Name: Brittany Diaz
Location: Staten Island, NY
QC Course: Master Makeup Artistry
Instagram: @brittanythemakeupgoddess
When did you know you wanted to become a makeup artist?
I was always a sketch artist. I used to draw scenes from movies using the close-ups. In my teens, I looked through a Kevyn Aucoin book, and I knew then and there that this was my world. He transformed all those models into anything he wanted. Glamour and costume.
It’s been a while since you’ve completed the Master Makeup Artistry course! Where has your career gone since you finished the course in 2015?
I’ve worked on a few music video sets, was published in some magazines, and worked on short films and theater shows. Currently I’m working on a film doing glamour and special effects makeup for it!
Which area of the makeup artist industry has been the most rewarding? Which has been the most challenging?
Film is so rewarding. I’m also an aspiring writer and director, so I feel the most at-home on a set doing everything I love. Fashion is definitely more challenging because each high-end creative is very different and will always expect perfection that caters to their style.
What’s your all-time favorite look or shoot you’ve worked on? Why?
Oh goodness, this is hard! I would have to say a zombie look I did with a model friend and photographed myself. I was down in the dumps and she thought it would help to do a creative production.
I always do glamour makeup styles and occasionally avant-garde. But this pushed me out of my comfort zone! Making her into a zombie produced one of the most amazing photos I have in my portfolio. I was in the mud while she squeezed under a small part of my house. It’s 4 years old and it’s still what I send to casting directors.
If you were called into a movie shoot on short notice, which products from your professional makeup kit would you take?
My concealer palette and foundation palette are a must. As well as eyeliner, latex, and my Krylon paint palette! Then I’d just throw in some shadow palettes, lashes, and lip case. But my bag always gets the concealer and foundation palette at all times – I can build on that with anything else if there is an emergency.
What advice would you give to someone who has just graduated their makeup certification course?
If you don’t get any major makeup jobs or many jobs at first, do not doubt yourself! You will only waste your time. I can’t tell you how hard I doubted myself when I felt I like I wasn’t good enough. But the truth is, you’re as great as you know you are and you must always believe you are amazing, because you are! If you have that passion, keep striving. It will come.
