California Makeup Artists: Up for a Challenge?

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A new addition to Skin Inc’s Face & Body spa expo and conference will be the first ever Skin Games Makeup Challenge. It kicks off at Face & Body Northern California on August 27-28, 2017 in San Jose, California.

Skin Inc. sat down for an exclusive interview with Jennifer Rosenblum, founder of The Skin Games, to hear more about this new competition just for makeup artists.

Skin Inc. (SI): What inspired you to start The Skin Games?

Jennifer Rosemblum (JR): Basically, I saw the need. I’m an esthetician, a spa owner and also an importer. I used to be a supplier, and I went to all of the trade shows to seek ways to promote that product.

I found that the trade shows didn’t seem to be working well for the smaller manufacturers or distributors because we were so small. Plus, there wasn’t really anything out there for estheticians as far as competitions or red carpet galas. There are beauty competitions, makeup competitions and hair competitions, but there’s never really been anything for estheticians.

SI: What made you decide to start the makeup challenge as part of The Skin Games?

JR: After the first year, I had a lot of interest in The Skin Games, but I was more conservative the second year to make sure I could tweak what I already had. Then the third year, I had a lot more interest, so I thought, “Okay, I’m going to go for it.”

SI: Why did you choose to start The Makeup Games at Skin Inc.’s Face & Body spa expo and conference?

JR: First and foremost, there needs to be a little more excitement at trade shows. Plus, there’s a big interest in makeup, so why not combine the two while bringing recognition to The Skin Games.

SI: What skill level should the makeup artist be in order to sign up for The Makeup Challenge?

JR: We’re looking for everyone—anyone who has an interest in makeup.

SI: How popular are makeup application services for estheticians?

JR: From speaking to some of the cosmetology portions of schools, surprisingly a lot of hair and makeup people don’t attend the skin care shows because they don’t even know about them.

A lot of estheticians go to school thinking they just want to get a license and find that they like skin services better than just makeup. Right now, there seems to be more interest in esthys who do makeup on the side, rather than makeup artists who only do makeup. Hopefully, once we get this competition going, we can change that.

SI: Share a little bit more about the three categories a makeup artist can participate in.

JR: We have corrective, which is more everyday makeup. We also have glam/avant garde, which is more glamorous type makeup—so I would say makeup artists who are mainly makeup artists will want to go for that category. Estheticians, a lot of them do bridal, so that will be very popular, too.

SI: Do you have any insights or tips for competitors who have signed up for the competition or those looking to sign up?

JR: This is the first year, so the odds of actually making it into the finals are really good. It’s also a really good way to network with other people. There’s no reason why you can’t look online and start chatting with other makeup artists to get tips.

Another suggestion is that a lot of product lines and modality lines [coming to the show] all want to help out. They want estheticians to contact them so they can use them in the makeup competitions. Show off what you can do with all of these products—people will be watching, and they will want to purchase the products and the booth will be right there.

SI: Who are some of the judges that will be at the Northern California competition?

JR: The judges who we have right now are Linda Bertaut, who is really well known in the makeup industry. We also have someone who used to work with Linda Bertaut, and she used to teach makeup together—Lisa Cadiente. She’s also an esthetician and a celebrity makeup artist. Mark Lees will also be judging one of the categories for the competition.

SI: Why should attendees come and see the competition?

JR: We have a wonderful esthetician, who will be overseeing the San Jose show—Barry Eichner. He has a web podcast called “Aftershave and Lip Gloss,” and he is really well known in the industry. There will also be a surprise guest coming who was one of the top four in America’s Got Talent. This person is quite the entertainer and will bring a lot of excitement to the competition.

The Skin Games Makeup Challenge at Face & Body kicks off at Face & Body Northern California and will also be at Face & Body Southeast and Face & Body Midwest 2018. For more information regarding The Skin Games Makeup Challenge at Face & Body and to register for the competition, click here.

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