BY OWETHU DLAMINI
MBABANE– Learning how to make it in the ever-changing beauty industry.
Internationally renowned make-up Artist, Khosi Shabalala, who is originally from Eswatini and currently located in South Africa, has taken the time to share words of wisdom with aspiring make-up artists in the country.
The make-up artist shared her journey in the make-up industry mentioning how she started off in 2007 when she graduated from Face-to-Face Beauty and Makeup Design School located in Johannesburg, South Africa.
She went on to mention how she took part in the health and skincare therapist course which took two years to complete and how she had been working as she was still in school.
Shabalala highlighted that she learnt a lot from her two year course, but also had to teach herself modern beauty trends as this was one industry that has constant developments.
“I did go to school for my craft, but I guess now I am mostly self-taught because what we were taught then and what we are doing now is very different. I definitely have had to teach myself a lot of things, but I learnt the basics at school,” she said.
As she shared her journey, the make-up artist emphasised the importance of investing into one’s craft and how that had made a huge impact in her work.
“It does not matter how good you are or how good you think you are, ultimately you need to put in time into your craft. You have to make sure you stay current with what is trending because the beauty industry goes through trends all the time, what is good now may not necessarily be good in a few months.
“With social media, we are able to see different techniques and the way people do things so people using that to learn and find easier ways to reach the end goal. If you put invest time into your craft, your passion will show in your work,” she said.
Shabalala also put emphasis on marketing skills and how aspiring artists need to showcase their work in order to get recognition.
“As you invest your efforts and time into your work, you also need to get to a point where you are comfortable sharing what you do with people because, how else are people going to know that you have this amazing gift to share? Be open to the fact that not everyone will like your work and that does not mean that you are bad at what you do, but the right people will resonate and they will choose you. Put your work out there and be open to growth and people sharing different ways in which you can do things,” she said.
The make-up artist expressed how her move to South Africa was inspired by her need to grow because growth never stops for artists and a lot is learnt from different people, thanks to social media.
“What inspired me to move was the need for growth. I wanted more, I wanted to do more, I wanted to learn more and I wanted to spread my wings and see if I could grow as an artist in a bigger place. I do try to put my work on social media and I believe that is what inspired well-known people to notice me and wanting to work with me. From working with one person you get referred and someone shows interest in working with you, that is how it builds. I have also realised that showing yourself as a reliable person and showing that your work is as it looks in the pictures is also very essential,” she said.
Asked what plans she had for the future as a make-up artist, she mentioned she would not disclose the exact details as to what she wanted to do, but stated that she was definitely working on levelling up and developing her career.
Pics sourced from Khosi’s Instagram Page.
