Creating Realistic Makeup For Realistic Women
As a busy working mum of two, Laura Dewar, had the rare chance to celebrate her win at the Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards for Best Makeup Artist of the Year for two consecutive years in a row.
Laura’s love for makeup began after she left school and went to college to study beauty therapy and from there, went on to work at a Clarins makeup counter. Her whole family have art in their blood, but Laura initially struggled to find her own artistic outlet.
“I felt like I didn’t fit in as I’m terrible at drawing, but I found my passion within makeup and I find it very therapeutic. While I was at college I found I really enjoyed doing the holistic treatments that make people feel good about themselves. I really think that’s why we should wear makeup. It’s not to fit in so we all look like robotic copies of each other, but to feel like we can take on the day and hold our heads up higher. That’s what keeps me going within my job, helping people feel and look good.”
After some bouts of itchy feet working on other makeup counters such as Estee Lauder and Lancome, as well as time spent travelling in Australia where she worked in the beauty department of Myer, Laura found herself settling in Ayrshire to have a family with her husband.
“After this, I gave it all up to have a family and unfortunately counter roles didn’t suit this. I went freelance from there and focused on building my business to work around my family.”
Since then, Laura has spent the last 7 years creating and building up her reputation as an award-winning makeup artist.
“I have a room set up in my house for clients to have their makeup done but I find myself out and about quite often at hotels for wedding functions. I offer makeup application for special occasions or weddings, but I do usually focus more on bridal as it’s classic makeup that suits my style. I also do lessons. This may help people who aren’t confident using makeup or they want to take their skills further. I have a lot of younger girls come to me as they want to learn the basics of blending, application and removal as well.”
Laura draws her motivation and inspiration from the people sitting in her chair and wants them to leave feeling like the best version of themselves.
“My aim is to educate people to use makeup for confidence not coverage. I want my clients to come in and feel pampered and enjoy the experience so they can leave feeling a happy, more confident version of themselves. I have appointed myself as a natural makeup specialist. I focus on creating natural realistic makeup for realistic women. For me, it’s all about embracing your features, skin tone and colouring and making sure the makeup is complementary. I enjoy the colour and shape analysis that is involved with this.”
Following Laura’s recent win, she goes on to explain that she was not expecting to win but was extremely happy with the result.
“I was shocked the first time around but even more shocked with winning two years in a row. I was up against some amazing competition and thought they were all brilliant. I thought I would go and make some connections as I love collaborating within the industry and wanted to enjoy the night, so I never expected to win.”
She also recently won the trip of a lifetime to open a primary school in Madagascar through her affiliated role as an ambassador with Tropic Skincare.
In terms of the future, Laura sees herself continuing to grow her business, but she can also see herself stepping more into the educational side of the industry as she enjoys teaching others and watching their confidence grow.
Based in Troon, you can see Laura’s work or book an appointment with her by visiting her website
www.lauradewarbeauty.co.uk, or her Facebook and Instagram @lauraDewarMUA.
