Former All Saints pupil, Kayla Hicks, fell in love with media make-up after watching Michael Jackson’s Thriller video for the first time.
Intrigued by the techniques used for creating the iconic monsters and zombies, Kayla turned to YouTube in a bid to learn more about this delicate and highly skilled art.
Kayla said: “I just love it – the way you can totally transform someone through make-up. I began watching tutorials online and creating the looks on myself and I knew I wanted to take it further.”
After looking at a number of different courses, Kayla decided that hair and media make-up was for her.
Kayla said: “I first studied the Level 2 Diploma in Hair and Media Make-up and that was really interesting – you cover a lot more than I initially thought and pick up loads of different skills and techniques. The course is really varied and it provides a great basis for developing more specific skills.
“I’ve since progressed to the level 3 course and this is far more technical and focuses more on developing the skills and techniques you will need to master if you want to work in TV or film. We get to do some really fun things like creating looks for zombies, and we will also have more opportunities to work with the public, which is good for building confidence.
“The lecturers, Amanda in particular, are all really good. They really care about your interests and you have a lot of flexibility when it comes to choosing what to focus on. There are some very open-ended assignments that really test your imagination and you can explore your passion. We also get to work on different projects across the College: at Christmas we asked to do the make-up for all of the performing arts students before they live-streamed their pantomime – that was a lot of fun.
“Doing this course has confirmed to me that I definitely want to do this as a career – ideally working for a studio doing make-up for TV and film, but I intend to progress to the Foundation Degree in Make-up Artistry that is offered at the College first.
“This is a good course for anyone with an interest in hair and make-up as it is so varied. You learn skills that are useful in many different careers – it’s not just for people who want to become make-up artists. You do need to put in the effort, but if you have a passion for make-up, it never really feels like work.”
