The 2023 Five Small Things Calendar is Live and it's Free! Download yours now!

Makeup to Go!

…dedicated to the Art and Craft of Makeup

Instagram Facebook-f Twitter
makeup to go blog tania d Russell makeup educator Los Angeles San Francisco
  • Home
  • About
    • FAQ
    • Testimonials
  • Resources
  • Services
  • Contact
MAKEUP TO GO BLOG
  • MTG Experts: Working As A Union Artist with Elizabeth Fox

    • 4 Comments
    • by Tania
    MTG Experts Elizabeth Fox makeup San Francisco makeup Northern California makeup artist hair stylist film union FX makeup to go blog makeup educator makeup careers

    Elizabeth Fox is one of my fave people I’ve met in this biz, full stop. She and I met when we were both teaching at a makeup school in San Francisco. While the types of makeup and jobs we do differ (she loves her some film set life and some FX/gore, and if you know […]

    continue reading...

  • Biz Talk – Making the Move to Media Work

    • 0 comments
    • by Tania
    makeup to go tania d russell makeup brushes

    Raise your hand if you want to start booking dream jobs at great rates. Safe to say few people would turn down such an offer 😉. Whenever I make a post about working in the industry as a media makeup artist the first question that inevitably comes up is “Well, how do you book these […]

    continue reading...

  • So You Wanna Be A Pro Makeup Artist: Makeup Portfolios in 2022

    • 0 comments
    • by Tania
    old portfolio books portfolio website of Tania D Russell makeup artist Los Angeles makeup artist San Francisco mens grooming hair styling advertising commercials fashion

    People can’t hire you as a makeup artist if they can’t see your work… But what even is a Makeup Artists’ Portfolio in 2022? I try to keep my articles on Makeup to Go “evergreen” to the extent that I can, but the reality is that this industry is ever changing and evolving. Almost all […]

    continue reading...

  • MTG Experts: Balancing Bridal and Media Makeup in Your Career with Rachel Lusk

    • 6 Comments
    • by Tania
    MTG Experts Rachel Lusk makeup San Francisco makeup Northern California makeup artist hair stylist balancing bridal and commercial makeup to go blog makeup educator makeup careers

    One of the many great things that happens over the course of a career are the connections we make with other artists. One of the very few great things to come out of the pandemic shutdown phase was connecting with folks of all kinds – from DJs to Authors to Chefs to our fellow Makeup […]

    continue reading...

  • Makeup to Go – An Origins Story

    • 0 comments
    • by Tania
    tania d russell working on set founder makeup to go blog tania d russell makeup expert beauty educator los angeles san francisco las vegas

    Picture it…Los Angeles… circa 2005 I’m an emerging artist on my Come Up. I’m certainly nowhere near a Senior Artist but I have some good work under my belt, I’ve just signed with my first starter Agency, and in short: I’m feeling myself. via GIPHY This is the groundwork from which Makeup to Go was […]

    continue reading...

Posts navigation

1 2 3 4 5 6 … 46 Next
Welcome to Makeup to Go Blog!
Welcome to Makeup to Go Blog!

Founded by Tania D. Russell - a career makeup artist for the advertising and entertainment industries - the Makeup to Go Blog and the Makeup to Go Council of Experts seek to educate and inspire future generations of media makeup artists, and foster community for professional media makeup artists. Click Here to Meet the Experts

 
Contact Us

  • info@makeuptogo.com
 
Search Makeup to Go!
Subscribe to Makeup to Go Blog posts by email:
Powered by follow.it
makeup to go blog tania d Russell makeup educator Los Angeles San Francisco behind the scenes

Tania D. Russell...

Tania D. Russell is a career media makeup artist of 25 years and counting with a career that has run the gamut from early hip hop videos to print advertising. Her work has appeared in magazines such as Elle Sweden and Runners’ World, on TV shows for clients such as BET, MTV, and HGTV, and for more commercial fashion and beauty clients than she can remember.
Instagram Facebook-f Twitter
makeup to go blog tania d Russell makeup educator Los Angeles San Francisco
Work With Us
visit the blog
Contact us

makeuptogoblog

Tania Russell | Makeup Artistry Career Educator
You got the job and negotiated a good rate. Congra You got the job and negotiated a good rate. Congrats!  You didn't just negotiate your shooting days tho, right?  π‘Ήπ’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’•?

I used to do that. But when you know better you do better so let me put you on to a few other situations that you should keep watch for when you are negotiating your Contract.

As always, my advice is geared towards media makeup. Private clients, bridal clients, etc. are different.

- Prep days are any work that you have to do before the start date of the shoot. Say the job requires you to go pick up some wigs. They should not expect you to do that on your own time unpaid. (I got played on that one BIG TIME back in the day). 

- Travel days are travel outside your home area. If you're working local - like I'm based in Los Angeles and the job is in Agoura - that's a drive but it's not a travel day. However, when I spent a day on various planes to go work in Tennessee, that is a travel day.

- Shoot days are the days that you're actually working which we obviously bill for, but as you can see not the only days we bill for πŸ‘πŸΎ

- Idle days; you're booked for seven days in TN, but on the third day they are shooting product b-roll and they won't need makeup. You still invoice for that day because you are still there on location for your job, they just happen to not need makeup on that day.

- Weather Days; you're ready to go and all of a sudden a thunderstorm starts up and they have to shut down production for that day. That's not your fault, you can invoice for that day.

-  Wrap Days. Lastly if you have any work to do after the shoot to finish the job, you would also charge for those days. 

NOW; Not all of these instances will come up on every job. Some instances may come up for you a lot, some may never come up, it's always on a job by job basis.

Also just because you *can* invoice for these things, it does NOT mean the client will go for it. This is why it's gotta be a part of your initial Contract negotiation. 

Want to learn more about *how* to negotiate these types of things?  We talk about this in the Five Small Things Quarterly Membership πŸ‘πŸΎ. Click the link in bio for the details, or shoot me a message and I'll send the deets.
Whenever I demonstrate my approach to doing a clea Whenever I demonstrate my approach to doing a clean commercial beauty one of the areas where I spend the most time is how I use powder, specifically loose powder.

I LOVE a good loose powder. I definitely prefer loose powder for setting makeup. That said I'm extraordinarily picky and specific with regards to what I look for in a loose powder. 

In this video I'm speaking specifically about @pigment_cosmetics as one of their Brand Educators and I have to say that while I was giving these lessons in Tennessee the other week I was reminded how much I really like the Pigment loose powders.  They are super finely milled and lightweight in texture. Back into my main working kit they went right after this demo. πŸ‘πŸΎ

But the the overall evaluation of what I am looking for in a powder, how I select a powder or to use or not, and my technique with loose powder is universal to any brand; 

🚫 I don't like using dark colored powders on people with deeper complexions.

βœ”οΈI do like oranges and yellows (and pinks) for brightening and also certain types of correction.

🚫 I don't like those kind of "flesh toned" powders, they make everything look dull and ashy. I'd rather use a colorless powder instead.

What are your powder do-s and don'ts and what powders are you loving right now?

(all Pigment Cosmetics products were used on the model in this video.  Powders used/mentioned were Pigment Cosmetics # 4 (colorless), 
# 5 (yellow-ish), and # 6 (peach-y) )
Skin Prep Alert! As a member of @thepowdergroup I Skin Prep Alert!

As a member of @thepowdergroup I was gifted this full sized bottle of @beekman1802 's new Oh! Mega Milk (get it?  omega milk... Oh! Mega Milk...). 

I knew I was being gifted something but I didn't know what exactly. Now that I've received it I'm pretty stoked, because as we know I am a skincare/skin prep fanatic.

I JUST got this so I haven't tried it in a makeup application yet (I will tomorrow) BUT just testing it on my hand I love the way it feels.

It absorbed immediately into my skin, there's no stickiness and no oiliness, AND it left behind a pretty sheen.  So this definitely has the potential to be a skin prep winner.

It isn't vegan - because of the goat's milk - but the ingredients seem clean otherwise. 

In fact it says on the label- and I quote - "Free of sulfates, parabens, mineral oil, alcohol, phthalates, synthetic colorants, formaldehyde, talc because yuck". Lol. 

Thanks much BEEKMAN 1802 and the Powder Group!  Look forward to trying this tomorrow πŸ‘πŸΎ

Anyone else receive one or otherwise tried this product?  If so what are your thoughts? πŸ‘‡πŸΎ

(for folks who are wondering I am a vegetarian but I'm not vegan so I'm not opposed to ingredients like goat milk necessarily)
What is a "Mother Sauce"? Mother Sauce is a cookin What is a "Mother Sauce"? Mother Sauce is a cooking term for a base sauce from which you can make all types of different sauces.  For example a Mornay sauce is a BΓ©chamel sauce with cheese added.

Thanks for coming to my cooking class! πŸ‘‹πŸΎ 

But seriously though you can think of makeup in the same way. People think of "basic beauty" as being simplistic.

Instead of calling it "basic beauty", it should really be called BASIS beauty, because mastering cleaning beauty is the basis to mastering more complex beauty makeups in a way that will work for media and photography.

Why do I say this? Because the professional camera is cruel. And it will see things that you did not see in real life. If you want to be a heavier handed more "beat" artist, that's totally fine but you betta be skilled at it.

I didn't use anything special in creating these makeups. I didn't need a special brand, I didn't have to go back with 1500 layers of bronzer, I did not use or need a highlighter, none of that. I even skipped primer. My favorite product is technique. πŸ˜‰

Teaching in a makeup school as I just did reawakened a couple of my passions with regards to teaching.  First of all, I love teaching makeup itself. But secondly I love teaching it in the context of building a career.

It's not just about "lewks", and it's not just about "booked and busy".

It's about what are you wanting 𝗧𝗼 𝗗𝗼 as an artist, and then what do you need to do 𝗧𝗼 π—šπ—²π˜ 𝗧𝗡𝗲𝗿𝗲.

Makeup to Go's Five Small Things Quarterly Membership will be re-opening enrollment early April.  Click link in Bio for Waitlist and Info.

(Song choice: "Baby Queen" by Gorillaz.  Selected purposely because I've known both of these two young ladies modeling for me since they were born and they have certainly grown up to become wonderful Baby Queens πŸ€—)
The trip was as much of a whirlwind as this video. The trip was as much of a whirlwind as this video. But save for some travel challenges coming and going, this first trip teaching on the road was a rousing success.

I went to @gouldsacademy - a fabulous Beauty College with two locations in the Memphis Tennessee area, and taught three classes over two days all with multiple demos (so I have about 1,000,000 brushes to wash today) on Makeup for Photography for @pigment_cosmetics 

As much as I teach the business of makeup artistry, I love teaching makeup artistry itself. And frankly what I really love and what ended up happening - and what always ends up happening when I teach - is teaching the art of makeup application *in the context* of having a makeup career.

As I said to my students in Tennessee - most of whom were not thinking about any type of career in media before I got there but many of them are now – this is a real job.  And if you have a talent for it and develop your skills in it, YOU can do this job.

I am sure that for a large percentage of students who see and hear my demos and talks what I'm saying sails right past them, and that's fine. I always catch a handful of folks and change their perspective on what's possible. THAT is why I teach. 

If you want to affirm your preconceived biases about what makeup is and what it should be and what it should look like and this and that; I am not the makeup educator for you. 

If you want to venture out into new possibilities for your artistry career, click the link in bio to get on my mailing list and watch this space.  This trip was just the start.

Hit me with an emoji or say "go up!" if you want to go up πŸ†™ with me in 2023.
The Confabs are back! πŸŽ‰ This Confab was a more The Confabs are back! πŸŽ‰

This Confab was a more free flowing update style letting folks know what exactly is going on with the five small things quarterly membership, my upcoming course on using LinkedIn, and just overall philosophies and thoughts about teaching and the makeup biz. 

So if you have a minute to check it out and grab a cup of coffee or tea and a snack and enjoy the replay. 

Thanks so much for everyone who joined me live! πŸŽ‰ I got really good questions and some things to think about. As always show notes will go up later with any resources we discussed during the Live. It's just a free download, you don't even have to join the mailing list! Those should be up by this afternoon.

And the conversation is always on going. So if you have questions any all types of questions about the media makeup biz, feel free to ask me below πŸ‘‡πŸΎ
Load More... Follow on Instagram

All images copyright of respective photographers | Many thanks to Sonya Bowman Photography, Saryn Christina Photography, and Together in Wellness RN for BTS and Portrait Images

Website Designed by Me using Bluchic Themes | All content Β© 2008-2022, Makeup to Go / Tania D. Russell except where noted
Disclosures | Official Giveaway Rules | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy