following my heart... back to school.

I've always been a lipstick darling. From an early age, I have been fascinated with the art of makeup, how these colourful little tools could transform someone's look, and in the process give them the confidence to conquer the world. Before I was old enough to build my own makeup collection, I would sneak into my mother's makeup bag and experiment on my dolls, my mother, myself. As I got older, this passionate hobby grew, [and thanks to many YouTube "how-to" videos] so did my skill level. Friends would ask me to make them up for special events, but I never made anything out of it. I went on to study marketing at university, and after graduation got a job in my field at a great start-up [go fourgrounds media!]. But sometimes even when things are going great and you love your life [I have a wonderful new husband and the best little dog ever!], your soul speaks up and demands just a little something extra... A little extra attention, a little extra love. Everyone is different, and they feed their soul in different ways, but for me it's creative expression. I happened upon this realization in an unusual way... One day at work on set of a movie fourgrounds was producing, our key makeup artist was met with an unfortunate accident that would not allow her to continue working on the movie. [Although I felt really bad] I jumped at the chance to help out doing touch-ups and other minor things, and in the process something had awoken inside of me. That life-long passion that I had only ever seen as a hobby was now presented to me in a totally different way - and I LOVED it! From that moment I started being conscious of this opportunity and planned my route to get there. I am excited to say that today I will begin formally training at the School of Professional Makeup in Toronto, where I will fine tune my skills, learn a whole bunch of new ones, and begin the journey to professional makeup artist. Whether it's a beautiful bride, or a zombie, I'm excited to see where this new challenge brings me. Stay tuned to this blog for a chronicle of my journey, some interesting make-up posts [hint: celebrity doppelgänger series], and a whole bunch of tips, tricks and product reviews!