave a face to the female inside me. My makeup wasn’t good, but I still felt so beautiful. It was so freeing. The more I played around the more I realized it was something I loved.”
Canada is poised to fall in love with Ilona and their colourful and ever-fierce looks on the Crave streaming service. You won’t find any spoiler alerts here (sorry, not sorry) but Ilona’s pre-show personal storyline is an adventure of its own.
{Blanche Makeup Program Director Tracey Payne} started talking about the Makeup program and seeing artistry like that blew me away. I showed her some photos of stuff I’d done and the encouragement to pursue that was so exciting.
“One of my friends signed up for the Hair Program at Blanche and when she was visiting I came with to support her. I met Tracey Payne, who asked me why I was there. She started talking about the Makeup program and seeing artistry like that blew me away. I showed her some photos of stuff I’d done and the encouragement to pursue that was so exciting. At that point I was practicing drag and obsessively watching Drag Race. I’d learned all about the scene, even though I’d never been to a nightclub at that point. I thought I would learn Makeup at Blanche and then I’d go out! My goal was to get good at drag. And it worked!
“Tracey told me that I needed to meet Jaylene McRae. Jaylene was the first queer indigenous person I’d ever met. It was so inspiring. It made me embrace my own journey. When I came out as gay it still didn’t feel right. Being gay didn’t explain the feminine energy I felt. It wasn’t until I met Jaylene and my Drag Mom Quanah Style that I learned the term Two-Spirit. Even though I was raised within my culture it was still something that had been lost from a lot of communities through colonization and all that bullshit. To me, Two-Spirit is about who you are and how you represent yourself between your masculine and female energies.”
Blanche Macdonald gave Ilona more than the confidence to embrace their true identity. It also gave them the skills to turns transformative makeup ideas into fabulous reality.
Jaylene was the first queer indigenous person I’d ever met. It was so inspiring. It made me embrace my own journey.
“My time at Blanche was super fun. My fundamentals teacher, Lesley Opheim was my favourite. We still talk all the time. I always wanted to jump into crazy colours but Lesley would explain that I needed to learn the basics first. I was always challenging her. But she was right! Learning the fundamentals made it easier to do the creative things. If you don’t understand face shapes or the ways to apply makeup you can’t do it properly. One tip of hers stuck with me for life. Always moisturize the neck!”
The road from Makeup School to Canada’s Drag Race was never smooth. Ilona worked at the NYX store in Vancouver while performing, and nearly made the cut for the American version of the show after “spending $12,000 that I didn’t have” on an audition tape. Heartbroken, they ran away to Sydney, Australia to get over the disappointment of being so close yet so far from fulfilling a dream.
“Sydney made me fall in love with Drag all over again. They do really artistic drag there and getting back to the artistry was what I love. When I was there they put out a casting call for Canada’s Drag Race. I thought, is this a sign? So I applied and it turned into the most amazing process of my life. The day I got the call I flipped backwards and almost fell off the chair I was sat on.”
We have no idea how the Season is going to play out, and we wouldn’t tell you even if we knew. The only certainty is that Ilona will be spreading positivity every step of the way.
I have a duty to represent indigenous people and talk about my culture and being Two-Spirit.
“I have a duty to represent indigenous people and talk about my culture and being Two-Spirit,” they insist. “There’s not enough indigenous representation in mainstream media. I’ve always wanted to be famous. Not for myself. I want to make other people feel good. If I can inspire someone that’s so exciting. If another indigenous kid is watching and sees someone like them, that’s the most important thing of all.”
Mimi Le Fox speaks of her impressive career with such a grounded, matter-of-factness, it’s easy to overlook the work it took her to get there. But hard work is not only one of her personal values, but it’s also one of the main contributions to where she is now as the Clinical Director for Arbutus Laser Centre, Registered Nurse, trained Esthetician, and sclerotherapist. Mimi’s career is just one example of the possibilities that unfold when you pair dedication with drive and determination, letting your passion lead the way!
What led you to pursue Esthetics initially? Was it something you always wanted to do?
When I came out of high school, I had no clue where to start. One of my friends told me about the Esthetics course at Blanche Macdonald that she was taking and so a couple of friends and I signed up and went together. That’s where I learned I enjoyed being around people and helping them.
So you enjoyed your Esthetics program experience?
It was amazing! I wouldn’t have decided to go into nursing without it and I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t gone to Blanche Macdonald. It created a foundation for me to build my career, and was a crucial stepping stone for me. Blanche became more than a school for me, it gave me life skills I still use today.
Blanche became more than a school for me, it gave me life skills I still use today.
Can you talk about your Esthetics journey and what led you to nursing?
I started working for Atlantis Day Spa in Tsawwassen and was there for almost three years. During my time with them, I had the opportunity to talk to clients one-on-one which helped develop my communication and hands-on skills—I learned so much about myself! I realized that I loved what I was doing and I loved helping people, but I wanted to help in more in-depth ways. I wanted to challenge myself to learn something new and take my career even higher. I left my job and traveled while I decided what my next step was going to be. I decided that I wanted to combine my love of Esthetics with a more medicinal background and do nursing. When I came back from traveling, I started a job with Arbutus Laser and started my prerequisites for nursing. It’s a really long wait to get into nursing. I had to wait 2 years to start nursing school after I finished my pre-requisites. In the meantime, I was learning to do laser treatments at the clinic and continuing my education that way. Once the time came, I started nursing full-time and scaled back my responsibilities at the clinic. When I finished my nursing degree, they created a full-time nursing position for me and I became the Clinical Director a few years later in 2018. None of that would’ve happened without my base in Esthetics. My time in the program at Blanche truly gave me the confidence to work with and on people, and it helped me build a lot of the communication skills I didn’t have before.
Such an amazing story! And you also specialize in sclerotherapy at the clinic?
As a nurse, I am qualified to inject spider veins on the legs. I love injecting leg veins! I actually do a lot of the laser treatments at the clinic. I also do treatments for facial skin resurfacing, pigmentation, anti-aging, rosacea, tattoo removal, birthmarks, and skin damage. Laser covers a lot of ground in my career! One of my long term goals is to do facial injections as well. I’ve started the training and it’s a very complex and challenging field to enter. I really believe that education plus practice is key in this field.
I really believe that education plus practice is key in this field.
What’s your favourite part of the job day-to-day?
We get the opportunity to work closely with people and that’s the best part of it for me. Whether they come in for a consultation or they come in with medical skin concerns, being able to go over their options and then starting the process of treatments is incredible. The most rewarding part is comparing the before and after photos and seeing the results. For patients, you’re changing the way they see themselves, boosting their self-esteem and giving them more confidence. Nothing beats that! We’re ethical, moral, and honest with our clients about what we can help them with.
Take us through a day in the life of the Clinical Director!
Every day is different, which is pretty awesome! Yesterday I was back-to-back with treatments and consultations. Some days, I am doing HR management. Other days, I am working on clinical administration duties. The variety as a Clinical Director keeps me on my toes! I usually get to the clinic around 8:30am to work on admin duties until 10am, which is when my patients come in. I’m also currently leading a study that takes up some of my time as well.
Blanche truly gave me the confidence to work with and on people, and it helped me build a lot of the communication skills I didn’t have before.
What’s your most often given advice to clients?
Oh gosh, SUNSCREEN! I probably say it 20 times a day. Rain, shine—doesn’t matter. I always suggest a mineral sunscreen versus a chemical sunscreen because it is safer for your skin, better in sun protection and environmentally friendlier. Don’t go anywhere without it and re-apply every 2-3 hours.
Having an esthetics background will really set a foundation for being a good medical esthetician.
What’s the typical clientele you see most? Do you find people are well informed when they come to see you?
My clients are predominantly female but since we offer many different procedures, that allows us to have a greater cross-section of clientele. I’ve had 12-year-old teenage boys to 87-year-old grandmas, and everyone in between. As a medical-style clinic, we’re committed to being open, respectful and supportive of any patients that come through our doors, we want everyone to feel welcome in our clinic. My younger patients are definitely more informed because of social media. Some people are well-informed while others are not. There is a lot of misinformation around the industry and I love sharing my knowledge and educating people to provide facts they can move forward with.
If someone is thinking of going into medical Esthetics, what would your advice for them be?
Having an esthetics background will really set a foundation for being a good medical esthetician. Laser training is necessary but much easier to learn once that foundation is set. Work hard and it will pay off in the end!
It’s not easy explaining exactly how Daisy Hsiang spends her days. Even Daisy can’t pinpoint the precise focus of her entrepreneurial adventures. She’s a fashion Makeup Artist. She’s a photographer and art director. She’s a writer. She’s a skincare entrepreneur. It all falls within the domain of the brand this Makeup Co-op program graduate created and continues to run, DaisyCode.
“I’m a creative person,” she explains from her home in Taiwan. “I want to create new things. I can’t even tell you what my future plans are. I love trying new things and combining them with Makeup.”
Why limit yourself?
Why limit yourself? That’s the ethos that’s defined the Blanche Macdonald Makeup Co-op graduate’s journey from Taiwan to Vancouver and back again. She’s been featured in Italian Vogue and Marie Claire Taiwan, and already has an agent helping her grow her unique personal brand. Not that Daisy is career-minded. Far from it. For her, it’s all about the creativity.
“I love art,” she continues. “I actually started to study Industrial Management at university in Taiwan, which is when I started playing with makeup for the first time. I wanted to know more about beauty makeup so I took a basic photography and professional makeup class while I was in university. That class made me so happy. I took some design classes at same time, drawing fashion sketches and learning the basics of graphic and interior design. I didn’t understand the purpose of learning design but I loved it! I progressively cultivated my aesthetic at that time. That really helped me when I came to Blanche Macdonald. Everything is connected to everything else!
“That’s how I decided that was what I needed to do with my life! I’m lucky that my parents always support me when I want to do something different. When I told my Mom that I wanted to move and didn’t want to stay in Taiwan, she said, ‘Fine, but you have to move to Vancouver because we had a house there.’ Blanche Macdonald is very famous. It’s the best makeup school in Canada, right? I wanted to learn from the best so I came to Blanche!
“At first it was hard to learn English. Language is about logic, culture and how people live life. So learning languages can help expand the mindset. Understanding a new culture is really helpful when doing creative work. My next goal is Learning French! Everything about the culture and the food seemed so different when I arrived in Vancouver. Although the sushi there is very good!
Jon Hennessey was my instructor for fashion makeup. He’s the best instructor I’ve ever had. When we were in class and I was struggling, he sat me down and said, ‘Daisy, you can do great makeup. I can see it and you can explain it. That’s how you can practice your English’.
“Jon Hennessey was my instructor for fashion makeup. He’s the best instructor I’ve ever had. When we were in class and I was struggling, he sat me down and said, ‘Daisy, you can do great makeup. I can see it and you can explain it. That’s how you can practice your English.”
Daisy came to Blanche Macdonald as a Makeup Co-op program student, meaning that she repeatedly had the opportunity to put everything she was learning in the classroom into action in real world situations.
Makeup by Daisy Hsiang
“I volunteered a lot when I was at Makeup School. Volunteering really helped me to identify what I did and didn’t want. At one point I thought I would focus doing Special Effects for TV and Film. By the time I graduated I was on the different path. It was so good for me to meet other people, work on my portfolio and be inspired. Heather Sosa and Jen Brown in the Career Department always supported the students and did everything they could to help us find jobs we wanted. There are so many places they can connect you where your volunteer work can be used in your portfolio. That helps you get other jobs you want. They know some amazing artists around Vancouver. Heather has helped me a lot over the past few years.”
Daisy has learned to be forgiving when people question her unique journey. She’s the kind of young woman that rarely declines an opportunity. Every step of her adventures in beauty has been inspired by this willingness to open new doors and see where they lead.
Flora for DaisyCode was a hugely collaborative project near to Daisy’s heart.
Photography (and more) by Daisy Hsiang featured on her PhotoVogue profile
“Lifestyle and mindset are the ways to find your own aesthetic. Makeup School can teach you the skills and the Makeup Co-op program can give you a great introduction to work experience in Canada, but you have to spend time studying and exploring your style to make yourself special among the thousands of artists out there.
Heather Sosa and Jen Brown in the Career Department always supported the students and did everything they could to help us find jobs we wanted. There are so many places they can connect you where your volunteer work can be used in your portfolio. That helps you get other jobs you want.
“I really encourage students to volunteer for different kinds of opportunities. Don’t only think about money. You do collaborations to grow your portfolio and build up your connections! I was the first makeup artist represented by LiKuang. They were interested in me as a Makeup co-op program graduate from an internationally recognized Makeup School. One of the project managers of Marie Claire Taiwan worked with my agent in the past. That’s how I made my first connection. The Marie Claire feature led to a shoot for Italian Vogue. That was good but so hard! Vogue wants things that are perfect. That can be stressful but also a lot of fun.”
Daisy imbues so much creativity and introspection in her own portrait work
Shoots with some of the World’s most prestigious magazines would be enough for some Makeup Artists. For Daisy, it’s just the beginning. She’s also found time to launch her own range of skincare products, although DaisyCode’s Flora Facial Mask and Tea Tree Hand Gel are only available in Taiwan at the time of writing (“I created the skin care line for my sensitive skin. I put the skin care knowledge into my products that I learned at Blanche”). Prada invited her to Milan to document her Fashion Week experiences in 2019. She has a book documenting her travels in France pending, and if it weren’t for the Coronavirus crisis, this spring she would have hosted her first art exhibition in Vancouver.
What may seem unconventional at first glance makes perfect sense for Daisy. Every day is a creative adventure and she actively encourages other to follow her example.
“I established DaisyCode Inc. in Canada in 2019. Our first project was to exhibit my journey and my photography at Art Vancouver. Although that was postponed due to COVID-19, we are so ready for it in 2021. We already have a plan to publish a book about travel across France focussing on lifestyle, art, travel and beauty.
Makeup by Daisy Hsiang
“I’m also a Art director for LiKuang. We’re doing some fun photoshoots and building up the LiKuang Online shop.”
What may seem unconventional at first glance makes perfect sense for Daisy. Every day is a creative adventure and she actively encourages other to follow her example.
“I don’t think Makeup Artists should only do makeup,” she insists. “Doing art direction and photography helps me develop my aesthetic, which is more than helpful for creating makeup.
I don’t think Makeup Artists should only do makeup,” she insists. “Doing art direction and photography helps me develop my aesthetic, which is more than helpful for creating makeup.
“I put a lot of effort into achieve my goals. The meaning of life is the stuff we can’t really touch. Things like love and family. I don’t work hard because I want to have power, money or to be influencer. I put the effort in for freedom. Freedom lets you live the life you want to have. So keep going and pursue your dreams!”
Kristine Rojo always had her nails done. When the end of high school seemed to loom over her, she decided that she at least didn’t want to have to pay to get her nails done forever so she would learn to do them herself. A small handful of years later this Nail Studio graduate’s private Vancouver studio is booked five months in advance, with no room for new clients! She dubbed her booming nail business Kaebaby Nails: “I named my business after my modeling alias. It’s actually a little embarrassing now because I could’ve chosen literally any.other.name! But it’s who I am now!”
Your Kaebaby Nail books are closed! That takes quite a few clients—how long have you been building a clientele for?
After I graduated from Nail School, I started working from home in 2015 but realized that I still wanted to learn as much as I could from others. So I moved to a salon, and then I worked at two more after that. It was after the third salon that I went off on my own. The number of people that followed me from the salon helped me so much. I didn’t even need to take hardly any more clients, my nail business was booking so far in advance. I couldn’t keep up! I’m booked until the end of the year right now. It’s the weekend spots that go quickly—even with COVID.
Browsing your Instagram feed, it seems like every single set you do is opulent and intricate. Do your clients give you some direction or do you just create on the fly?
I usually message my clients the day before their appointment to see what they want, whether it’s specific or just a certain vibe, and what their budget is. Some people send over some photos of what they want or they’ll say “I don’t know what I do want, but here’s what I don’t want.” In that case, I look through saved photos of my own to see what I have that they might like. I have SO MUCH reference stuff saved. If we can’t or don’t nail down a plan the night before, I’ll have to think quickly during their appointment and be inspired by the stuff I’ve looked at myself. Then of course you talk about the design and what I was looking at and thinking of creating and then it’s go time!
Turning a space into a salon is a lot of work but this space didn’t have that element to it. We were kind of like ‘Are we crazy for thinking about this!?’ In the end, we couldn’t pass it up.
And where do you draw your inspiration from? Who are some of your favourite accounts that you follow and where do you learn new techniques?
Mostly Instagram though I just got into Pinterest and I’m all like ‘Why wasn’t I here sooner!?’ But on Instagram, I follow a bunch of nail artists but my favourite to get inspiration from are: @nail_0408, @cits_nails, @tink_nail, @mananails, and @palettecarys! I will sometimes watch a YouTube video on a new technique I’m looking into or if the artist has an IG TV video tutorial then I watch those. But mostly I learn new techniques by practicing on my own nails through trial and error! A new word I learned recently for the type of creative style I like to go for is called “nuance” art. It’s kind of hard to explain, but it’s just more on the abstract side of nail art!
Were you artistic growing up?
I would say so! I’ve been artistic since I was born. My parents met in art class outside of high school, and I took a lot of inspiration from my older sister who is a graphic designer and my brother can draw as well.
How has COVID-19 affected your day-to-day operations of your nail business?
Now that we can take clients again, I take a lot more precautions and I make sure there’s time to clean between appointments. In a salon, this kind of thing would be so hard to consistently carry out, but for me, I just have to clean more and get the plexiglass separator installed. That’s one of the great things about having your own in-home nail business! As far as clients, I’ve got some younger clients who still live at home that text me being all, “My parents won’t let me come get my Nails done!” But that just makes room for new people I guess!
What is your secret to keeping such loyal clientele, especially in the weird times we’re living in now?
Vulnerability and passion. No question. One thing that my clients always tell me that’s kept them away from other techs is the feeling that they’re not working from a passionate place for Nails. It’s such a personal service that the feeling like your tech is cold and unfriendly or just not into it, it kills the enjoyment—you know? It’s so much better to be kind to your clients and interested in them. I’m always there to be a shoulder or an ear for my clients. Also being physically gentle with your client! That’s so huge… and so overlooked for some reason!
I only considered Blanche... from all my research and word-of-mouth from everyone I talked to, it was clearly the best option with the most post-grad success. It was SO worth it!
So, what led to the decision that starting your own nail business was what you wanted to do?
I was always getting my Nails done and it was getting VERY expensive. Eventually, my senior year came around and I had no plans for post-secondary so I thought “Well, maybe my mom will let me do it?” I asked and she was all “… are you sure?!” I thought at the very least I would learn how to do my own Nails and save money. It wasn’t until I started doing other people’s nails that I realized I actually DID want to do this as a career. Thank God I was good at it… I don’t really know what I would be doing otherwise!
And how did you end up in the Nail program at Blanche Macdonald?
I only considered Blanche! I think I looked at one other school but from all my research and word-of-mouth from everyone I talked to, it was clearly the best option with the most post-grad success. It was SO worth it! Min and Yuri were my teachers and they were just so knowledgeable and so incredible.
What is your favourite thing about doing Nails?
Making people feel pretty! You probably hear that all the time, but it really is the most satisfying part of the job. I think also one of my favourite things is when people use me as a therapist so I know that my clients are leaving feeling better than when they came in. I know SO many things that I don’t need to know. Clients really do tell you things that they don’t tell anyone and I’m here just like ‘SPILL THE TEA!’
One of your favourite sets you’ve done lately would be:
I did a hand-painted Takashi Murakami set a few months ago and I LOVED it! But really, I love anything pop-arty, cartoons, or with lots of hand-painting. My favourite is when a client will come in and let me do whatever I want on them. The best part of getting your Nails done is getting someone to FUCK YOU UP! With my hand-painted sets, the real skill is on there and THOSE are Nails.
Turning a space into a salon is a lot of work but this space didn’t have that element to it. We were kind of like ‘Are we crazy for thinking about this!?’ In the end, we couldn’t pass it up.
Top 3 most used products at your station are:
Akzentz Shine On Luxio Blush Gel Colour Bio Chic Basecoat
The advice you’d give the Kristine of five years ago?
Be careful who you work for. Is that too saucy? Make sure you know who you’re working with. Research everything before you work there.
In five years where can we find you?
I hope that by then, I’ve been able to branch my nail business out into a storefront somewhere. I also would love to teach people how to do Nails. I don’t know if I will want to only do Nail sets forever but I would love to pass these skills on to other people so they can take it and make something new.
“We opened Artel Cambie in 2017 and that was a commission salon. We eventually got to the point where we couldn’t take on any more stylists! People always used to ask ‘Are you going to open another one?’ and I was like ‘NO!’”
But it seems the universe had other plans for Eliza’s undeniable salon management talents. Overnight, a salon very near her already-functioning Cambie salon closed. It was a salon in a prime location, just waiting for someone to come along and take over the lease. Puh-lease!
“It was two doors down from the Winners right near the train and bus stops and the best thing was that it was already a salon. Turning a space into a salon is a lot of work but this space didn’t have that element to it. We were kind of like ‘Are we crazy for thinking about this!?’ In the end, we couldn’t pass it up.”
Turning a space into a salon is a lot of work but this space didn’t have that element to it. We were kind of like ‘Are we crazy for thinking about this!?’ In the end, we couldn’t pass it up.
After signing the lease last May, a couple of coats of paint, and a bit of interior decorating, Artel #3 opened its doors last August on Cambie. But with two top Vancouver salon locations on the same street, the question of a name kept coming up. As it’s the biggest space of the Artel Salon spaces, Eliza decided to dub it Artel HQ. And as you might imagine, having a sister salon two blocks up from the other has worked out well for the stylists and clients alike: “Thanks to our toggled schedule system, if someone comes in but we’re booked up, we just send them up the street!”
Artel HQ has become the place for the entire Artel family to gather for education and host classes, in addition to housing six permanent stylists. Running a new salon—even one that’s part of a branded family—is no easy feat, which only highlighted the importance of a good team to get Artel HQ up on its feet. Luckily, choosing the team that would lead Artel HQ the ‘Artel way’ was easy for Eliza: “I look for people who lead by example. My Operations Manager Shay, for example. She’s so passionate about business and the operation-side of everything so we can divide and conquer. The Team Lead at each salon is someone who has shown a natural capacity to lead, who encourages the team and manages the team’s accountability. When as a boss I can support my staff, celebrate their success, and recognize the people who are doing amazing work, it goes such a long way for the culture overall.”
When as a boss I can support my staff, celebrate their success, and recognize the people who are doing amazing work, it goes such a long way for the culture overall.
If three top Vancouver salon locations seem like a lot to manage, that’s because you’re a mere mortal. And Eliza is no mortal. “Most of the time it feels like a natural extension. Every once in a while it dawns on me how many people’s livelihoods rest on my shoulders and that’s a bit nerve-wracking! It’s a lot of responsibility but honestly, I’ve been so supported and so lucky in my ten years of doing this that I know I can handle it. It’s a journey that started at and was made possible by my time at Blanche Macdonald.”
In a Guns n’ Roses shirt with her adorable adopted PomChi, Roxi, looped under her arm, Nessa is pictured on Field Trip Hair’s website as a self-proclaimed “Mane Painter”. Mount Pleasant’s Wes Anderson-inspired salon let the stylists decide on the titles that best reflect what they feel they do: “I’m known for blonding and unicorn hair colours. My other name around the salon is ‘Bleach Slapper’. It’s my bread and butter—I’m constantly foiling and bleaching.” In her nearly nine years of experience, Nessa Pineda has worked at most of the places on a whos-who list of the best salons in Vancouver—even taking her skills to Ottawa for a brief stint living in the nation’s capital city. Let’s just say, your hair seriously needs to meet her.
I’m known for blonding and unicorn hair colours. My other name around the salon is ‘Bleach Slapper’. It’s my bread and butter—I’m constantly foiling and bleaching.
Let’s start with your move to and from Ottawa! What made you move and what made you come back?
I moved to be closer to my family for a while but I learned a lot too and my time away helped me find myself and the path I wanted to go on doing Hair. I came back because I just straight up missed the West Coast! Even hair-wise. Where I was working was downtown and a lot closer to Parliament. It was a lot more maintenance work than creative work, just because Ottawa is a government city. When I came back, it was for my love of the West Coast so I was excited to come back and do photo shoots and be super creative and have more autonomy with the clients I have. Beyond that, I really want to get to the place where I could become an educator—maybe even at Blanche Macdonald! I’ve started to educate the team at Field Trip, which has been such a great place to start.
It kind of worked out funnily actually! I would pass by the salon when it was under construction all the time on my commute to the other salon I was working at. When I saw the sign I didn’t even know it was a salon, I was just so curious about it and the name! When they revealed it was a salon I was like ‘What?’! It was always in my peripheral it seemed. Then suddenly a mutual friend-of-a-friend of mine said they knew the owner and connected us and it just worked out!
All of the in-class teaching and info was so broken down and understandable, that I felt prepared when I was ready to go into the field as a professional. It’s a really full year and it’s so intensive and very detailed...To me, it was university for hair school.
How cool! Tell us about the vibe of Field Trip and why you like it so much.
It’s a very unique team in the sense that we’re all such individuals—exactly like the characters in the Royal Tenenbaums! But while we are so different, we can still rally and support each other when we need to. It’s a great space to be in and the vibe truly is very rare to have in the workplace. So much credit to the owners because they really came to create a space that feels like you’re not just there to work, it honestly never feels like going to work. I never wake up being like ‘Ugh no’. We often stay after just to hang out and talk with each other. I think I spoke to my team more than my friends during COVID!
And how has COVID-19 affected everything for you?
Honestly, for most people in the industry I’ve talked to, none of us has been able to work and to go from working as hard as stylists work, to a complete full stop is so hard. It was such an interesting transition to be told like ‘You can’t go to work.’ In that time for me personally, it was a much-needed break I didn’t realize I needed. It forced me to stop and breathe and realize how hard I’d been working to build up my clientele since coming back from Ottawa. It allowed me to be creative in other ways I wasn’t so active in anymore.
As far as clients, the conversation post-quarantine has shifted to longevity and less maintenance. People are looking at cuts and colours that won’t cause such panic if there’s another shutdown. Our industry is based on retention and having people come in as much as possible so now that we’re doing work that will last a lot longer where clients can go 3+ months, that’s actually helping us learn new techniques. No one has any control over what’s going on so I’m just trying to learn the lesson and make the best of it.
You have to be determined to succeed. It’s not like you leave Hair School and have all the clients. Check-in on yourself and hold yourself accountable for the things that you wanted out of your career.
That’s such a good attitude. Now that you’ve been in the business for nearly twenty years, how do you feel your time at Blanche prepared you?
It prepared me so well! Having the work experience especially aided me in knowing what to expect going to a salon environment. All of the in-class teaching and info was so broken down and understandable, that I felt prepared when I was ready to go into the field as a professional. It’s a really full year and it’s so intensive and very detailed, but that’s why I chose it. To me, it was university for hair school.
I do! My roommate came in and we were only doing scalp treatments and then styling their hair but it was the first live person’s hair I’d ever done and I was SO nervous. I had such wash anxiety about spraying my roommate down and not knowing what I was doing. We’d practice on each other in class but it’s so different when it’s not a classmate!
What’s your favourite thing about doing Hair?
Honestly, it’s the relationships we build. The creative part and painting unicorn hair is fun, yeah, but it’s such a unique career in that your clients become more like family sometimes. They share things with you they don’t necessarily share with their family members. It’s really special.
What is one trait you would say that is crucial to success in the Hair industry?
Determination. You have to be determined to succeed. It’s not like you leave Hair School and have all the clients. You have to constantly be working and be really determined and set goals. Check-in on yourself and hold yourself accountable for the things that you wanted out of your career.
You get to choose the salon’s playlist for the day so you choose:
I would play The Weeknd radio, or if I could get away with it, the Myspace Emo playlist. It definitely wouldn’t fly—but a girl can dream!
Faye Smith never planned on becoming a superstar beauty entrepreneur in Vancouver. In fact, if it weren’t for a fortuitous Google search in the English Midlands a decade and a half ago, she might never have even created a life for herself in Canada.
“I typed ‘Makeup University’ into Google,” she recalls. “Blanche Macdonald turned up near the top. I instantly loved the web site. I had a great conversation with a Director over the phone and I was instantly sold. My Mum tried to convince me to study somewhere in London but I knew I wasn’t a London girl.”
I typed ‘Makeup University’ into Google... Blanche Macdonald turned up near the top. I instantly loved the web site. I had a great conversation with a Director over the phone and I was instantly sold.
Britain’s loss was British Columbia’s gain. Today Faye owns and runs her own Beauty Salon, Primp and Proper, in Vancouver’s fashionable Gastown neighbourhood and a Hair and Makeup Artist Agency that has already expanded from its Van City roots to Toronto. The Faye Smith Agency has twice been named Makeup Artist of the Year at the British Columbia Hair and Beauty Awards, and has been a finalist and winner at the BC Wedding Awards multiple times over the past few years.
Faye still loves doing Makeup but an even greater pleasure for this beauty entrepreneur comes from helping other creative professionals launch their own creative journeys.
“My favourite part of this is finding work for other artists. When I graduated from Blanche Macdonald I remember thinking, ‘How do I do this?’ It’s easy to give up. I love being able to give people a career and inspire them to keep going.
I’m looking for artists who are driven. Personality, passion and reliability are absolutely essential. They go hand in hand with the actual skill.
“I’m always looking for people with a range of skills. I have Makeup and hair Artists who specialize in dark skin tones, Afro hair and curly hair. I have a specialist in East Indian weddings. I have Asian makeup specialists. I want someone special for everybody. I’m looking for artists who are driven. Personality, passion and reliability are absolutely essential. They go hand in hand with the actual skill.”
Running an agency was never part of Faye’s original career goal. She wasn’t planning on becoming a beauty entrepreneur. But when the opportunity to create a professional creative community arrived, Faye quickly realized she was onto something special.
I knew so many fantastic Makeup and Hair artists from Blanche I figured I’d hire them and take a commission for doing the marketing and scheduling.
“It all started with my very first bridal booking. I was only halfway through the program at Blanche when I met a woman at a bar that was getting married. I insisted that she booked me! Seven people needed Hair and Makeup. I knew I couldn’t do it by myself so I hired a classmate to help me. That was the beginning. It soon reached a point where I had so many inquiries I couldn’t do them all. I knew so many fantastic Makeup and Hair artists from Blanche I figured I’d hire them and take a commission for doing the marketing and scheduling. It kept building until it reached the point where we had 150 weddings a year and we were able to expand to Toronto. Makeup Artists love doing the creative work but they don’t always love the admin or collecting payments. I can do that part! Now we’re so busy I hire people to do that. The whole idea is for me to keep doing the things I love and hire people to do the things I don’t!”
Faye was adept at creating a life for herself long before she arrived in Vancouver. The first step on this journey was acknowledging that creativity was going to be at the heart of her future.
“By the end of my time at school in Birmingham the only thing I really liked was art. I was very emo back then, which led to a lot of makeup and some interesting hair designs. I was trying to come up with jobs you could do as an artist. Photography and makeup were on the list of things you could learn at college, so that was an easy decision. My Makeup teacher asked me to work with her on a few opera and theatre sets but things weren’t kicking off for me in England. I decided to go learn Makeup somewhere else.”
Even though Faye’s only previous Canadian experience had been on a skiing vacation in Quebec, that was enough to convince her that her future lay in the True North Strong and Free.
“Blanche had set up a Facebook group for students starting their courses at the same time so I was able to reach out to see if they wanted to roommate with me. That’s how I met Carmen, my best friend ever. She found us a place to live. That made coming to a new city really easy.
“Makeup School was amazing. The course gave me a taste of everything. For my prosthetics exam I created this half glamorous, half reptile girl. It turned out so well teachers would use it as an example of great work for years after. All my instructors were real life Makeup Artists. They provided me with so many career opportunities. They basically put everything on a plate for us. If you really want a career in Makeup, they give you the way to get started.”
Makeup School was amazing. The course gave me a taste of everything. All my instructors were real life Makeup Artists. They provided me with so many career opportunities. They basically put everything on a plate for us. If you really want a career in Makeup, they give you the way to get started.
The blossoming beauty entrepreneur was busy straight out of Makeup School. In less than a year she had enough photo shoot and bridal clients to relinquish her part-time position doing Makeup for guests at Vancouver’s Absolute Spa.
Talent runs in the family with headshot photography by Faye’s husband, Brandon Hart Photography.
“I dabbled in TV and film but it didn’t mesh with my personality. At the same time I found that I loved bridal Makeup. It’s a role where you have to be very patient. Clients can ask for one thing and it turns out they have something completely different in mind. You have to be a people person and receptive to feedback. A lot of what you’re doing is customer service. It’s about making your client feel how they’d like to feel and meeting their vision. You have to realize that brides and their families can be going through a very stressful time. Sometimes they can’t sit still.”
It’s not just clients who can feel the pressure. Five years ago, the British-born beauty entrepreneur reached reached a point that she was so busy, the only sensible option was to open a Salon.
“It kind of happened,” she laughs. “I had a Makeup station in the house and began offering more services. It kept building to the point when I realized I didn’t want a salon in my home so I decided to get an actual store.”
Unafraid of taking her career in new directions, an unplanned detour (for this beauty entrepreneur and the entire beauty industry) arrived with the COVID-19 pandemic.
There was definitely an initial freak out when I heard that personal services had to be shut down.
“There was definitely an initial freak out when I heard that personal services had to be shut down,” she admits. “I have three employees at Primp and Proper so my main goal was to generate income so I could keep them employed. We decided to focus on selling product and do online lessons for kids. The lessons were more to entertain kids and help moms than anything else. The message I like to share with kids is that less is more. You don’t need to wear a lot of makeup, although funnily enough I wore a lot of makeup as a kid. I talk about ingredients too. Kids normally end up putting on the cheapest makeup they can afford, but they need to know that there are great cosmetics out there that are all natural and gentle on your skin.
“Both businesses are open again now, although so much has changed this year. As the situation developed people started making last minute decisions to elope or do micro weddings. Normally we’ll be booked for an entire year ahead. Almost everyone cancelled initially, but then we started receiving inquiries for just a few weeks in the future.”
It turns out the benefit of running your own agency is that no matter what the world throws at you, there’s always someone available to make it a little more beautiful.
“I always thought that the more people on our roster the better,” laughs Faye. “That way we could accommodate last minute bookings and big groups. Sure, COVID has changed things, but the industry is still here and always will be.”
For Evan Clayton, the realm of possibility is truly endless when it comes to designing drag fashion for the world’s most celebrated and infamous drag superstars! On the first episode of the inaugural season of Canada’s Drag Race that aired on CraveTV, contestant Ilona Verley (fellow Blanche Graduate) sashayed into the workroom in a signature monochromatic pastel blue look designed by her long-time collaborator, Evan Clayton. This Blanche Macdonald Fashion Design graduate-turned-instructor holds the art-form of drag close to his heart and considers the drag performers that he’s worked with as not only his friends, but his most loyal clients. That loyal clientele includes Drag Race alumni Juice Boxx, Tynomi Banks, Naomi Smalls, Soju— along with local Vancouver drag heroes like Gia Metric and Kendall Gender. Evan’s client roster isn’t just exclusive to drag performers, his aesthetic which lends itself perfectly to stage costumes has led him to design for Pop Artists like Doja Cat, Allie-X, Kali Uchis and Jessie Reyez.
Photo by @sequoiaemmanuelle
With a client roster that most independent designers could only dream of, Evan Clayton attributes his success to not waiting around for doors to open but to getting your foot through the door yourself. “It honestly comes down to just reaching out to people. A lot of the higher profile/celebrity clients that I’ve gotten, have come from me putting myself out there and doing research and finding out the stylist’s contact information and introducing myself.”
I’ve learned now that drag and fashion aren’t mutually exclusive, they can truly co-exist in the same realm.
RuPaul’s Drag Race has become a pop-culture phenomenon that has no signs of slowing down. With 12 seasons under their belt, multiple international variations, All-Stars seasons and Emmy wins—all eyes will continue to be on Drag Race queens and the fashion they wear on the runway. So expect to see Evan Clayton’s designs appear on the global Drag Race stage for seasons to come!
Photo by @ashdanielsen
This is such a full circle moment to have you be joining our Fashion Design faculty in 2020 as our new Instructor! Can you talk to us about what this means to you?
I’m so excited to be joining the faculty of Design at Blanche Macdonald. I graduated from the program in 2011 and I know the skills that I’ve learned at Blanche has shaped me into the Designer that I am today and has allowed me to have the career that I’m so blessed to have. I cannot wait to impart my knowledge to a future generation of students entering the Fashion industry.
Let’s go back to your first experiences with drag fashion. What are your earliest memories of constructing and designing outfits for drag?
The first performer I ever made things for specifically was Jane Smoker, I think it was her or Kendall Gender. It all started because me and my friends would watch the early seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race while they were airing, and it would inspire us to get into drag. I’ve been dressing and working with drag queens since 2014 or 2015, and drag has become such a mainstream art form especially in the last 2 – 3 years. Drag fashion has always been a big part of my life, before Drag Race became the entity that it is today. It was just me and my friends making these silly costumes and walking down Davie Street. They weren’t meant to be long lasting or well-made necessarily, they were just fun. Now the difference is that they have to be well-made and long-lasting because these queens need it for touring and traveling around the world.
Who was the first RuPaul’s Drag Race cast-member that you ever designed for?
The first Drag Race contestant that I started working with was Soju from season 11. She actually went to UBC so she came here to visit shortly before the season 11 cast announcement. I followed her before and I was familiar with her work, I ran into her at Junction one night and I introduced myself and gave her my card. She came to visit me at my studio and we hung out. And she then revealed to me that she was cast on Drag Race and that she needed looks. So that’s how our relationship began. I’m really lucky to have done a lot of looks for her.
Photography by @jamie_mann
The skills that I’ve learned at Blanche has shaped me into the Designer that I am today and has allowed me to have the career that I’m so blessed to have.
How did your work land on Drag Race Alumni Naomi Smalls for her ad campaign for KimChi Chic Beauty? You must’ve been proud!
Naomi had done Vancouver Pride in 2019, and Kendall Gender was opening for her and invited me to come meet her. I thought it was a great opportunity to give Naomi something in hopes of opening the door to work with her in the future, so I whipped up this leopard print green mini dress and she wore it and loved it! She followed me on Instagram soon after and she messaged me and said, “I love your stuff and the last collection you did, would you be interested in sending me anything that I can wear on the road.” And I said absolutely so I sent her two pieces, I didn’t know it was going to be in the Kimchi campaign until I saw the images posted!
Photo by @felix.yn
What’s the creative process like designing garments for a drag performer?
I find that most of the time when I‘m doing custom work for drag queens, it’s for a very specific event, or theme in the case of designing for the Drag Race show. The queens themselves will have a general idea of what they want to wear or how they want to present themselves, and it’s up to me to put my own twist on that. Especially with the Canada’s Drag Race contestants, they’re coming to me for premiere parties and watch parties where they have to be that elevated Drag Race girl. I’m usually keeping in mind the event or the instance that they’re wearing the piece for. If I’m designing a piece for a drag queen to wear on the red carpet, it’s going to be constructed and designed very differently than a piece for a stage or performance. There’s a lot of liberties that have to be taken specifically with drag artists, because of the way they construct a new body with padding and Jesus! There’s a lot of thought that goes into every performer that I dress because I need to know how exactly they pad, do they wear a corset or a breast plate, do I need to be conscious of the many ways queens can tuck.
What are your thoughts on Canada’s Drag Race? Are you enjoying it so far?
I love it, I’m also biased because the Canadian drag scene is so small. So I was familiar with most of the Queens on the cast when they were announced. So for me it‘s like watching all my pals on TV which is a lot of fun! I’ve known Ilona (Canada’s Drag Race season 1 Cast Member & Blanche Makeup Graduate) specifically for a very long time, I’ve made a few costumes for her prior to the show. When she got cast on Drag Race, she got a studio right beside mine and we got to work on the pieces.
Can you tell me more about how you helped Ilona prepare for the first season of Canada’s Drag Race?
Ilona had a month to prepare the looks for the show, they cast her right around Fashion Week. So there was a solid chunk of time where I wasn’t available, because I was working on my collections. When she came and told me that she was going to be on Drag Race and how many looks she needed, I saw it as a really great opportunity because I was so known for working in the drag scene so I wasn’t going to say no even though I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. I just knew I had to work twice as hard as any other designer.
How do you think Drag Race has impacted the Fashion industry?
Drag Race has birthed this sort of cottage industry for queer-makers in general in Fashion. Wigs and Grace become what it’s today because of Drag Race. It’s not just designers and queens, but everyone is benefitting from the show coming to Canada. I’m so excited to see that continue.
How has Drag Race impacted your career?
It has impacted my career so immensely in ways that I didn’t see coming to be completely honest. For me at the beginning, I was designing drag fashion just for fun it was never meant to be a business. I was always so focused on my own brand. I’ve learned now that drag and fashion aren’t mutually exclusive, they can truly co-exist in the same realm. I find that it has really impacted the way I design my label as well. There’s a lot of times where I want to do shows that are more introspective and a little more soft, but now I feel I can’t really do that as often because I don’t want to alienate people who have lifted me up so high in my career. But also that’s not saying I don’t have fun making these bombastic and wild collections because they’re a lot of fun to do. And It’s all honestly because of Drag Race. My best clients are on Drag Race!
Photography by @fcysneiros
Does your queer-identity influence your design process and aesthetic?
I think my queer identity is the driving force of my aesthetic because everything that I do and show in my collections comes from a very personal place. I hold my identity as a queer man very close to my heart, and it’s something that I’m really proud of. So if I can show that in my work, that’s always the goal.
Do you have any plans for what you want to do with your personal brand in the future?
I had 2020 very planned out in my head from the get-go. I knew it was going to be my year if I could put the work in and knock it out of the park every single time. Between Drag Race Canada and working on the American Drag Race girls, to cap it all off I was going to do a show at pride!
I’m not going to say too much about what the plan was because I still plan on doing the show in the future.
I hold my identity as a queer man very close to my heart, and it's something that I'm really proud of. So if I can show that in my work, that’s always the goal.
What advice would you have for aspiring designers that want to design for a celebrity clientele?
It honestly comes down to just reaching out to people. A lot of the higher profile/celebrity clients that I’ve gotten, have come from me putting myself out there and doing research and finding out the stylist’s contact information and introducing myself. I would say 80% of the time I get an email back. There is not a stylist in the world that’s sitting on their phone googling who is the next great designer from Vancouver. You have to go to them and put in the work yourself, otherwise you’re going to be sitting on your ass all day waiting for someone to contact you. I’ve received a couple of opportunities from people who have found me through Instagram, but most of the work I’ve received comes from me putting myself out there!
For someone that explains her style as “always fun and colourful” Tatiana Tavares is one of the nicest people—possibly ever—with a heart that’s made for human connections. Whether that’s with one of her many clients, “we really get into some shit,” or out in the world, people seem to be drawn to her “I can sit on a park bench, or go into a bathroom, and I’m having a conversation with someone. It just always happens to me!” Brimming with beauty knowledge—she is a double Blanche Macdonald graduate, after all—she’s recently started working from her private beauty studio in Gastown, Tats Haus, where she provides her Makeup, Nail, and Lash services. Even in the wake of a global pandemic, Tatiana has managed to retain her clients, gain new ones, and even expand her business offerings!
So you’re a double Blanche graduate, and you do Makeup, Nails, and Lash Extensions! What came first, and what led you to Makeup and Nails?
I took Global Makeup in 2009, and then I took the Nail program in 2013. I always liked Makeup, so that’s where I started, but I also realized that I didn’t want to do TV & Film or weddings forever, and I wanted to offer more services. I pictured myself becoming a beauty ‘jack-of-all-trades.’ Nail art was a lot of tiny things and details, which I felt like I could do well and always admired that skillset. I had a book when I was little that showed how to paint little ladybugs and bunnies with toothpicks on your nails, and I was obsessed with doing them perfectly. I’d actually gotten a job at a beauty studio learning lash extensions that started pretty much the same time I enrolled in the Nail Studio program! I wanted to do all the beauty things, all the time.
You clearly enjoyed your time at Blanche Macdonald to do two programs with us! What brought you to Blanche Macdonald in the first place?
I felt like I’d searched my whole life for an idea of what I wanted to do. I always knew I wanted to do something creative, something fashion-related probably. I knew I didn’t want to go into debt going to university for something I found boring. I wanted independence, travel, and a life of variety! I just wanted something…different. So I started researching to see where I could begin to build that from and found Blanche Macdonald. I went in for my interview, and everyone was so friendly, and I felt like they understood me. I was so inspired by the tour I enrolled that day in the Makeup program. Even now, I feel so supported by the ladies in the Career Department. I see Makeup Career Director Heather [Sosa] every year at IMATS, and we always catch up. Best of all, it did give me the independence I wanted because as soon as I graduated, I moved to England on a whim and ended up getting makeup work there!
OMG! Tell us everything about living abroad! What kind of makeup jobs did you get there?
It was so amazing. Had my visa not expired, I would’ve happily stayed there and lived out my life. My sister came with me to England, and we just started meeting people and connecting with other creatives, and I would do makeup for photoshoots and music videos. We grew up watching music videos, and so we actually started to put together concepts for videos, and I would do the makeup, and my sister would pull the other things together. It was such a fun time.
And now you have your own beauty studio in Gastown? How long have you been there?
Yes! It’s in this old heritage building right on the edge of Gastown. I always remember loving the building as a kid. It’s just super cool and old; it was built in 1912. I abruptly decided to work only for myself last year and moved a few times to find the best space for my services. I settled into this space in March 2020, and I love it! I like making big decisions with no lead time or warning! I wanted the space to feel super clean, but I also love colour, so there’s lots of crystals and colourful art that my friends or I have made.
I noticed on your website that you’re booking Nails and Lashes at your beauty studio, but not Makeup at the moment. Is that due to COVID or something else?
A bit of both. I spent a lot of last year focusing on my nail kit and lash skills, and so by extension, my makeup kit dwindled a little. My goal was going to be to replenish it over this summer and get it back up to snuff, but then COVID hit!
How has COVID affected you?
It definitely made things shift. Some people had appointments at my beauty studio who were like ‘I don’t feel comfortable coming in yet,’ and now that people aren’t going on trips, they don’t necessarily need lashes, no weddings, no groups for photoshoots, and all that. But I’ve actually gotten a lot of new clients because of it! Now that things are opening up, people are looking for more independent places for their beauty services rather than salon settings.
You also sell your own custom press-on nail sets! What made you decide to do that?
I’ve always wanted to make my own nail sets. I looked into it a few times, but I always quit because I’d get overwhelmed with the information and the steps to get them made. Luckily, lockdown gave me nothing but time to sort it all out. I still want to take it a step further where the sets are pre-made, like fitted, designed, and everything. Right now, you order a kit or measure your own nails, but it’s a big step for me! I just thought it was a thing I could contribute to the industry for fashion shows, shoots, or music videos. It’s just so much more efficient than doing nails in those environments and allows you to make some really fast changes. Mine are made of a gel resin, so they’re much softer and flexible than the creepy, straight-up plastic tips you get at the store. They also give me time to create something super elaborate on my schedule without someone sitting with me.
What would you say are your top 3 most used products in a day?
Right now, alcohol, sanitation stuff, and cleaning supplies! But for nails, I use Akzentz base gel, Ugly Duckling acrylic, and Sugarlash PRO lash adhesive.
If you could do anyone’s makeup/nails/lashes, it would be:
Rihanna. I would want to do their nails and makeup for sure. For lashes, probably someone like Bjork. I could do a really strange set of lashes in different colours and textures.
What advice would you give to people looking to be an independent beauty provider like yourself?
It’s not easy, nor a straightforward path, and you often wear 10 different hats in a day. One of the hardest parts for me was learning how to have confidence in myself. But it’s so important because no one else is going to do that for you. You need to market yourself and develop your style, your brand, and everything about your services. It took me a good while, and I still don’t feel ‘done’ with that part of it. I used to be so upset about my path and my timings in life. I was never where everyone else seemed to be. My childhood and life have been difficult so I always felt so far behind everyone else. But I’m learning to be ok with that too because I am where I need to be now and the person I need to be at this moment. Really, the most important thing is just to trust the build on anything you do. It may be slow, but it’ll be worth it.
The beauty industry can be tough to get into and retain clients, but you seem to have that pretty under control at your beauty studio! What’s your secret?
I feel like people come to my beauty studio because they like what I do, and I always try my hardest and work well. But sometimes they come to hang out as well. I’m always down to talk about whatever they want to, and my space is private so my clients feel comfortable talking about things they maybe wouldn’t elsewhere. I really get into shit with people. My service is so much more personal than just ‘in-and-out.’ I would always get into trouble at other jobs I’ve had for talking too long and hanging out with my clients during their services, so it’s nice now that I can give people the attention they need and deserve! That’s the best part of my job for me, too. Well, that and doing their service as perfect as I possibly can while we get into shit!
Maxine and I coordinate our interview over Whatsapp, mainly in Spongebob Squarepants memes and emojis. The nine-hour time difference between Vancouver and South Africa takes some thinking through. Maxine Hillestad is a Blanche Macdonald Global Fashion Marketing graduate who has taken her skills clear across the world, “seriously, you have no idea how far away South Africa really is. It’s in another hemisphere!”, and landed a job in the Buying department at major South African apparel, homeware, and sportswear retailer, Mr. Price. She’s risen through the ranks of their portfolios, or divisions, over eight years from an intern to a junior buyer trainee in Underwear, to one of the main Fashion Buyers of their Ladies Shoes portfolio. It’s pretty ironic since shoes are one of her biggest passions and the inspiration for her Instagram handle, @stilettosgal. Shoes, as it turns out, were also the source of one of the biggest lessons on her very first day as a trainee in the Underwear department.
Can you tell us about your first significant shoe-related learning experience?
So I’m standing on this ladder that’s pretty tall with armfuls of bras that I’m loading onto a rail. I was so excited to be hired and working, and it’s in FASHION right, so I’m wearing these cute heeled boots and this little skirt and a cute top—just looking the part. Well, I fell off the ladder and caught my arm on another rail on the way down. I landed in a pile of bras and underwear on the floor with my skirt hiked over my bum and my top all askew. It hurt so bad! But it was so funny. We all laughed so hard after, though my arm still isn’t the same! When I see new people coming in wearing heels on their first day, I always warn them like ‘Have a backup pair of sneakers with you. Trust me!’
When I see new people coming in wearing heels on their first day, I always warn them: ‘Have a backup pair of sneakers with you.’
What a way to learn that lesson! So what initially led you to want to work at Mr. Price?
It’s one of South Africa’s oldest retailers and I’d grown up going shopping there with my parents. My grandpa also worked for Mr. Price for 37 years on the operations side, setting up new stores and organizing contractors and things like that. So before he retired, he brought me in for a job shadow sort of thing because he knew I’d like it there. I’d just moved back with my family from Vancouver where I’d graduated from Blanche Macdonald so I was looking for a job, I just couldn’t decide where I wanted to start. I’d applied for a position at Mr. Price in-store because I didn’t think I had enough experience to land a position in head office straight away. In South Africa, most kids don’t work at all before they’re in their late 20’s, after doing university and all that. And I was only 19 when I came back from Vancouver so I thought I’d be way too young for a ‘career’ job. But when I went in with my grandpa, I talked to HR, and they were like ‘Oh with this diploma, you’ve got more than enough experience. You can definitely apply for a job in the office.’
And how did you end up as a Fashion Buyer in the Buying department?
I’d always known I wanted to go into something fashion-related when I was younger. Around 14 years old, I started to understand that Buying was a thing to do, but I didn’t know what it entailed. I thought it was literally picking things you liked out of a catalogue! Then at Blanche Macdonald, we studied Buying and I realized it was something I wanted to pursue. It was a brutal class, but it was pretty much a perfect intro into real life as a Fashion Buyer, so when HR said I could apply for an office job, I knew what department I wanted to go after!
With this diploma, you’ve got more than enough experience.
What brought you to Blanche Macdonald in the beginning?
Being new to Canada from South Africa, I knew I’d wanted to do something in fashion, so I started looking at fashion schools. My high school fashion teacher knew my ambitions and said she’d known people who loved it at Blanche and became successful adults after, which is always good! Blanche seemed perfect because it had small class sizes which was a focus of mine. My sister’s best friend was applying to university classes back home with more than 100 people and I just thought ‘how do you learn in that?!’ The program’s focus was broad enough to give you a good overview of the whole industry but narrow enough that you always felt like you were learning something pertinent to Fashion. I know people here who have three-plus years of studying behind them, so I assumed I might have to study more at some point. We learned SO MUCH in such a small amount of time. It was perfect, really.
You’ve worked in a lot of portfolios at Mr. Price. Can you give a bit of an overview of your career journey with them?
Mr. Price is excellent for hiring from the inside, and one of the things they like to do is shuffle everyone around every so that the buyers become what they call “all-rounded” and get to know anything and everything about different departments, from shoes to underwear to casualwear. I’ve been lucky to really, really benefit from these shuffles. It makes it so we all know the different portfolios, and there’s always a fresh set of eyes in the department. It makes for super strong and knowledgeable employees because you learn new fabrics, silhouettes, and everything that goes along with a specific portfolio. I started in Underwear and was there for a few years as a trainee learning everything and understanding some basic system knowledge and buying tools etc. Once my boss recognized that I was beginning to do well, she wanted to move me into something a bit more ‘fashionable.’ From there, I went to Jewelry. That was a whole other step up the Buying ladder because I was given more responsibility here where I actually got the chance to negotiate with suppliers and have my own small buying portfolio instead of doing just the admin tasks. I was in Jewelry for a year and a half or so, and then I started moving through portfolios a bit quicker.
Buyers at Mr. Price become ‘all-rounded’ and get to know anything and everything about different departments, from shoes to underwear to casualwear.
From there, I went to RT Formal, which is formalwear for our junior customers, so it’s very trendy, young, and cute. After a couple of months there, I was promoted to Junior Buyer. That was a vote of confidence, but you’ve still got a Fashion Buyer above you to help you and make sure everything is going OK. Then I went to Kidswear. That’s the first place I felt like my growth couldn’t even be measured. I worked my ass off! Kidswear was the first department where there wasn’t any other fashion buyer equal to me. I basically slept at work for a few months while I got a handle on everything.
After Kidswear, I went to REDX Sportswear, which is more like the sporty look but not so much of the actual sports, high-tech stuff, and it included swimwear too. By this time, I’d been at Mr. Price for a while, and learned SO MUCH—but I wanted to travel. Where I live now, Durban, is the equivalent of West Vancouver, maybe, so it’s relatively small. I wanted to see more of the world’s marketplaces. I mean, travelling was one of the main reasons I went into Buying! So I resigned. I found another job that would allow me to travel and gave my resignation notice, had my going away party, and had even been given my going away gift. The afternoon before I was supposed to leave for good, the Managing Director called me into her office. She was like, ‘Actually, we’d rather you not leave. You’re quite valuable, passionate, talented, and we’re going to put you in a bigger department and make sure you travel.’ I’d never actually wanted to leave Mr. Price, so it was like a dream come true! They could’ve just said that and got me to stay and then dragged their feet about it all, but no! I quickly moved to Ladies Denim. And that’s a vast portfolio! It covers denim jeans, skirts, leggings, and most other casual wear all relating to bottoms. Denim is so technical, so you’re suddenly learning new terms for washes and abrasions and treatments, and you have to know your fabric bases. It was all new suppliers who I had to make relationships with and it basically felt like a new world to me.
I thrived there and every day I just felt so good about what I was doing
What an incredible career journey! How do Ladies Shoes compare to the other portfolios you’ve been on?
Shoes is the portfolio I’ve always dreamed of being on! It’s a little crazy to think that I’m here now. As far as the workload, let’s say it’s been an eye-opener! I have literally never worked so hard. I’m up until about 1 am working most nights. At the moment we’re booking our Autumn/Winter assortments for next year and a new portfolio means a whole new world in terms of new supplier relations, an entire department of history to learn—like what has worked and hasn’t in the past.
As a fashion buyer it’s our job to know exactly what our customers like and look for, and what they don’t like. The other day I was maniacally watching YouTube videos on how shoes are made and shoe moulds because you have to understand what’s happening at the factory as this all helps you negotiate the best possible price and make sure that the product ends up looking as good as it possibly can. I make sure to learn absolutely everything about whatever portfolio I’m on, so they know why I was given this opportunity. It’s very easy for a supplier to take advantage of a new fashion buyer but as mentioned already once you’ve moved around a lot and grow your confidence you learn to not let suppliers or anyone else push you around. That’s so important. It’s not just a given, and you don’t just get to keep what you’ve been given. It’s a lot of work to get there and succeed.
As a fashion buyer it’s our job to know exactly what our customers like and look for
How does the retail scene of South Africa differ from Canada’s?
It’s completely different. We have H&M and Zara, but those are the only two retailers that have managed to stay here. Often our conversion rate makes things just too expensive for people. We’re also a season behind, so when it’s summer in the northern hemisphere it’s winter for us, and that gives us a preview to what trends are coming.
Can you describe your own aesthetic?
I feel like I change so much! I have always loved colour though. I wear something sparkly almost every single day. A couple of weeks back our team decided to set a dress-up day and the theme was All that Glitters. So here comes Maxine with her sequin bomber jacket, sequin eye makeup, and sequin scrunchie, and I get to work, and NO ONE was wearing anything sparkly! Except for one person who was all like, ‘Max! I’m wearing sparkles!’…It was silver hoops. I made so much fun of her!
It sounds like a fun office!
Oh, we have so much fun. It’s a fantastic company to work for. My closest friends are all my work friends. I even met my boyfriend working there! When I started, I was the youngest by years, but now there’s such a young, energetic atmosphere. We have such fun Christmas functions, parties, quarterly parties to celebrate success, and guest speakers. It’s not intimidatingly corporate, and you’re encouraged to speak your mind and dress in your own fashion style.
What’s your favourite part of your job?
The enjoyment I get out of it. Many people only do it for money, but even when I’m working late or things go to shit, I love it so much. I also love being a fashion buyer because it’s relevant in a way no one expects. For example, when that whole Will Smith and entanglement thing was new, my coworker who does the buying for Accessories came in and was like ‘Guys, look,’ and she had a bucket hat made with the word ‘entanglement’ embroidered on it. And because of her relationship with her supplier, that hat was in all of our stores within two weeks! People actually made memes about how we must always be working, and the memes were the best part of our month!
I love being a fashion buyer because it’s relevant in a way no one expects.
What are three things you couldn’t get through the week without?
Coffee! I’m the pits without it. I don’t even open my eyes to make it! And of course, snacks. We’re always snacking at the office. And it sounds so lame but honestly, my boyfriend, Kyle. It’s therapeutic to have someone in the industry at the same employer who knows everyone you do to talk about things with. My parents blankly stare at me when I talk about work so it’s great to have Kyle so him and I chat about work often. And the obvious—shopping! After all, retail therapy is just about the best kind of therapy out there!
Why exactly would a working TV and Movie Makeup Artist take a break from a successful career to travel from Mexico to Vancouver and study Makeup at Blanche Macdonald? For Gabriela Benito, even the darkest cloud has its silver lining.
“I got hepatitis and was in bed for five months,” she explains from her home in Mexico City. “People would bring me magazines and I read an article saying that Vancouver was the best city in the world to live. I could see mountains and the beach and thought, ‘I have to move there!’ The moment I could get out of bed I left my apartment and moved to Canada!
“I assumed that my Mexican resumé would get me work. I soon realized I had no papers and wasn’t going to get any work. I knew I’d be in Vancouver for a year so I figured I should study. I looked around, found Blanche Macdonald and fell in love.”
Gabriela already knew how to be a professional makeup artist. At Blanche Macdonald she learned how to be a great Makeup Artist.
“It was amazing. I was like a sponge. I knew what the instructors were talking about. Before Makeup School I was taking a roundabout journey to solutions by myself. Now I could go directly from point A to B. Blanche Macdonald taught me the straight lines. I gained technique. I was faster. I was cleaner. I knew what I was doing. I loved Vancouver too, even though no-one had told me that it rained all the time!”
Makeup school was amazing. I was like a sponge. I knew what the instructors were talking about. I gained technique. I was faster. I was cleaner. I knew what I was doing.
Gabriela’s movie makeup artist career blossomed on her return to Mexico. She won an Ariel, the Mexican equivalent of an Academy Award, for her work on hit horror movie Kilometre 31 and went on to design the Makeup and Head Departments on series including International Emmy Award-winning El Vato and global Netflix hit Club de Cuervos. It’s been a remarkable journey for an artist who insists that her first step into Makeup was a beautiful mistake.
“I wasn’t artistic growing up,” she laughs. “I still can’t draw. I was studying international relations at university. I was going to be a diplomat. My Mom is a cosmetologist and she ran a few clinics. When I was 20 or 21 she needed somebody to be in charge of a new clinic she was opening and she begged me to take a two-month cosmetology course. I said, ok Mom, I’ll do it.
“I enjoyed Makeup but didn’t think for a moment it would be a career. My teacher said, you’re talented, call this person to take another course. That led to a TV and Movie Makeup course. The instructor was doing the Makeup for Miss Universe and asked me to join her team. That was an eye-opener! The first contestant I worked on was Miss Zimbabwe. I loved working on all these different ethnicities. That was when I finally understood beauty and when I started calling myself a Makeup Artist.”
I loved working on all these different ethnicities. That was when I finally understood beauty and when I started calling myself a Makeup Artist.
With minimal training but full of self-confidence, Gabriela was asked to work on a TV commercial and quickly found a place for herself as the go-to Movie Makeup Artist for a busy production company. When a Director asked her to head up a department for crime movie Todo El Poder, she figured, why not?
“I had no idea how to do continuity or break down a script,” she laughs. “The wardrobe lady guided me through it. Then the movie was a big hit!”
After a year’s professional training at Blanche Macdonald, she didn’t need extra help by the time she stepped on set for Kilometre 31.
“That was the first Mexican horror movie for a long time. I knew the director. They had a Special Effects team in place but they needed a beauty team for the regular Makeup so they called me! There were two of us in my team and we would spend our nights making the actors look terrified while the monsters were done by the Effects Department. It was definitely a joint Ariel.”
After the birth of her daughter, Gabriela decided to take a break from life as a movie makeup artist, focusing on makeup for commercials.
“The money was good but after eight years on commercials where my creativity was focused on doing makeup for Moms doing the dishes, I knew I needed to go back to film!”
The Mexican advertising industry’s loss has been the film world’s gain, as it was Gabriela’s creative brilliance that breathed character into the cast of international hit soccer comedy Club de Cuervos.
Movie Makeup Artists need to have technical skills but even if you’re the best artist, if you can’t make people comfortable I might not want you on my team. My best talent is that people like me.
“I had weird ideas for hairdos and looks. The actors and director let me do what I wanted. You show them what you want to do, but you make them think it was their idea. Some actors have definite ideas of what they should look like. I’ll say, I like that, but what about this? I’m very straightforward with actors. I start a conversation. What do you think? What’s your subtext? Let me show you some images.”
It seems simple, but that personal touch is exactly what she’s looking for when she’s recruiting new talent for her team.
“Of course movie Makeup Artists need to have technical skills but even if you’re the best artist, if you can’t make people comfortable I might not want you on my team. My best talent is that people like me. I’ll negotiate with the cast about how personal I can get! Actors say it’s a pleasure to come into my trailer. It’s fun and they can relax before working. I want people on my team who’ll respect the cast but aren’t star struck. We’re equals in this club. I can’t do this without you. You can’t do this without me.”
It’s been a wild ride, but Gabriela still gets excited about creating movie makeup magic.
Actors say it’s a pleasure to come into my trailer.
“I love the beginning of the process, getting the call when someone asks me, do you want to make a movie? I love reading the script and imagining the characters. And I love checking my actors when they’re on set. If they’re meant to be ugly, they’re ugly. If they’re meant to be beautiful, they’re beautiful.
“Of course when I see it on the big screen I see every tiny mistake and I suffer! That’s part of the process but still, what was I thinking?”
For many fashion designers, owning and running a successful label might be considered mission accomplished. For Katie Quinn, her amazing street/beach/yoga line Downtown Betty is just one part of a life that blends purpose and perspiration. Alongside her growing team of Fashion School Grads at Downtown Betty, Katie has created a conscious co-op where ethics, sustainability and accountability for the planet are at the forefront of everything they do.
It’s an exciting hub of energy. I remember the first day at Blanche thinking, these people are cool.
“The concept of Downtown Betty is Whole, Healthy, Home,” she explains from her bustling Vancouver office. “It’s a healthy force for our tribe of humans as guardians of this planet. Our collective mission is sustainable fashion. We were doing it before it was in vogue. We hand cut everything. We use sustainable fabrics. We use fabrics that are going to biodegrade – 95% of them anyway as we still need to use Lycra. We’ve begun manufacturing in Bali, as I’m there for almost six months every year, as well as our mainstay Vancouver production. Bali is also where I started Doggess, my foundation for stray dogs, and Naked Bikinis, my bikini line.”
It’s safe to say that Katie likes to keep busy. If directing Downtown Betty and Doggess weren’t enough to keep her occupied, she runs, practices Kundalini yoga and has built a career for herself as a Costume Specialist in Vancouver’s ever-thriving film and TV industry, turning her fashionable hand to everything from Stylist to Buyer to Designer to Head of Costume Department.
It’s no surprise that Katie seems comfortable charting her life through diverse creative courses. She’s been defining and redefining her own high style standards long before she stepped into Blanche Macdonald’s Fashion Design program.
Design comes from desire.
“My mother had a sewing machine and my aunt always said she knew I would become a fashion designer. She’d never met another 13-year old who would run into the house for a couple of hours, sew something and run out again with a new skirt.
“I had a fashion column in the school newspaper where I’d basically recommend whatever I was wearing. My aunt had a clothing store. My first job was dressing 50-year-old women in Espirit and Jones New York.”
Katie’s experience in her aunt’s store led to positions managing branches of The Gap in Ottawa and Vancouver. She went to university and worked in Vancouver’s movie industry as a visual effects assistant and training assistant director, but there was still something missing.
“One day I was talking to a girl on Wreck Beach. She said she’d just finished Fashion School at Blanche Macdonald and was in love with the program. It sounded invigorating and got my heart pumping. I thought, ‘That’s what I’m going to do.’ I visited the School and it felt like a really professional environment. I knew I’d be in good hands. It’s an exciting hub of energy. I remember the first day at Blanche thinking, these people are cool.”
Katie began her fashion career with ideas floating around her head. The Fashion Design Program helped turn them into reality.
At Blanche Macdonald you were driven to finish every piece. You’d come up with an idea, draw it, make it happen and eventually see it on the runway.
“For me, Fashion School was about completion. I had pants that I’d started but never put a snap or button on them. At Blanche Macdonald you were driven to finish every piece. You’d come up with an idea, draw it, make it happen and eventually see it on the runway. The structure and the process really worked for me. It gave me confidence and streamlined my capabilities. The whole idea of going to Blanche Macdonald was to learn the rules so I’d know how to break them. It helped me let go of the rigidity and go with the flow.
“I really loved my illustration instructor, Lisa Gellert. I think our creative pathways work the same way. We connected so deeply. She taught us that nothing is wrong. The more ideas the merrier. You can always edit afterwards.”
Downtown Betty was an idea that had been with Katie for years. It was at Fashion School where that concept turned into something concrete.
“I’m big into making what’s needed. I was skimboarding at the time and I needed a skimboard bag. So I made one and Lisa Gellert said, ‘This is super cool’. That was the beginning of Downtown Betty. I took that idea and turned it into a guitar pack, a diaper bag and then a yoga bag. I went to study yoga in India and started making t-shirts there. I made seven t-shirts and girlfriends started buying them quicker than I could keep them in my suitcase. I was sketching and coming up with concepts. I suddenly realized, I’m a fashion designer!”
Today Katie is a designer, a team leader and a businesswoman at the helm of a growing company. But whatever role she’s filling, every decision is filtered through her high ethical standards.
Bali is beautiful and a great place to be a designer. If you can think of something there’s someone there who can get it done.
“We’re a conscious movement,” she insists. “I’m still learning how to put business first. I’m a human and an artist more than a businesswoman. I used to pretend that we weren’t hand-cutting clothes! Now we make pieces from fabric scraps. You do your thing and let the future catch up to you. I was doing it semi-secretly for nine years and now there’s a hashtag for it, #zerowaste. I’m trying to move towards all organic colours, even though going all organic in Canada is very expensive. If I can move all my production to Bali we’ll be 100% organic. That’s always been my plan. There are artisans there. It’s beautiful and a great place to be a designer. If you can think of something there’s someone there who can get it done.”
Back in Vancouver the Downtown Betty Team are taking the line to new heights. Katie has recruited fellow Blanche Macdonald graduates Anna Burnett and Josie McGraw of Cold Pressed Media to boost Downtown Betty’s online presence while her three-woman design team ensures that ideas and production continue to flow.
“Design comes from desire,” explains Katie. “If I want something new, or something’s missing, we make it! We’ve started lines for kids and men. We try to have zero waste, so we looked at the fabrics we had left over and start making smaller clothes for kids. Male yogis told us that when they’re at the front of the class they don’t want their ‘situation’ to poke out. So we build a crotch panel on the inside of our men’s yoga pants to hold everything up.”
The future remains unwritten for Katie and Downtown Betty. The only certainty is that this inspirational designer will always follow her own path.
“A street/beach/yoga line means real living. It’s fashion minimalism for people with active lifestyles. You’re not limiting yourself. You can be flexible and do everything you need to do in your day.
“Everything we make is Cozy, Comfy, Sexy. Downtown Betty kills three birds with one stone! Even though I instantly regret using that expression. I promise we don’t kill birds!”
So how exactly does a suburban Vancouverite obsessed with fashion turn that passion into a career in Public Relations that takes her to the heart of New York Fashion Week? Not only has Nikki Dindo proved it’s possible, she’s showing Blanche Macdonald students exactly how it’s done as a Social Media instructor at Canada’s top Fashion School.
Nikki’s stellar career as a student at Blanche Macdonald paved the way to an internship with New York PR legend Kelly Cutrone and her agency, People’s Revolution. After returning to Canada and continuing to hone her PR and Social Media Marketing skills, Nikki eventually took the bold step of creating her own company, Spring Media Co. Today she splits her time between creating content and strategy for the ever-expanding Spring Media client roster and the classroom at Blanche Macdonald. Throughout her continent-spanning adventures there’s been one constant: an indefatigable love for fashion.
The extensive event and show experience I had from my time at Blanche helped set me apart from other candidates.
“When I was ten years old I was constantly asking my parents for their credit card to take out subscriptions to every fashion magazine,” she smiles. “I was getting six or seven magazines a month. By the time I was at high school everybody knew me as the fashionista. I was the 15-year-old spending $300 on designer jeans! I wasn’t doing it for my peers. It was a form of self-expression.
“Even then I didn’t realize fashion could be my career. I grew up thinking I could be a doctor, a lawyer or a businesswoman. I got into the performing arts and was dancing and singing on cruise ships for a few years. I thought I’d become a business development manager for the cruise lines. When I started in that role my boss’s daughter was on the Fashion Marketing course at Blanche Macdonald. I’d never heard of courses like that before but I knew I’d love to work on the business side of fashion.”
Nikki abandoned ship and launched herself into her fashion education at Blanche Macdonald, inside and outside the classroom.
“I loved doing those deep dives into fashion history with Peggy Morrison. For one of my Fashion Awareness class projects I chose to do a breakdown of the history of Alexander McQueen. When I told Peggy she said, ‘Excellent choice; when done correctly.’ Challenge accepted Peggy!
My advice to my students is to always say yes!
“I met up with [Career Director] Mel Watts early on and she helped me find internships for everything I was interested in. I’d told her I wanted to be a buyer or own my own store, but after a month she said, ‘You should go into PR and communication.’ She lined up some volunteer opportunities for me and I soon thought, maybe she’s right. Mel introduced me to Lyndi Barrett. We worked at the Deighton Cup and Vancouver Film Festival together. I did a six-month internship with Mitchell Fawcett who now works for Major Tom. I was in my element. I loved being around people and the energy of events. I thrive in organized chaos. I found I was able to think on my feet and find solutions before people realized there was even a problem.”
Nikki had made her mark in Vancouver’s Public Relations industry before she’d even graduated Fashion School. The next step was taking her career to the heart of the fashion world.
“I knew I wanted to go to New York,” she explains. “I made a spread sheet of every PR agency in the City. I tracked down who was hiring and I started reaching out for internships. I was offered spots at a few agencies but People’s Revolution with Kelly Cutrone was the one I wanted. The extensive event and show experience I had from my time at Blanche helped set me apart from other candidates.”
Two seasons at New York Fashion Week later, Nikki had been through the belly of the fashion industry at its most hectic and lived to tell the tale. She’d also sampled the wisdom of one of the Public Relations’ brightest minds.
“Kelly was a bit intimidating, obviously, but once you get to know her she’s actually really nice and super helpful. She was the mom figure for everyone; she’d even cook for us during Fashion Week! She’d bring us soup and make sure we were never working too late.
I thrive in organized chaos. I found I was able to think on my feet and find solutions before people realized there was even a problem.
“Nothing could have prepared me for Fashion Week. It was crazy, but it was also the most amazing experience I’ve ever had. We had seven shows and three events in one week. It was madness. We’d be in the office until about 2 am, then have a 4 am call time the next day, have two shows and then go back to the office until 2 am again. We were exhausted, but as soon as the lights dimmed, the music started and the show came on, I was on a high. It was great to see the work we’d been doing for months come together to flow seamlessly.
“Jeremy Scott’s New York show was utter madness. I was in charge of backstage check-ins and media outreach and we didn’t have nearly enough backstage passes. It was complete chaos and I was receiving no help whatsoever because everyone was too busy. I had to take the entire situation into my own hands. I broke a few rules to let people in and out, averted about five major crises, and nobody even knew. My proudest moment was after the show when people were asking me what happened and I was able to say, ‘Not to worry, I solved everything.’”
Nikki returned to Vancouver eager to continue on her strong start in PR. She found a home at a social media and public relations agency before deciding to begin a business of her own. Even after being temporarily lured back to New York following a job offer from VP+C Partners, at that point she knew she had to carve her own path.
It was great to see the work we’d been doing for months come together to flow seamlessly.
“After a few months in New York I realized that dreams change. The time was right and I was ready for a new adventure.”
Since taking the decision to start her own PR and Social Media Marketing Company, business has gone from strength to strength. She’s already expanding into new realms beyond fashion.
“I’ve worked with everything from commercial real estate to recycling companies. Right now I’m finding my niche in lifestyle brands; beauty, baby and kids. It’s about working with the right people. I’m always looking for companies I want to support and grow with.
“I’m looking to build communities around these brands. To succeed on social media you need to be a good storyteller. What makes someone stand out is an ability to craft a brand’s story. Anybody can put up posts about products. What people connect with more is the story behind it. It’s about creating a bigger picture and storytelling plays a huge part in that. Even though social media is a visual platform the accounts and posts that tell stories are the brands that resonate the best with people.”
Today she’s sharing that wisdom with the next generation of Fashion PR and Social Media masterminds. And she’s enjoying every minute of it.
“I love teaching. It’s great being able to share my experiences with people who are so excited to learn more. My path and dreams have changed many times, but there’s never been an opportunity I said yes to that I later regretted. Even though an opportunity might not feel right for you, there’s always something you can learn from it. Be open to the connections that come up and see what doors they open. My advice to my students is to always say yes!”
In the near-decade that Refresh Salon has been open in Suterbrook Village, Port Moody, the area has seen two high rise buildings come in, with two more on the horizon. For Refresh Salon business owner Courtney Vieira that means one thing—new potential hair clients! A year and a half after Refresh Salon opened, Courtney acquired the space next to Refresh and extended the salon floor. In December, Courtney updated the floor to hold even more chairs. At the time, it was a good business move, and now, it is an absolute necessity. “It was the most perfect timing for social distancing. We’ve got 15 chairs right now and nine stylists. We rotate shifts, but because of the floor space we have, we can have up to seven stylists and their clients here at a time.”
Blanche Macdonald is totally worth it. It was the most fun year of my life.
Courtney isn’t only the owner and manager for Refresh Salon—she’s also the in-house makeup artist. Their other services since COVID have, for the most part, come back to a semi-normal variance. “We’re doing hair and makeup, and there’s a lady in the back that does lashes and spa services. We’re all local girls, so we work together and promote each other. We don’t do as many hair and makeup combos as we’re used to with fewer weddings and events happening, but we get clients in for them separately still. With COVID being our primary thing to contend with now, my quick and clean Makeup application skills are even more important!
“We had to close, along with everyone else, for nearly two months at the height of COVID. The panic was so real when everything started, and the future was so unknown. We didn’t get a lot of help from the landlord, so I had to bust my tushie to make rent. Thankfully, our community stepped up and helped me make up half the rent in gift cards and products.”
If becoming a makeup artist is in the back of your mind, don’t double think it. Go for it.
Despite the economic upset, Courtney was able to have all of her staff back by mid-May. And of course, her staff of hairstylists and estheticians have all been chosen to meet Courtney’s vision and exacting standards: “One has stayed with me the whole time I’ve had Refresh, and she’s now my manager. Some girls have stayed for seven or eight years; some like to switch it up more often and change and explore, which is great, too. No matter the timeline, anyone working here has a love for this industry and takes their jobs seriously. We get resumes all the time! I’m also always looking for people. People who come from Blanche are great because I know the program. I know they have the fundamentals, and then it’s just about training them here. From the looks of the resumes I get, people are applying to these programs like crazy, and I love it!”
And Courtney needs all the stylists she can get! Between the post-COVID rush and the influx of people from the buildings in her area, this salon business owner has to make sure that Refresh Salon is ready to meet every client’s needs. “I’ve got one girl who does edgier cuts and colours so she can cater to that clientele, and I’ve got one girl who’s been in the industry for 16 years, so she’s got her own little following. A lot of her long-time clients are starting the transition to grey, so they’re not coming in for their roots every few weeks, so she’s beginning the cycle of gathering new clients—which is a whole new set of needs and maintenance! We’ve also got some clients that come in for their routine maintenance too, but we’re always working hard, staying busy, and I’m just super thankful for it all!”
People who come from Blanche are great because I know the program. I know they have the fundamentals.
Seeing as she’s owned Refresh Salon for nearly ten years and managed quite a few people in that time, you’d think there would’ve been some peaks and valleys that the business has gone through—other than COVID, of course—but according to Courtney, it’s been pretty smooth sailing. “I’ve been fortunate in that all of my business surprises have been good ones! As a salon business owner, I’ve met so many good people, made a lot of good connections, gone on educational trips, and sent my staff on educational trips—I’m just unimaginably thankful. Every time that would happen, it was like an affirmation, like ‘Yes, this is why I got into this business.’”
A career in Makeup and Hair was always something Courtney had aspired to, so by the time she was ready to graduate high school, the question wasn’t “what?” it was “where?”
“I was always into art and fashion,” she continues. “I was always reading style magazines. I was always the person my friends would come to with questions about fashion and makeup and hair. I’m a Pisces. Artistic, right? So that led me to cosmetics. A family member said, why don’t you check out Blanche Macdonald? I found the website, had the interview, and I knew that was where I wanted to be. Makeup School looked so interesting. I saw all these students with big makeup cases walking around, and they all looked like they were loving it. There was an effects shoot going on when I visited. Someone looked like Pinhead, the character from Hellraiser. I was really interested in beauty, but I wanted to learn how to do makeup like that too. I thought this has to be my path.”
And Courtney walked every step of that path she could, between volunteer positions, music videos, and positions at other salons, Courtney finally had to listen to her heart and step onto her own and open the salon she’d always wanted to.
I wish I’d started this business sooner.
“I wish I’d started this business sooner,” she admits. “I was young. It took me a few years to realise I was ready for this. I don’t know if I was ready to own a salon or spa when I graduated, but I think I could have opened a store that was strictly cosmetics and beauty. We took business courses at Blanche Macdonald, so we knew what was out there.
“If becoming a makeup artist is in the back of your mind, don’t double think it. Go for it. Blanche Macdonald is totally worth it. It was the most fun year of my life. You’ll never forget it.”
Before COVID hit, Courtney had some big plans for another location in a new development that’s springing up nearby. Those plans are on hold for now, but you never know what the future may hold for Refresh Salon.
“I love my staff, but it’s the clients that come first. Hair concerns are life concerns! I want people to feel better when they come in, and if I can take a good risk once things are calmer and reach more people, then that’s what I want to do. My clients always come first.”
“Floor Supervisor, Style Advisor, and Key Holder are all roles I’ve been able to flourish in at The Latest Scoop. And soon, I’ll be able to add Buyer to that list!”
Kirsten Wong has been flawlessly balancing store tasks for multiple locations, in addition to learning the ropes with the Buying team at their head office a few days a week. Though she’s now on track to land her dream position, Kirsten had her eyes on a career at The Latest Scoop far before she was ever on their payroll. Thanks to her dedication and decisively chosen projects in a number of her classes in Blanche Macdonald’s Global Fashion Marketing program, Kirsten was able to bring her dreams to fruition.
I remember Donna saying how important relationships are in Buying and Fashion in general, and they really are. Having the ability to create a genuine connection with a customer, a wholesaler, or a supplier in a fairly small amount of time is crucial. It’s so much more than just ‘sales’; it’s interacting with people in authentic, purposeful, and meaningful ways.
“I knew The Latest Scoop was smaller and local, which would allow me to move up with them—which is exactly how it’s worked out so far. Anytime we could choose a business for a project, I decided to do mine on Scoop. It turned out to be one of the most strategic moves I could’ve made! The owner and Head Buyer had the chance to look at my final project from [Executive Fashion Program Director] Donna’s [Baldock] Buying class, which helped show them my potential. The time I spent at Blanche helped me figure out that Buying was the path I wanted to follow.”
Kirsten started shopping at Scoop, as she lovingly and intimately calls it, when they opened their first Gastown location in 2015. She was working at another store in Kitsilano when the next Latest Scoop location opened up just down the street. She would shop there fairly often, and the people who worked at Scoop would come into her store. Eventually, she had such a strong rapport with them that when Kirsten was ready for a change, Scoop already knew who their new hire would be.
Kirsten still took a bit of a detour before answering her calling as a Buyer. She wanted to study something that would help her make a living right after high school. So, she enrolled in a Physiotherapy program, “I was so on-the-fence about not pursuing fashion even then. I talked to someone close to me about my love of fashion and all the clothes on Gossip Girl and thought, ‘How crazy would that be to pursue?!’.”
Two years later, Kirsten was finishing up her Physiotherapy program and getting ready to transfer to UBC when she had a revelation: “Literally every time something stressed me out, and I felt like ‘ugh, why am I doing this?’ I would go to the Blanche Macdonald website and dream and plan what I would do with my time there. I finally realized that it was probably time to admit this is the route I should’ve taken all along. That showed me it’s always good to trust yourself and your instincts. Even your young, eighteen-year-old self’s instincts!’
When Kirsten finally found herself in the classrooms of Blanche Macdonald, she started to get the feeling she was beginning to figure out exactly where she was going and what she wanted to do.
“Looking back at my year there now, I realize how many things I still notice after Blanche Macdonald. After my first class with [Executive Fashion Program Director] Peggy [Morrison], I couldn’t go anywhere without looking at people’s clothes and identifying all of the different features I could remember from class. [Fashion Instructor] Lyndi [Barrett]’s PR and Styling classes were so full of passion, you can tell she loves what she teaches. It was just a really, really positive experience.”
The owner and Head Buyer had the chance to look at my final project from (Executive Fashion Program Director) Donna’s (Baldock) Buying class, which helped show them my potential. The time I spent at Blanche helped me figure out that Buying was the path I wanted to follow.
Unbeknownst to Kirsten, Buying had been something in which she had always been interested.
“When I was little, all I did was fold and re-fold my dresser and closet. I tracked ALL of my clothes, and I loved to pick them out. When I got older and I found out that Buying was a real job, that’s when it clicked that it literally encapsulated everything I loved: travel, meeting people, seeing all different clothes at trade shows, and of course, shopping with company money!”
Now that she’s on her true path, Kirsten spends her days doing what she loves—connecting with customers, supporting other staff, and standing-in for the managers when necessary. Though the clothes are dreamy, “The Maddy Slip Dress is literally The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants but in a dress,” it’s the people that make each day sparkle. From the girls on her store team to the other stores’ staff, to the Head Office and warehouse teams, the tight-knit connections and relationships are what Kirsten cherishes most.
“I remember Donna saying how important relationships are in Buying and Fashion in general, and they really are. Having the ability to create a genuine connection with a customer, a wholesaler, or a supplier in a fairly small amount of time is crucial. It’s so much more than just ‘sales’; it’s interacting with people in authentic, purposeful, and meaningful ways.”
If you ask Blanche Macdonald Nail Studio graduate Sarah Deptuck, she’s “living the dream. I’ve got a position at one of Nanaimo’s best nail studios and have awesome clients who let me do some really amazing nail sets!” Sarah’s enthusiasm seeps into every topic of conversation, whether it’s her recycled clothing project, @one_womans_trash, or her nail sets from her days spent at Nanaimo’s premier Nail Salon, The Nail Lounge, documented on her own @polish_fumes feed.
Her nail passion was born during her high school years as she slowly started getting more elaborate with her own nail designs, only to realize she loved doing it! Six months later, Sarah walked into Blanche Macdonald as a Nail Studio program student—and has never looked back.
Tell us about your time at Blanche Macdonald!
Nail school was just so much more amazing than I’d even hoped. I felt so intimidated going in. I’d done my own nails, but essentially, I knew nothing about nails. But they’ve somehow found a way to create an environment where you can learn from the instructor and each other without it being scary competitive. Everyone was there to be creative together and learn, so everyone really helped you do your absolute best art, even through criticism. It was just so expansive and formative.
Nail school was just so much more amazing than I’d even hoped. Everyone was there to be creative together and learn, so everyone really helped you do your absolute best art, even through criticism. It was just so expansive and formative.
And now you work as a Nail Tech at one of Nanaimo’s premier salons, The Nail Lounge. How has that been?
It’s been so awesome. I’ve been here just over two years. The Nail Lounge is the first place I’ve worked where I’ve felt at home with everyone. Like, we all genuinely like each other! It’s really a dream come true. The girls are fantastic, and I credit them with nearly everything I’ve learned since Blanche Macdonald. The clients are so lovely too. When I was interviewing for jobs, I did get a lot of offers, one being from The Nail Lounge, and I chose it because it seemed like the place with the most potential for growth and the best team. That’s the other good thing about graduating from Blanche. Industry people know the foundation you come out of there with, so you always get offers; it’s not having to take a job to get your foot in the industry door. I felt like I had my pick, even as a new grad.
You’ve got lots of varied nail sets with everything from bling to simple, coloured sets, but what would you say your style is?
I’d say my style is anything that you hold your breath while you do, and then when you’re done, it’s like HELL YEAH! Anything intricate, specific, or tiny, I’m in. I really like always painting new things and taking on challenges; that’s really my favourite thing to be doing on nails no matter what the request is for.
When I was interviewing for jobs, I did get a lot of offers, one being from The Nail Lounge...That’s the other good thing about graduating from Blanche. Industry people know the foundation you come out of there with, so you always get offers; it’s not having to take a job to get your foot in the industry door. I felt like I had my pick, even as a new grad.
Does that mean that you don’t often get to plan or prepare the sets you do?!
Yeah, a lot of the art I do, I’m totally winging it! Really though, how else do you learn! A client comes in wanting something specific, and you can take a minute to plan and talk about it, but then you’ve got to get started. Over time, you get to know your skills.
What do you love most about your work?
Being creative and coming up with new ideas for clients, definitely. It also is something nice to do for people, let them sit for a minute while you make something beautiful on their nails.
This industry is changing all the time. Whether it’s new products, new ways of doing things, there’s always something new to try. It’s not boring!
What is your advice for people wanting to get into Nails?
Know that you’re never done learning things! This industry is changing all the time. Whether it’s new products, new ways of doing things, there’s always something new to try. It’s not boring! But it’s a lot of work and constant learning. But really, is there a more fun thing to be learning for work!?
Katsuki Shimizu is used to pressure. From the baseball diamonds of Tokyo to Fashion School in Vancouver and back home to fill editorial position at some of Japan’s leading fashion magazines, Katsuki knows what it takes to get the job done.
Now he’s taking on his most challenging role yet as the Japanese Region Branding Director for iconic label Katharine Hamnett London. Katsuki is responsible for restructuring and re-launching the label’s web site, building its Instagram presence and, perhaps most importantly, making the product itself more sustainable.
I brought my portfolios from Blanche Macdonald with me. Even though I’d done women’s designs and the job was for a men’s fashion magazine, they still liked it.
It’s a heavy burden, but considering everything Katsuki has already accomplished within the fashion industry, success is inevitable.
“It’s hard but exciting,” he explains from his Tokyo base. “It’s motivating to bring the brand up a level. My responsibility is to make it happen. Right now Katharine Hamnett London doesn’t have an apparel line in Japan. It’s more accessories than clothes. We’re launching our new line for Spring/Summer 2021. It’s sustainably sourced. Katharine Hamnett used silk when she started designing in 1979 so we’ve taken that idea and making more modern clothing.
“I was in charge of sustainable editorial features at Fine, my last magazine. The more I learned the more I realized how important it is for the fashion industry to pursue sustainability. People in Japan have started to look for sustainably sourced products. Five years ago there was no such thing but even Uniqlo has a sustainable line now.”
Branding and sustainability were hardly on his radar growing up. His twin loves were baseball and fashion until an injury forced the young Katsuki to trade his cap and uniform for an entirely new wardrobe.
“My whole life at high school was baseball. It’s a very Japanese thing. I was practicing and playing almost every day. But I hurt my back and thought I wasn’t good enough to go professional, so I decided to go to Canada to study English. My English was improving and I was looking to study either fashion or photography. That’s when one of my English teachers told me that Blanche Macdonald was probably the best Fashion School in Vancouver.”
Katharine Hamnett London wanted me to do their rebrand so I began working for them directly.
Katsuki’s English wasn’t quite fluent when he first sat down with Director Jaye Klippenstein. Even when he couldn’t find exactly the right words, his enthusiasm was evident.
“I told Jaye I wanted to create things. She was sure I could do it. So I decided to go for it! When I started Fashion School I was still worried about my English. I’d have to ask my instructors a lot of questions after class about all the things I didn’t understand.”
Katsuki’s instructors were all impressed with his determination to understand every aspect of every class. Program Director Donna Baldock began as one of those instructors. She soon became a friend. She’d provide Katsuki with all the information and inspiration he needed. It was a fair trade. He was inspiring her at the same time.
“We had a standing appointment every Friday after my class with another group,” explains Donna. “The fact that he was so appreciative and grateful made it all worthwhile. He would always thank me for my time and always had a smile on his face. It was contagious! It was a pleasure to watch him grow in so many ways.”
Katsuki’s work ethic and enthusiasm were recognised at his year’s Graduate Fashion show, where his military-inspired single-sleeved jumpsuit, and blouse and cropped pants combination won him the Award for Most Improved Student.
It’s motivating to bring the brand up a level. My responsibility is to make it happen.
He returned to Japan planning on continue to design but also looking for a job in the fashion industry. He was working part-time in retail when he saw a newspaper ad looking for Fashion Editors.
“The company, Hinode, asked me to come in. I talked about fashion design and my passion for it. I brought my portfolios from Blanche Macdonald with me. Even though I’d done women’s designs too and the job was on Safari, a men’s fashion magazine, they still liked it. I had no experience in magazines, but I spoke English, I’d been to Fashion School and they thought I could be an editorial assistant.”
That editorial assistant role was the first step in a seven-year journey at Hinode that took saw him rise to editorial positions at three different of magazines—Safari, Fine Boys and Fine—and on adventures around the world.
“I was able to travel for business a lot as I could speak English better than the rest of the team. I was chosen to travel to other countries doing fashion shoots. I went to Hawaii, Portland, Los Angeles and New York. I loved that. It was exciting but also intimidating. It was up to me to do everything from the interviews to arranging the photo shoots, but it was a great experience. I was able to make connections with so many famous brands. I learned to plan and coordinate collaborations. I actually enjoyed that more than editing.
I was chosen to travel to other countries doing fashion shoots. I went to Hawaii, Portland, Los Angeles and New York. I loved that.
“The knowledge of fashion I took from my time at Blanche Macdonald was so helpful. Even though my knowledge was mainly in women’s fashion and I was doing men’s fashion, it still helped.”
As exciting as the life of a fashion magazine editor was, it couldn’t last forever.
“People work hard in Tokyo. I was working from 10am to midnight and would catch the last train home every night. I was really stressed out and knew that lifestyle wasn’t the right thing for me in the long term. I quit with no plans or no clue what I wanted to do next.”
Thankfully, a man with Katsuki’s broad talents and work ethic will always be in demand. After a brief spell as a fashion writer for various magazines (“I’m not a great writer. It takes me a lot of time to write anything.”) he was offered a planning position at a company specializing in sustainability consulting for fashion lines. One of those clients was Katharine Hamnett London. The connection was instant.
They approached us to rebrand them in Japan. Katharine Hamnett London is a well-known brand globally but it had lost its identity in Japan over the years. They wanted me to do their rebrand so I began working for them directly and became their Branding Director for the Japan.
For a young man who came to Canada to learn English and left as a Designer with a fashion education, the reality of the industry has been as exciting as he’d always imagined.
“When you see a fashion shoot on TV, with models and stylists and makeup artists and lights, that’s what it’s really like. It’s fun. At Katharine Hamnett London I have a marketing role, not a design role. I don’t think I’ll be designing again soon. For me planning and marketing are more fun!”
Looking back, it seems like it was Patrick Uy’s destiny to become a top Hair Stylist. Not that he could have anticipated becoming one of Canada’s most promising stylists while he was growing up in the Philippines. But the Blanche Macdonald Pro Hair grad has already gone on to claim a chair of his own at Vancouver’s renown Moods salon, secure representation by International Model Management Agency Richards, win a Bronze Medal at the BC Skills Canada competition and reach the semi-finals at the Contessa Awards, Canada’s top competition for Hair Professionals.
Everyone in the beauty industry who I asked said the same thing: go to Blanche Macdonald!
Working on set for Ryan Li brand.
It’s an impressive résumé for a stylist so young. But it’s entirely appropriate when you consider that his career began, almost accidentally, when he was only 12 years old.
Growing up in the Philippines, being a hairstylist wasn’t considered a profession. Most of my family members were either doctors or nurses.
“Growing up in the Philippines, being a hairstylist wasn’t considered a profession. Most of my family members were either doctors or nurses. I would wonder if I had to be in the medical field to fit in. One day a family friend asked me to do her hair. I thought, ‘This lady is crazy.’ But she trusted me and I gave her a pixie cut.
“My family and I moved to Canada when I was 15. During High School my best friend invited me to colour her hair. I still didn’t know anything about hair, other than a lot of things can go wrong. Everything I knew came from scouring the Internet. But it went well and I thought, ‘That was pretty cool.’”
The seed had been sown. Once Patrick started asking around about how to take his hair journey forward, one name appeared again and again.
“Everyone in the beauty industry who I asked said the same thing: go to Blanche Macdonald!”
“When I started Hair School there I was the kid that was so excited. That’s when I really fell in love with hair. It was a whole new world for me. I immediately became even more curious. I wanted to know more and more. Even when I went home in the evening I would look at hair online.”
Patrick had entered drawing tournaments as a child, and that competitive spirit was recharged the moment he discovered that Hair had contests of its own.
“Renata Trebacz, who is an amazing instructor, mentioned the Skills Canada competition three months into the program. At that point I only knew a little bit about hair. But I told her I wanted to join the competition. She explained that I couldn’t enter until I’d completed the colouring module. I knew I’d be taking that program in a few weeks so I asked if I could enter the competition then. I would go to Hair School from 9am to 6pm, and from 6pm to 10pm I’d learn more from Renata as we prepared for the competition. A few months later I made the finals. That felt pretty good!”
Doing editorials professionally is a different world. You can transform a person’s entire look.
Patrick’s passion for his new craft deepened further when he discovered the connection between hair and fashion, along with the joys of the editorial shoot.
“I didn’t know I wanted to do editorial hair until we did an editorial shoot at School. We had to do four looks—runway, avant-garde, editorial and bridal—in a very short time. That shoot gave me a heart-warming feeling. I loved the excitement and the pressure.
“As long as clients are happy, I’m happy. But doing editorials professionally is a different world. You can transform a person’s entire look. When I’m doing a collaboration shoot, everyone brainstorms creative ideas that build a mood board. From that I design a unique look that suits the whole picture.”
Patrick’s own transformation into a salon professional began the day Program Director Phil Loiselle walked into class and announced that Moodswas looking for an apprentice.
I’m so happy with how much I’ve grown and achieved in the past year.
“I believed in my skills and wanted to grab this opportunity. I reached out to Moods and started one week later. I was motivated and passionate to learn more. As part of the program at Blanche I’d visited a few salons for work experience and found what kind of environment I could work at my fullest potential. It’s important to find a salon that suits your personality. Moods felt like home to me. Now after graduation, I’m continuing my education at Moods learning from two of the industry’s best hairstylists, Chad Taylor and Johanna Libbey. I’m so happy with how much I’ve grown and achieved in the past year.”
The team at Moods, including one notable Blanche graduate, was inspirational as Patrick re-engaged his competitive spirit.
“I heard about the Contessa Awards when I was at Blanche. The hair in those shoots was incredible. I thought, ‘This is sorcery. I’m never going to be able to do hair like this.’ I started at Moods and my mentor, the amazing Freddy Sim and Armineh Damanpak were preparing for the Contessas. I figured I could assist them and learn some of their tricks and sharpen my eye. It was magical. They transformed their models and it was inspiring. I thought, ‘I need to do this next year.’”
As a stylist you should understand what your client needs, both with the haircut and by making them feel comfortable in your chair. They need to trust you.
“I’m lucky to be able to compete at one of the best hair competitions in Canada and to have amazing mentors to guide and support me throughout the process. I’m exhilarated I made it this far in my career. I want to keep pushing my limits and compete in a higher category next year!”
As much as Patrick clearly enjoys the challenge of high level hair, whether he’s crafting a story on a photo shoot or making the guest in his chair feel like a millions dollars, it’s the uniqueness of every head of hair that keeps him looking forward to each new challenge.
I’m always excited about hair. Everybody has different hair so every client is an interesting experience.
“I’m always excited about hair. Everybody has different hair so every client is an interesting experience. As a stylist you should understand what your client needs, both with the haircut and by making them feel comfortable in your chair. They need to trust you.”
For the soon-to-be hair superstar who once believed his duty lay in the medical field, he finishes work every day comfortable in the knowledge that the Uy family (pronounced ‘Oh-ee,’ in case you were wondering) are his biggest fans.
“They’re very proud,” he smiles. “When I visit my parents’ Facebook pages they’re full of images of my work, sharing them with our family in the Philippines!”
Ten years ago April Pangilinan was stuck in a job screening passengers at Winnipeg airport. These days she’s doing Makeup for Movies, mixing with A-listers as one of Canada’s brightest Artists in TV & Film.
April with Keanu Reeves
April with Henry Cavill
I saw how many people who went to Blanche Macdonald succeeded in the industry.
“I was First Assistant on Siberia, starring Keanu Reeves,” smiles April. “I didn’t do his makeup but it was mind-blowing to be on the same set as him. At the wrap party Keanu said to me, ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but what’s your nationality?’ I told him that I’m Filipino and how excited my parents were that I was working with him. He grabbed my phone, took a photo of us together and said, ‘I want you to send this to your Mom and Dad and tell them I say hello.’”
April’s decision to embrace her creative gifts and to study Makeup at Blanche Macdonald proved life changing. A decade ago her artistic endeavours came from colleagues at the airport asking for paintings and tattoo design ideas. These days she’s creating on the set of Apple TV series See, heading the Makeup Department for thriller The Return (starring Richard Harmon from The 100), mastering Makeup Effects alongside legends like Toby Lindala, Francois Dagenais and Tenille Shockey, and working as Kat Graham’s personal Makeup Artist whenever the star is in Canada. It’s been a remarkable transformation. Like all journeys, the most important step was the first.
“After five years with at the airport I realized if I stayed I’d be there until I was 60. I was making money but I wasn’t happy. Face Off arrived on TV and I thought, ‘I want to build monsters!’
Every instructor helped me see everyone’s beauty and that it’s a gift to make someone feel beautiful.
“I saw how many people who went to Blanche Macdonald succeeded in the industry. I was 27, the oldest in the class. I’d never touched or wore Makeup before. As soon as I picked up a brush and started working on the contours of the face, I realized there’s more to this than a there is on a flat piece of paper. I could create and do more. I could think outside the box and that was great.
“Each course was a new challenge. Every instructor inspired me in their own way. They helped me see everyone’s beauty and that it’s a gift to make someone feel beautiful. I loved their stories from the sets of my favourite movies. Understanding you could take something from your kitchen and make someone look disgusting was so exciting.”
April returned to Winnipeg and made an immediate connection with Manitoba’s top Special Makeup Effects Artist, Blanche Macdonald graduate Doug Morrow.
“When I found out Doug did Jumanji, I knew I needed him to take me under his wing. It was challenging being the new person, especially as I look like I’m straight out of high school. I had to prove myself, which I did eventually. One Christmas Eve was my first job doing makeup for movies. It was awesome!”
It was a pleasure for April to be home, but an even bigger pleasure to be back where the action was.
“I was talking to Joanna Mireau and she told me they needed assistants for a show being filmed in Vancouver called See. I flew back and forth for a few weeks but seeing the budget for a show as big as Game of Thrones that stars Jason Mamoa made me realize Vancouver was where I needed to be based. I learnt a lot working with (Blanche Macdonald Makeup instructor) Leah Ehman on See. She designed all the different tribes and you could see her passion in the characters. She’d read the script and created amazing designs based on those words.”
Last year I got a call inviting me out to Guam to work with Kat Graham!
Creating character makeup for movies is at the heart of the Film and TV Makeup Artist’s job, no matter the limitations.
“You’re creating characters that the writers and director already have in mind. If you can make them happy that’s the best compliment possible. I just finished doing makeup for a movie called Solitary starring Barry Pepper. I sat down with Barry and we talked about how we saw the character. Together we created a look we were both happy with. The character looks like scumbag because we talked precisely about how scummy we wanted him to be.
“On a low budget show you might need to pull off a $1000 prosthetic look out of a kit. I was working on The Return, and I needed to make an actress look 20 years younger. You find ways of doing it, even if it takes going to Sephora and getting samples of their most expensive creams. There’s always a way.”
Creativity is at the heart of April’s work. So are relationships.
“My mentality is that whoever is sitting in my chair, they’re treated like they’re number one. Actors know who’s real and who’s fake. With Kat Graham I was real. We met on the set of How It Ends. My boss said, ‘She’s all yours.’ She sat in my chair, we hit it off and she asked me how I felt about becoming her personal Makeup Artist in Canada. Last year I got a call inviting me out to Guam to work with Kat. I thought it was a joke at first then I got a call from Kat saying ‘We’re going to Guaaaaaaam!’”
Every day I’m on set feels like Christmas.
If April’s career doing makeup for movies and celebrities seems like a never-ending stream of creative challenges and charming stars, well, that’s not far from the truth.
“Every day is different because each scene is different. You have to be on your toes, which I love. Every day I’m on set feels like Christmas.
Celebrity friendships and messages from Keanu Reeves are all part of the fun for April, but her greatest joys still come from sharing her artistry with the world and the people she loves.
“My Dad always asked if he could come to set with me, even though I told him that we don’t have ‘bring your parents to work’ day in the movies. But on How It Ends one of the producers heard me talking about it and said, sure, bring your parents to set! I could tell they were proud when they came. My Mom went home and made egg rolls for the producers!”
