Interview with Make Up Artist Lan Nguyen-Grealis

With the excitement for this year’s London Fashion Week growing day by day now, we sat down with a make up artist who knows all about it. Lan has worked at London Fashion Week, won prestigious industry awards and is currently the   beauty editor of Phoenix Magazine, which is published during LFW. Born in Ireland, with a Vietnamese origin Lan is the youngest Golden Mask Award Winner 2013 for Make-up Art and the Professional National Makeup Awards Winner 2011 for best studio and overall winner. She has worked with major fashion titles Glamour, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Elle, Grazia and Stella, and we couldn’t wait to hear all about her job and what will be big in make up this season. You are the head makeup artist for The Fashion Scout at LFW, sponsored by The Body Shop, what’s that like? The shows are very unique and every season I have many highlights. I can't really pin point as I love it so much and working with Toni&Guy hair team is just a pleasure and makes my job easier and nicer experience through the chaos. A Particular show that I loved was Pam Hogg and watching her perform and get ready behind the catwalk has been a definite highlight. What make up trends do you think will be big for AW'13 and could you explain them briefly? Bold Brows where there is definition and well-groomed brows using either brow powders or pencil, and it's back to red lips no matter what texture or finish the seductive lip, with either a smokey eye or nude eye does the trick. The mono taupe pallet of colours for eyes and lips and cheeks is also a more contoured and sophisticated look for groomed skin. Everything looking quite sepia. Liners have never been bolder and messier than it is now. Think graphic 60s - just thick on the top or lines on different angles framing the eye shape is daring and deem cool and effortless. If you could create a make up look for one celebrity, who would it be? I absolutely love working on any face but if it had to be one I guess I would love to work with Cameron Diaz. I think she has many faces.  As a Beauty Editor, could you describe a typical working day? I’m freelance so I have to juggle quite a lot so dealing with emails at early hours and trying to arrange shoot dates with the right collaborators is important. I then have to arrange casting for models that fit the themes. Followed by researching and dealing with beauty prs to find out the latest products that I have tried and tested before choosing to feature in the magazine. I'm constantly on the go and with the help of the team and my beauty assistant, we get the ball rolling to arrange the shoots. I then usually have to spend a bit of time writing trends and answering questions. Then, I try and find a few hours for press events and meetings but only if I'm not shooting on other jobs. How did you establish yourself , and what would be your advice to anyone looking to do what you do? I'm not sure really but I can say it has been over 10 years of hard work to even get to this point. My advice is to follow your heart and gut instinct of what you want to do and keep trying no matter if one door closes, there is always another, especially if its meant to be. It's also important to get as much experience as possible as you get better as you grow and learn from your mistakes. I started from scratch with no contacts and no mentor but just a feeling that I was doing something I loved and appreciating the advice of every nice person I met. You have done work for a lot of big magazine titles, do you still get nervous? Yes you do end up putting a lot of pressure on yourself because of the title but it’s the challenge that keeps you going. I've just learnt to do what I know best and go with the flow. It doesn't seem so bad now as I just want to be shooting with the big titles everyday as they always have the best locations and models to work with. I just love being with a team that are working at their best, you feel proud of what you achieve. If you could give one make up tip to young girls, what would it be? To practice practice and remember less is more!   Connect with Lan on Facebook and Twitter.   Photographer Credits: Camille Sanson, Catherine Harbour, Akif hakan, Kate Davis Written by Mandy Thomson @IKRUSH_Mandy