Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to Behind the Chair with myself Lauren Garfoot, hair and makeup artist. This is the podcast.
Speaker: where along with a guest of mine, we talk about all things hair and makeup, the good, the bad, and the damn right, awkward. So this week, my guest is Lilia. Hello, Lilia. So I look at your work as one of the actual best in the industry. I actually think you're maybe underrated. I feel like maybe one day you're gonna become famous. You do such incredible work, and I feel like you understand the complexity
Speaker: of lighting and skin and textures in makeup in a really special, unique way. Not everybody understands that, and it's a really special talent that you have. So yeah, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for coming on. Thank you. You're making me laugh. Stop it. Continue with the comments.
Speaker: Literally, thank you, that's very kind. Are you welcome? Very kind. So believe me, I haven't always perfected my craft, let's say. I still don't feel like I've perfected it now, but I was actually looking back at pictures from years ago and I was thinking, fucking hell, the makeup was shocking. Shocking. What do you think that you've improved on? Like, since you looked back at those pictures, you think, oof,
Speaker: What is it looking at? I think it's just like finding my style. I think doing weddings has really like doing weddings again, because over the years where I've done hair and makeup, I sort of flirted with weddings a little bit here and there, but I mainly like my background is in fashion and commercial. But I think I really found and perfected my craft when it came to weddings, because you kind of have to adapt the skills that you've learned over the years to work on normal everyday people and not just models.
Speaker: And I think that's really helped me to find my style and be able to apply it to everyone. Totally great. I do think that, like, in a way, weddings can actually be a lot harder than editorial or fashion. Because, like you say, you're working with professional models. Teddy's going for it. And he's like, woo! That's my cat Teddy, who never shuts up. He's really agreeing with what we're saying. He's like, yes, I agree.
Speaker: Yeah, I think weddings can be, like you say, a lot harder because you're working within like a space of four hours. You can work with all different ages, all different sort of types of skin, colours of skin. And you don't always get that like on set, do you? Yeah. I mean, on set it's like, you know, thankfully I've been able to work with a lot of brands who want to work with different looking models, which I think has helped me, but yeah.
Speaker: definitely weddings and just working on like normal everyday people and like just like I say like learning to adapt what I already know so that it works on everyone or a version of it works on people if that makes sense. I feel like I'm blabbing. Do you prefer fashion and editorial to weddings? Like what if you had to pick one? Do you know what? I'm gonna be honest and say that
Speaker: This is, you probably want me to give you an either or answer, but I actually feel like they kind of go a bit hand in hand because you've got this subject. So for example, if I'm working with a jewellery brand, it's all about the jewellery and making sure that the makeup works under a certain lighting and complements the jewellery that the brand is photographing and putting out there. I feel like it goes hand in hand with bridal work. You've got this bride who's sort of built this whole concept of their wedding, how they want to look, the dress,
Speaker: the veil, the venue. So, what was the question again? You just copped over the answer. I said, which one would you pick? Would you pick editorial fashion or weddings? And you were like, I don't know. I feel like, yeah, but I feel like they both do because I thought, I actually love, I love weddings because I'm kind of a bit nosy in the sense of like, I love to know.
Speaker: we love the gossip don't we on a wedding we always get the giggles i love the gossip i love seeing what people are wearing like the venue i think like living vicariously through other people's weddings and i think because i've got married myself i know like how amazing the whole day is so
Speaker: When you're working on a wedding, it's like an honor, isn't it? It's like a privilege. Yeah. But it's so difficult. I don't know if I can choose because I definitely
Speaker: I mean I probably do quite a lot of weddings every year so it's like me saying oh yeah I don't think I could do weddings all the time when I do but then I'm also lucky enough where I do fashion and commercial but if I had to choose one or the other I don't think I could be without doing the fashion and the commercial and like the creative side because I love the creativity of being on set and being on a shoot and having the creative freedom.
Speaker: Um, whereas with weddings, you're a little bit more sort of, you still have a little bit of creative freedom, but you also have to follow a brief of what that bride wants. Yeah. So I know exactly what you're saying. Yeah. I still feel like my answer is a cop out because I love both. Yeah. For different reasons, right? Like I feel like fashion tutorial, you do get a bit, a bit of like creative decision and the model's not telling you what to do.
Speaker: whereas the model, the client, the bride went in a wedding. They are telling you what to do or they do have, although saying that, most of my brides are like, I trust you, you do what you think's best. And I'm like, yeah. But that's what I mean though, right? You've just picked up a point there, which you're saying my answer's a cop out, right? But you've just hit the nail on the head there when you've said like, this is what I mean, like, because you'll be doing like a creative shoot and you still have to follow a brief. And it's the same with bridal. So at the end of the day, they're both,
Speaker: And I feel like I've kind of brought like my experience of doing that sort of like high fashion editorial skin into my bridal work. And like the same with hair, doing a little bit of something different with the hair. So yeah. And actually that's interesting. I've just realized.
Speaker: There is but way more pressure on the wedding day, because if you fuck that up, or if the bride doesn't look good on the photos, you can't do anything about it. Whereas on fashion editorial, you're like, oh, well, that's a lesson learned, but it doesn't ruin
Speaker: anyone's big day or anything like that like it doesn't really does it like they won't really care I don't know because then but then I feel like the differences when you're on set like you've got that monitor in front of you so you can literally yeah the monitor under the lighting seeing how it looks and you can tweak it whereas
Speaker: literally on that morning of a wedding you've got to do that makeup and you need to know that that is going to look good and that's going to translate well not only in person but also like on camera. But then the pressure's all on you on a wedding day because yeah you've got no I think on a on a shoot you've got a photographer or you've got someone that you can maybe like bounce off of or an assistant you've got an assistant there you can ask them questions and say what do you think about this should we go this way or like yeah
Speaker: You know what I mean? You can creatively make a decision, whereas on a wedding, there's nobody really to make a creative decision on, is there? It's just yourself that has to make all of it. It's yourself, but it's literally, it's the saying is like, not one and done, but in a way it is because it's like you've done their makeup and that's it for the day in the evening.
Speaker: pretty much unless they ask you to come back and like do it. But it's not as common that is it? It's why it's important to have a trial. Well, we can get into that if you want. But our main focus, one of the reasons why I wanted to chat was because you have a really interesting take. And like, I think you describe it really well, your take on
Speaker: editing in photos and I don't know if I've talked about it enough but I hate over editing in photos and we've worked together on a job before haven't we where another makeup artist heavily edited their work and we saw it in real life and then we saw it later on on Instagram and it was a very different story. Very, very different.
Speaker: I hate the F word, not fuck, I love that word. It's filters. I fucking hate filters so much. The dreaded F word. Yeah, filters and editing is so deceptive. And I feel like answering this question about why I hate it and editing, I think the obvious answer is maybe to say that we've sort of been conditioned so it's like we've been
Speaker: when we've grown up we've sort of seen it from an early age in magazines and then you know I'm a millennial I've turned 33 yesterday so I've been there when there was the dial -up internet so it's like before we actually had the internet we would have magazines and like these heavily edited pictures in the magazines and then along came the internet and social media and then all these sort of applications that people could then apply to their own face and
Speaker: And then it just becomes part of someone's work as well. And it's just, you know, I think that that would be an obvious answer as sort of being conditioned. But then I could probably go off on a tandem about why I think people do it from, but from personal experience, mine's come from laziness. I've fallen into that trap of using filters in the past. And I think that that is down to laziness. I think it's rather than sort of
Speaker: making an effort and making sure that you're working on your work so that it looks good, not only in person, but translates well on pictures. I was just putting a filter on and being like, oh yeah, that makes it look better. Whereas I feel like people need to actually take a step back and look at their work and be like, why are you putting a filter on it? I can only speak from personal experience, but I feel like
Speaker: sometimes I do you know going back to when we worked on a wedding with someone and we saw their work it's like that that is a prime example of laziness because and it's like deceptiveness as well because that person's makeup did not look like that in person and they've put a filter on it to make it look better because they're not working hard and perfecting their craft. Well I also think that maybe like looking at it from a more like
Speaker: because it kind of pisses me off a little bit, but also looking at it from a more like pressure point of view of the...
Speaker: have probably looked at and I'm sure loads of people do look at like, and I do it as well, look at images that look perfect. Yeah. And think that that's like, well, it's basically, it is kind of what we sort of have to live up to because people love those images, like the amount of likes and shares and followers and like, do you know what I mean? People love the edited look, but they don't even realize that they love it.
Speaker: Do you think that they've realised it? I just think they think it's amazing hair and makeup and I'm like no it's so much more than that like it's probably two hours of editing to like tweak every colour and the contrast and and like edit the skin and it's yeah I hate it. It's so messed up it's like we're literally like deceiving people like someone's coming into your chair with this sort of
Speaker: expectation that they're going to look like that picture and they're not because it's edited and it is so heavily filtered and it's like there are some top of the game makeup artists in the industry and they're putting Paris filters on their work. Why are we doing this? I've fallen into this trap because I think because I've seen other people do it or you know
Speaker: Well, I was pointing at you, I'm pointing at you going, you're talking to your game, but you don't filter your work. I've not seen you filter it. I have. I have in the past when I first started out, if you can scroll down, you'll see actually Paris filter was very prevalent on some of my work. And I was going to say it's because there'd be something like, Oh, there's a bit of texture on the skin. Um, or, Oh crap. I haven't concealed that spot because I didn't, this is what I mean, laziness, or maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention.
Speaker: and there's a spot there or there's something that I've missed and I've got, oh, let me just whack a filter on it, rather than actually spending a little bit more time and being a little bit more, what's the word I'm looking for? A little bit more like fastidious, like just checking your work and... Yeah.
Speaker: Or, you know, there was a hairstyle that I did that had flyaways and I whacked a filter on it to soften the flyaways. And it's like, it's normal. This is just all normal things. Nothing is meant to be perfect. The little imperfections can sometimes add to it in a way. So.
Speaker: Yeah, basically people just need to stop. They need to stop it. They need to stop filming. But it's that standard of now what we see on the internet and I think it's hard to compete with. That was the word that I was after. I think it's hard to compete with. Images that people don't realise are filtered and then you're trying to compete with filtered images but you're posting real, real skin. The real, the raw image.
Speaker: trying to compete with an end image. It's like impossible. This is why I love like reflective makeup techniques. This is what I have, I feel like that's my style and that's something that I have mastered.
Speaker: Yeah, mastered and sort of look back and think, okay, what was it about those images that I wanted, that made me want to put a filter on it? What is it about the filtered look that makes it look better? Because it's softened and it's light reflective. If you're applying light reflective techniques, that is going to, in a way, sort of give this real life filter effect to your work. So, yeah.
Speaker: Mine definitely came from laziness and not the fact of my fact. But like some filters are terrifying and I think look horrible. Oh yeah. Like, do you know what I mean? When people start editing eyes as well, it's like this weird, they're like putting this like weird like Disney feature on the eyes and it just looks like this weird sort of like Victorian doll. Yeah. Like eyes and then, you know, you've got,
Speaker: know what actually one of my it's quite interesting one of the first ever shoots that I worked on was of a model called Cassie and she's actually going to be one of my brides this year and we've known each other for probably about 10 years and we were talking about this at the trial a few weeks ago about how they edited her nose and they
Speaker: edited her eyes and they made her face look skinnier and it is just absolutely mental when you look back on it. She's got a really beautiful strong nose and she would get booked for having that look and they booked her for having that look but then they completely changed her look in the post -production. It's sad, isn't it? Why do you hate filters? Why do you hate editing?
Speaker: Because it's like an unrealistic expectation, not only for us as the artists, but just for people. It is really damaging, isn't it? Because you end up looking at it.
Speaker: like your own face as well. And you're like, Oh girl. Yeah. And I think as well, even models have, you know, pause and like cellulite and like stretch marks and, you know, like all these things, but you just don't, you don't say, like people don't realise that it's so edited and so touched up and yeah. Yeah. And now we've got this whole thing of selective editing. I don't know if you know about that. So it's like,
Speaker: brands are more so now putting out like, oh yeah, you know, we're going to embrace like the imperfections, but then they'll still sort of take out a little thick, like they might remove someone's mole, but then they'll leave a stretch mark. And it's like, it's still, you can't advocate for something while still sort of doing selective editing. Like you're either going to do it or you're not. Okay. If there's a hair that's going across the face, of course remove it. But when it comes to things like, you know, moles or,
Speaker: texture and stuff like that. That's a whole different ball going on. It's like a beauty brand recently that had loads of pictures of their new makeup with all texture and they hadn't edited the work. That's really bad. I can't remember which brand it is, but I have seen the photos and... It's all right, we won't name in shame. I know it's a good thing because they haven't edited the photos. Oh, right, okay. It's like just normal skin.
Speaker: like how the makeup looks. It's like all these like TikTok influencers and I'm thinking of one in particular who is like massive now. She got really big in lockdown and like she's been outed so many times now for like putting like filters and stuff and being like, oh my God, look at it, it looks amazing. Making it like so over the top and like people
Speaker: Believe it. She's getting, whoever it is, they are getting, they're essentially right. They, they're getting asked by a brand to, you know, advertise a foundation or whatever it is. But if you're filtering and editing whilst trying to put out like why someone or like you're influencing why someone should buy a product.
Speaker: Again, that's not a real representation of what that product can do. I know, but I don't know how actually people are getting away with it, like how the influencers get away with it. Because it is false advertisement and I'm pretty sure isn't that illegal? I know, people fall for it, people fall for it all the time. I know. I always laugh about like trends and stuff that I see, like I don't know if you saw the Lattie makeup one that was around a couple of months ago.
Speaker: Yeah, I actually did a version of it recently. It's all good. They really irritate me. I don't know why they just do. Yeah, because you know what it is, it's TikTok and it's like these makeup looks have been around for ages. It's literally just a bronze makeup look. But we're creating things like with me. Why is it called it? Do you like wearing makeup? I know, I know.
Speaker: Don't get it. Have you not seen any trends that you think, oh, nah, that is just stupid? I don't really know if this is a trend, right? But I have seen so many people on TikTok pumping 10 ,000 million pumps of foundation and whacking it on their face. What the hell is that all about? I absolutely. First of all, it's a waste of product. And it's like they're doing it for clickbait, right? But like,
Speaker: There's, I just, I honestly can't get my head out. It's like 50 pumps of foundation on the face and it's all in their eyes. When people get the pump of whatever it is, serum, moisturiser, foundation, but they do it on the face. So it makes me gag.
Speaker: I feel sick. I have no point in it. What is the point? There's too much product. Why would you put one massive blob on one cheek? The way they do it doesn't make any sense. You say it's all a go viral.
Speaker: so that people watch it and it's controversial. But some people actually do it like it's so caked on. It's not that Meredith, she does that. She started that loads and loads and loads and loads of foundation. And she was like, this is the only way to do it. Do you know what though, on this subject of like trends, I don't really know if this is a class is a trend, but
Speaker: Actually, one thing that I really hate is people telling others what they should or shouldn't do, whether that's skincare, makeup, or cosmetic work. Does this class as a trend when people are making videos and telling people what they should and shouldn't do? It really actually annoys me because it's like at the end of the day, people should do what they want.
Speaker: And it's like, I know we're sitting here and we're criticizing about like the pumps of foundation and I'm going, Oh yeah, people should do what they want. But I mean, on a different subject of like, I hate this trend of, you know, for example, I saw this video yesterday and I was actually speaking to our friend, Olive, who also works in the industry. And this girl was, she put up this video and she was talking about, Oh, you know, just people need to let me know if there's anything that I should change. Like I want to have a grow up. And there are people in the comments saying you need to get lip filler.
Speaker: you need to sort out your overbite, you need to get a boat off. This girl was like in her early 20s, there is absolutely nothing wrong with her face. She's absolutely gorgeous. She's actually in the ideal beauty standard world. She's got like a symmetrical face and she's absolutely gorgeous. And it's like, I feel like there's this like weird trend of yeah, like telling people what they should and shouldn't do when it comes to their face and it's like,
Speaker: I mean actually I saw something it wasn't the same video there was a woman who posted she was I think mid 20s as well and it was something completely unrelated to beauty or like aesthetics or the way she looked or anything but she was filming herself on camera like quite close up so she had her phone quite close to her face and and she was talking I swear she was talking about something like houses or something she wasn't talking about anything to do with makeup
Speaker: She didn't ask for any advice, but all of the comments were like to do with, oh, no, I remember the subject she was talking about. I think she was talking about men. That was it. She was talking about men, not houses. Houses men, same thing. And she was saying about how...
Speaker: She loves being single. That's what she was saying. And it really triggered the comments and loads of men were like, if you put some makeup on, then you'd get a boyfriend. If you waxed your eyebrows, he said wax your eyebrows, get a haircut, get a fake tan and get your lips done. And that'll do wonders. Trust me. And you're like, okay. Well, she didn't ask for any advice on how to get a boyfriend.
Speaker: Unsolicited advice. It's like, I know people often say like, you know, if you're putting yourself out there on the internet, then you know, you're opening up the subject of like, you know, people should be able to like, don't put yourself out there unless you're like, willing to like, take shit back. But like, but what, like, why be nasty? Like, there's no need to be nasty. I just don't think there's, sorry, I got distracted because I just got an email coming.
Speaker: Having an opinion and just being mean and like sharing unsolicited feedback for no reason. Yeah, especially when it's not a video where someone's actually saying, hey, let me know if there's anything that you think that I could work on to make myself look better.
Speaker: I think if people are asking for advice, I'm like, oh, you are opening yourself up for like real criticism. But like, I saw a video this morning of, you know, Billie Eilish, you know, Finneans, who write Billie.
Speaker: You know how he doesn't really get that much attention? He kind of gets ignored, doesn't he? And he was like on this video and he's so talented and he was like talking about how he writes the songs and it was like such an interesting video. And then there's like a comment where someone said something like, you're so not talented, blah, blah, blah, basically like just a hate comment. And I'm like, these people, I don't even know where these people come from because like,
Speaker: I don't know. They're keyboard warriors. They're just literally keyboard warriors. I don't know how. They turn such a lovely, like, positive thing, making music, into, like, I just don't get it at all. It's so stupid. These people, though, they would not behave like that in person. They're probably the same people that are like, hashtag be kind. Let's all be kind to people. Stop bullying. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, you're literally hiding behind this account.
Speaker: leaving these shitty comments where they're not welcome. Have you seen that guy who calls out people? Who's seen him?
Speaker: He's like, he's quite a big like burly guy. I think he like lifts and he, you know, one of those like types of the big beard and he's like, hey. And then he basically like goes after trolls, but he specializes in like, people who are like working out or like lifting heavy. It's usually women, right? Who get trolled. And, um,
Speaker: He basically trolls the trolls, but it's like really funny. You just, you have to send you it the next time. Yeah. Send it. I want to say he's really, really good. Um, like it's like borderline, uh, rude content, but I think he does it in a really funny way. Anyways. What is one thing that you wish you could say to a client's face, but sometimes you don't feel it's necessarily appropriate to say, like it's not a mean comment. It's just.
Speaker: something. I don't know. I've actually been thinking about this answer. It's actually not really anything negative. I think it's more about, you know, sometimes say, for example, if someone's in your chair and you're having a trial and maybe they don't feel comfortable enough to tell you whether they like something or not. And sometimes I just want to be like, can you just tell me if you actually like it or not? You know, just, just open up, just let me know. But then again,
Speaker: I think I'm pretty blessed when it comes to my brides because I also really try and emphasize, like, this is a safe space and I want you to tell me if you don't like something or not, but there is one of those clients or like every now and then, you know, maybe, you know, eight times out of 10, someone's gonna say something and then you're gonna just get this client that's like quite quiet or maybe they feel uncomfortable and maybe later on they might message you, but in that moment when they're not saying anything, I just wanna be like, can you just tell me
Speaker: Is there anything that you don't like? Yes. I think that's literally one of the best answers you could possibly have said for that question. I completely agree. I try to say to people, it's makeup, it's not a tattoo. We can take it off.
Speaker: Exactly. But you can change it quite easily. The only thing that I think I personally think is really hard to change is blusher. Like once that blusher's on, it's kind of, it can be quite hard to get a bit of foundation on the brush, babes. No foundation, but I mean, depends on if you've got like the bronzer on and like powdered it. You know what I mean? That situation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, eyeliner's a hard one to take off and stuff. Oh yeah.
Speaker: If I get people in who feel really like self -conscious or they don't get their makeup done a lot, you probably say the same thing. I always say like start with less and then we'll build. Yeah, definitely. I think on that subject though, there's one thing, not that I could say to someone who's in my chair, but maybe I've only ever had this once where there was a mum that was very much
Speaker: pulled up a chair and sort of sat right next to where I was standing and was sort of micromanaging how I was applying makeup. And for me, I sort of, I go back and forward a lot of different areas of the face. So I might put something on and it might not be blended out properly yet because like, for example,
Speaker: I might put really, really, really minimal amount of blusher because for me, you might look at the face and be like, oh, that looks really pale. We just put loads of blusher on, but then you could add a lip. And then that changes the whole thing because it changes the balance of the face. And I'm like, oh my God, take it down, take it down. Whereas I had this mum that was like, oh, you're not going to do this. You're not going to put lip colour on. You're not going to do this. And I just wanted to be like, do you want to take the brush? Do you want to do it?
Speaker: I'm the professional here. Let me do my job. So that's one thing that I would love to just be like, I'd love to be quite brutal, but I think because I'm, I'd say I'm quite a nice person. So I try to be quite diplomatic in my answers to people like that. So yeah. I think you're quite easy to talk to. Like I think you're quite direct, but easy to talk to as well at the same time.
Speaker: Apart from my resting bitch face, that is a real problem. I don't think it's that bad, honestly. I've seen worse. Oh, it is when I'm working. Do you know what? That's actually one thing is when I, now I've sort of reached the stage now where, when people come for trials, because I have a mirror, like a big mirror, like sat in front of them. And I often look into the mirror so I can see it from their perspective as well. You can see how it looks from further away rather than it looking, looking directly at their face. And when I'm working,
Speaker: And I have to warn them sometimes, like, okay, when you see me looking in the mirror, like, my face can look quite strong and quite stern, but it's just because I'm concentrating. So I'm always like, don't worry, because one time I did have a bride that looked at me and she was like, is everything okay? And I was like, yeah, why? Just like, because.
Speaker: You look a bit worried, I'm like, no love, it's just my face. It's a real problem sometimes. No, I get that. Especially towards the end of the makeup application, because I'm like trying exactly what you just said. I'm trying to like look at the balance and just see if there's anything that I've like missed. But I'm trying to like, you know, when you try to like unfocus your eyes, so you're not focused on one section, you're trying to like
Speaker: Like you say from a distance, so it's like overall sort of thing. And sometimes my face just looks so dead, like, yeah, because we kind of concentrate on you, looking at and just like focus on what you're looking at. It is funny sometimes, you know, how we work on faces and people are looking at our face when we're looking at them.
Speaker: I do always think like, you know, when people joke about like us being like, we've got like an artist palette, like, like we're like painting a canvas. You know, like how an artist would paint a canvas with oils and acrylics and stuff. But like their canvas doesn't talk back at them. Right?
Speaker: Is it looking at their concentration pool? You know what, I've honestly, I've never thought of it like that. That is brilliant. It's true though, isn't it? We've got a talk in Canvas. Do you know what? Sometimes I actually catch myself and I'm like, this is actually so weird that this is my job, that I'm putting makeup on someone's face, that this is actually my job. This is so bizarre. It is, isn't it?
Speaker: It's so weird. Do you like doing hair? I get asked this question every single time. I don't think there's ever been a person that's never asked me, what do you prefer, hair or makeup? Everyone asks me this question. Oh my God. I think because, you know, I do both and it's like, there's a lot of people that actually don't really do both. Or maybe they do one better than the other. But
Speaker: When I answer this question, I think I love doing both, but I prefer doing makeup in the sense that I find that makeup is a lot more transformative. I agree. It's way more sort of focused on like enhancing people's features. It is that transformation. Yeah, like if we were cutting or coloring someone's hair, that's a transformation. But yeah, we're just working with the hair that we've got. Like we can't really change the color or like
Speaker: We can't do any of that. Whereas like you say with makeup, it can be way much more transformative. But what I do love is I love, and I know you agree with me on this because I think we've talked about this before, is I love to do the hair and the makeup because
Speaker: I do think it flows better, in my opinion. When they compliment each other. Exactly. Because it's like, you've got the same style, right? Exactly. Exactly. Because you could have someone that could do a hairstyle that's like quite sort of like boho looking. But then the makeup itself could be something that's like more, I guess, like soft glam. And it's like, I feel like those two sort of
Speaker: it can change the whole look. It's like they don't really like coincide with each other as much. I know what you mean, yeah. That's a good point, you know what? I've never thought of it from that point of view. From the point of view that I was thinking of is like when, for example, you're doing the hair, say, and then another makeup artist that you've never met before does the makeup and it's like really heavy or like,
Speaker: really, in my opinion, maybe a little bit too much for a wedding day. That's my personal opinion. Yeah. And then I... Like, there are makeup can really complement each other. Totally. I totally agree. So when you've got two different styles, it's a bit like, it kind of throws it out a little bit. Sometimes, sometimes it can work really well, right? But I think if you've got like a similar sort of work in style as the other person. Yeah. So what is your makeup ick?
Speaker: Big, sick, Russian lashes. I bloody hate them. I hate them so much. Because you just can't do, you can't do what you want to do, can you, with the eyes? Like, you can't... There's no creativity for your contribution. Yeah, they can just look so heavy and it's like, okay, I get it. Like, some people, they love lashes. Like, one of my clients, she has got...
Speaker: amazing, amazing eyelash extensions every single time I see her. And it's the point where I actually had her yesterday and I said to her, what have you been using the lash serum? Like your lashes look amazing. She was like, no, it's my lash tech. They are like incredible. When they're done well, they're done really well. But I'm specifically referring to like those big thick Russian lashes when they are like black and heavy.
Speaker: and it closes the eye and then whatever makeup you put on the eye, you can't see it. You just can't see it because there's just this big thick, like it's almost like someone's put like a broom on the eye. It's true. And it like closes the eye down, doesn't it? Like it lays all those eyes down. And also some lash texts use, I'm not bashing anyone, but like some do use varying levels of like,
Speaker: quality of lashes and some of the lashes are really like cheap quality and like heavy and thick and like not fluttery, not like hair like. When they look artificial it's like the actual hair that they've the fibers or whatever that they've used is like they're that big thick like sort of like black pigmented. Especially on someone who's got like quite sort of like light features. It just it's not enhancing it is like masking and
Speaker: Yeah, I just hate them. I really, really hate them. But then saying that, I agree with what you said, because you said specifically Russian lashes, because if the natural ones are done well, then they can look really, really nice. Yeah. I think I've seen more bad ones than good ones. Same, same. So if you do want to get them done on your Wednesday, then do your research and test them out. But just get us to do clusters instead.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly. It doesn't look bad. We'll do a little bespoke cluster on you. We know what we're doing. I love, oh my god. And also, we know what works with the makeup that we've done as well. Because, you know, yeah, some lashes, we can adapt them to enhance the makeup that we've done, whereas when you've got these big thick lashes and it's like, it just doesn't, you know, someone might have these big thick lashes, but then they want to have this natural makeup look and it just doesn't work. It just does not complement at all. No, not at all.
Speaker: So, Lilia, what would be your desert island beauty product? Oh, I have thought about this question a lot, almost obsessively. Can I guess? Can I guess what you're saying? Yeah. Have, like, just as a prerequisite question, is that the right word? Is it skincare or is it makeup? Skincare. Yeah, I thought you'd go skincare. I think you've chosen either SPF,
Speaker: or lip balm or something like that. So I've come to the conclusion, right, that I'm already on a desert island. So I don't need my skin because it's desert island product, right? So I don't need my skin to look like a desert island. I've got really dry skin and the obvious answer would be SPF, but I'm not going with that because
Speaker: Technically, it would be moisturizer, but then I also reached for lip balm so much. And when I've run out of lip balm, I've tried to use my moisturizer on my lips and it just doesn't give. So my Desert Island product would actually be lip balm because I feel like I could actually use lip balm on my face and it would moisturize it.
Speaker: So yeah, it has to be lip balm. And I say this as I'm literally about to apply more lip balm on my lips. I love it. And you know what? My friends actually laugh at me. For someone that loves lip balm so much, on a night out, I always, sometimes I forget to take it. And worst. I go to my friends, has anyone got any lip balm? I just can't live without it. I love it. What's your favourite? I love the Laneige
Speaker: lip mask. I love the Nooks Reverde Mill one but they all have different, like the Nooks one's great because you can use it on men as well if they don't want to have like that shine on their lip but they want to have that moisturisation and actually I feel like the Nooks one would be a really good desert island one because it's like it's thick and occlusive but it's not too shiny and I feel like it would work really well on the skin
Speaker: And I've actually used it on like dry areas of the body as well. So like, um, I've used it on brides for like, you know, like when you've got like dry looking elbows. Um, and then I love like tinted lip balms as well. I love the Summer Friday ones. I love them so much. They're great. What? The Summer Friday? Summer Fridays. Summer Fridays do these tinted lip butter balms.
Speaker: Um, and actually I feel like everyone pits and like sort of, um, compares the summer Fridays ones with like the road tinted lip balms as well. Um, there's a lot on TikTok of like road tinted lip balm, the tinted peptide lip things versus the summer Fridays. And I've actually tried both and summer Fridays for the win for me. I love them. Love them.
Speaker: Summer Fridays, I've never tried that one. I have like, I've got like a lip balm in my coat pocket, a lip balm in my bag, a lip balm, I think I've got one in my car. And then, no, actually I've got two lip balms in my coat. What are they? What are they? Don't tell me one of them's Carmex. No. Why does every man, sorry, I'm going to generalise on it.
Speaker: Every man, and I've got a valid reasoning for this as well, they all have Carmex. So when I first started, before being my husband got married, we first started dating, he always had this little pot of Carmex and he's still got the same pot. And we've been together for what, seven years now, he's still got the same pot. And then one of our friends from the pub, one of our friends from the pub, who's also a man,
Speaker: We were out a couple of weeks ago. We were out a couple of weeks ago and I forgot my lip balm. For someone who loves lip balm, I do forget to bring it out a lot. And I was like, oh, has anyone got any lip balm? Especially when I get drunk, I just need lip balm. It's like this obsession. And he pulled out a pot of Carmex as well.
Speaker: Oh my God, I think my dad might even have a pot of Carmex. It's so funny. No, my boyfriend uses Vaseline. Do you know what? Don't knock Vaseline. Oh, no. No, sorry. I really like that. Petroleum, I'm sorry, but no. I can't with it. Right, so like this whole thing about like petroleum is like it's an occlusive layer. So I feel like if you've got really, really, really dry lips, you can put something that's actually going to moisturise your lips first.
Speaker: And then you can put that over the top to create this occlusive layer so that it like creates this barrier and like helps to like moisturize better. But Vaseline in general as a lip moisturizer, no. That's probably why actually interesting that you said that because I didn't know that.
Speaker: That's probably why I like it because I don't use it when my lips aren't really feeling like dry. I only use it like just sort of on a regular basis. So it probably is locking in the moisture that's already there. Do you know what I mean? So I don't, I don't really get it. You know, there is people who are like chronic cracked lips, isn't there? People who have it. That's me in winter. Yeah. I don't like touch wood. I don't get that. I literally get desert island lips.
Speaker: Like, don't look like tar on paper. So yeah, lip balm, I can't be without it. What's your tip if anyone's got desert island lips like you? Honestly, probably the Laneige Lip Mask. It's actually called Lip Sleeping Mask, but slathering it on before bed,
Speaker: because I feel like if you're, if you've got like really dry lips or dry, just dry skin in general, nighttime is going to be the best time that you're going to assess those problems because you're sleeping. You're not, you're not, you're not like talking throughout the day. Yeah. So like in that rest mode and that's when it's going to work best. Yeah. You're in the recovery mode. Your skin goes into recovery. Exactly. Well,
Speaker: I think I've ran out of questions. What would be your desert island beauty product? I think I've answered this before, but currently right now, Mascara. I think it would always be Mascara. What? But babes, you're on a desert island, right? No one asked around. It would have to be, it would have to be SPF. It would have to be because, and it would have to be an unlimited supply because I'm so ill.
Speaker: I'm like all lined ginger. I don't, I don't tan at all. Like I don't have any olive skin in me whatsoever. It's all ginger. So I'd have to, and I'd have to take a hat as well. I'd have to like maybe make a hat out of leaves. This is the thing cause it's like, you know, the obvious answer would be SPF, but like I've just, I've just never found an SPF that I love. I just haven't. No, they'll either like, they really,
Speaker: Even when they're not even around my eye area, they still like to sting my eyes and make my eyes water, or they'll like break me out. Yeah, I've had that before. And it's annoying because it's like I've got, everyone always thinks like acne -prone skin is oily, but actually it's not. I've got really, really, really drier, dry, not only dry skin, but my skin's dehydrated no matter what I do with it. And
Speaker: Yeah, I just... It's got nothing to do with the alcohol or no. Alcohol, definitely. Definitely got nothing to do with that. You make me sound like I'm an alcoholic. You have mentioned alcohol twice. I'll tell you what, I was a bloody alcoholic yesterday. This is my birthday for people who are listening and
Speaker: My husband gave me a glass of champagne at 10 .30 in the morning. And then I had another one. And then another one. And I passed out. And all he did, your husband about forced you to have a glass of champagne. Oh, no, he didn't force me, but he brought it in. Props to him. He brought me a glass in. It was all premeditated. He was like, I don't want it. I don't want it. I passed out at like 2 .30 PM and I woke up at like six and I was like,
Speaker: Where's my husband gone? He's gone to work. I can't believe I'm showing this. There was this bag at the end of the bed and I was like, what the hell is this? A bag? I opened it up and there was like four packets of crisps in there. I drunk ordered. I drunk ordered snacks on Uber Eats and I'd passed out before I'd got here and he'd opened the door and I need to, you know,
Speaker: got it and he put it on the end of the bed so that when I woke up they were there. Oh, I'm not sorry for if you keep this in or not because this is so unprofessional. Well, yeah, but you're not doing that on a job, are you? You're in the comfort of the job. I cannot have a drink before the night before a job, like on a wedding. One of my favourite things at a wedding is like,
Speaker: apart from, you know, the whole doing hair and make up, making people feel great. It's like when the bride, when the bride apart, you're like, they've popped open a bottle of champagne and they're like, do you want a glass? I love that. I just love having a drink with them. I bloody love it. It's so like lavish and...
Speaker: Yeah. I'm like, oh, just give me a little glass. And then like, I'll just have like a sip and I'd be like, cheers. Cause they always want to give you a glass don't they? And I'm like, cheers. I sip it. And then I basically leave it. I'm like, don't give me a lot cause I won't drink it. If I was to drink a full glass of champagne after seven hours of doing hair makeup and not eating a single thing, I'd be on the floor. I wouldn't be able to get home.
Speaker: Babes, one of my favorite things to do after a wedding, especially, right, so like, I've done quite a lot of weddings at the Ned fab location. Yeah. And they've got gorgeous bars there. They've got, I think they've got about, I think like three or four different bars and restaurants. And sometimes after a wedding, one of my favorite things to do is go and have a solo meal and I'll have like a lot of solo glass of champagne with it. I just love it. And I know that I sound like such, I sound like such a lush,
Speaker: But yeah, that's my go -to. I just love... That's your guilty pleasure, isn't it? It is my guilty pleasure. The thing is though, if that's what you love to do, do it. Why not? Basically, I'm an alcoholic. I like to go home and stay into a blank space for a while.
Speaker: Oh no, I can't talk. I kind of go a bit loot after. Yeah, same. And like, and then what do I do? What do I do after a wedding? Just like die from tightness. Yeah, that's actually, what is your best way to wind down after a wedding? I tend to like eat as much as I can as soon as I leave. What's your go -to meal? What's that, babe? What's your go -to meal after a wedding?
Speaker: It depends where I am. If I'm at a location that's nowhere near home. No, you're going to send me a protein bar. What? It's a protein bar. Because I've seen you. I've seen you pull out protein bars. Listen, that's not a meal, that's a snack.
Speaker: Yeah, but you've got them on tap. On tap. They get me through weddings. So I usually have a protein bar mid wedding, like, like eating it. I eat like a bite in between like each client or something like that, or like a banana or something like that. I try and like keep it sort of healthy if I can. And otherwise I've eaten croissants like three, four times a week when I'm doing like 20 season. It's just like, you can't do it.
Speaker: anyways so yeah oh but then i'm naughty if i'm like say i do quite a lot of weddings in like dova where you know like more sort of uh east of kent um which is still like a good hour and a bit for me so i'll be naughty and i'll have a mcdonald's what's the mcdonald's order i get chicken select meal three chicken select meal and i'm lucky if i finish that i don't always even finish that i'm like a little what i'm like a little rabbit yeah i know
Speaker: But then I'll be hungry like half an hour later so like then I'll eat something else half an hour. I bloody love a fillet of fish. It's so good. My fillet of fish. A fillet of fish. You have it with chips. But I'm weird right? I remove the top, I remove the top bun. What's your drink order?
Speaker: either a Coke Zero, I'm actually literally, I've just finished, I've just finished a Coke Zero. I am like obsessed with Coke Zero. I love that. Yeah. I don't, I, I don't like normal Coke. It makes my teeth feel like they're cotton wool. It's really weird because there's so much sugar in it and I don't need any more sugar because I'm quite hyper and it just makes me go. So Coke Zero,
Speaker: A fillet of fish, but yeah, I'm weird. I remove the top bun of the fillet of fish. I don't like it to be too much bread. It feels a bit too soggy. So it's like, I leave the bottom bun with the cheese and you've got the fillet fish and then that most of the, what's it called? What's that sauce in it called? Oh my gosh. It is? No, it's the thing with like the capers in it. Oh, tartar sauce. Disgusting. No, it's lovely. Disgusting.
Speaker: Delicious. And then I love chicken noggies. Chicken nuggets. They're great. Gross. Yeah, the only thing I'll eat from there really is chicken slits. If you could only ever use one vegetable for the rest of your life to apply makeup with, what would it be? Oh, God, that's a really good question. I can't think of all the vegetables. Carrots? No.
Speaker: Definitely not a carrot, because a carrot's a bit too spiky, isn't it? I don't know. Broccoli would be quite a good one, actually. I'm trying to think how you'd get that really nice blend on an eye shadow. But then, in terms of the skin, I would just use my fingers. Aubergine, for me, because it's like a sponge. It's literally, if you cut it open, it's like a sponge inside.
Speaker: That is highly inappropriate. You're talking about makeup. This has been amazing. Thank you for having me on your podcast. You're welcome. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It was a lot of fun and I feel like we need to show another one because I feel like the gossip is endless. Yes, definitely. All right, have an amazing... I could write a book on the gossip. Literally. Have an amazing birthday weekend and I'll see you soon. See ya.
Speaker: Listen, we know you like an aubergine.
Speaker: Bye. Thank you so much for listening to this week's podcast. I really enjoy that chat with Lillia. She's a good friend and colleague and we work together quite a lot. So we always have so much to chat about. And I do feel like we went a little bit off subject was the end. We actually ended up talking about Apple crumble for about 10 minutes, which I did edit out. If you would like to hear the chat about Apple crumble, then let me know and I can post that one as a separate podcast episode, I mean. But yeah, thank you so much for listening.
Speaker: Please hit subscribe and share this with your friends and your family because, you know, thanks, bye, love you.
