My name is Lyndsay and I belong to the Pan Stik generation. Rimmel Heather Shimmer lipstick, Body Shop Bronzing Balls, cheap white eyeshadow and those tiny Bourjois blushers. Who’s with me?
We’re not the YouTube generation who learned makeup from tutorials. Most of us figured it out as we went along.
If you’d told me six years ago that I would own a beautiful makeup studio on Bloomfield Avenue, I’d have laughed.
Back then, at 42, I wasn’t particularly interested in makeup and I certainly wasn’t an expert. I had spent 13 years working in Restorative Justice and I thought I would probably stay there until retirement.
I’d had three children and life felt like a constant juggle. I looked exhausted. I could feel my light going out and, somewhere along the way, I think I had stopped caring what I looked like.
I’d planned to take a career break, and then Covid happened.
Like so many people, I suddenly found myself with time on my hands. Between the chaos of home schooling, I signed up for a few online makeup courses, simply to do something for myself.
And that’s when everything changed.
I fell in love with the creativity of makeup. I could get lost in it. I loved leaning new techniques and, unexpectedly, I loved the way makeup made me feel.
I was actually forced to look at myself in the mirror.
I don’t think I had properly looked at myself for years.
The more I learned, the more I realised makeup wasn’t about covering up. It was about feeling more like yourself again. It was incredibly powerful.
However, back to reality and changing careers felt incredibly risky.
There are mortgages to pay, families to support and responsibilities that don’t disappear just because you have a dream. It’s much easier to stay where you are than to take a leap into the unknown.
I spent months trying to convince myself not to do it.
And do you know what changed my mind?
Other women.
My female friends and family kept encouraging me. I started to share some makeup videos on Instagram and women began messaging me sharing their own stories of feeling invisible, overwhelmed or like they had lost themselves.
Between raising children, caring for ageing parents, juggling work, menopause and all the ups and downs that life throws at us, so many felt they no longer recognised the woman in the mirror.
They told me my videos encouraged them and made them feel that perhaps they could make a little bit of time for themselves again.
Those conversations gave me the courage to take the leap.
So I handed in my resignation.
It was terrifying, but I knew I would regret not trying far more than I would regret getting it wrong.
It wasn’t glamorous. There was no grand opening, no prosecco-filled launch party or an overnight success story.
My business began at my dining table with my own makeup bag, a handful of brushes, a deep breath and a lot of determination.
Women brought their makeup bags, and together we would go step by step, learning how to apply makeup that suited them.
One client became two. Two became ten. The Northern Ireland grapevine did the rest for me. I am eternally grateful for the conversations at the gym, supermarket & school gate!
Social media connected me with women who wanted simple, wearable makeup that worked with changing skin rather than trying to hide it.
Before long, I realised I wasn’t really teaching makeup.
I was helping women rediscover their confidence.
Almost every day, I would hear the same thing, “I don’t recognise myself anymore.”
Sometimes it was because they were busy mums. Sometimes it was menopause, retirement or illness. Sometimes it was simply the natural changes that come with getting older.
Many had spent years looking after everyone else.
And because I’d been there too, I understood exactly how they felt.
Helping women leave feeling more confident was what inspired me then and what continues to drive me now.
Today I have the privilege of working with women from all walks of life. Some come alone, others bring daughters, sisters or friends. Many arrive feeling nervous and leave smiling.
And my favourite comment from a client ‘Makeup Lessons should be on prescription’
Looking back, leaving my previous career was one of the scariest decisions I’ve ever made.
But it was without doubt, also one of the best.
It’s never too late to rewrite your story. Whether that’s changing careers, learning a new skill or finally doing the thing that’s been sitting on your to-do list for years. The hardest part is taking that first step.
Fast forward six years and I’m now the proud owner of a beautiful studio in East Belfast which we spent two years renovating (more on that later).
We do occasion makeup and hair, individual and group makeup lessons, workshops, online courses, personal styling and have even added professional bra fitting to our menu of services to help women feel more confident. I hope you will visit as we would love to see you.
Over the coming months I’ll be sharing practical beauty advice, simple makeup tips and the stories I’ve gathered from working with hundreds of women. I hope you’ll find something that makes you smile, teaches you something new or simply reminds you that looking after yourself isn’t vanity, it’s actually necessary.
Lots of love,
Lyndsay
