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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.
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I received an email from an emerging makeup artist I received an email from an emerging makeup artist recently asking me what would I do differently if I were starting now. On one hand the times are just very different so my approach would likely be different but on the other hand, the more things change the more some things stay the same. - Back then there just weren't a whole lot of people who looked like me trying to be makeup artists in the realm that I was trying to be a makeup artist. The world was not the inclusive place that it is now let's just put it like that. I didn't assist very much because I didn't get the opportunity to assist very much. If I were to do that over again I would be a bit more vocal in my desire to assist. - It's funny to say but even back then there were ways to bobble around and spend too much time online. Back then it was the message boards. Next came Model Mayhem. Next came Facebook. Etc. etc. 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚. A mentor told me that and she was right and it made a huge difference in actually creating a viable career. - By bad photographers I don't necessarily mean the quality of photography (although that's true too). I also mean photographers that don't truly collaborate so you don't end up getting what you need (at which point that's a job and they should be paying you), photographers who can't get this/that team member so the images are weak, etc. Time wasting that will keep you from reaching your goal. - Every time I say this it's controversial but I will always regret getting wrapped up in the hair makeup combo shenanigans. I'm a makeup artist, I've worked my butt off to be a very good makeup artist, I don't wanna do hair. I have been forced to become competent at hairstyling, but it will never be my 𝙖𝙧𝙩. Blissfully on my larger jobs I'm just hired as makeup. - The longer I'm alive the more I realize that with confidence all things are possible. We have all seen all manner of mediocrity absolutely kill it just because they were willing to speak with their whole chest. We all deserve the same. We just have to go get it. Sadly it took 30 years to get to this point but better late than never. 😉 Looking back what would you do differently? #mediamakeupartists
This is a post about doing what you love and stayi This is a post about doing what you love and staying creative 👍🏾 I've rediscovered how much I enjoy pulling out the camera and doing a little photographing here and there. So when the big Homie @siobhanthenurse asked me to take some portraits of her right quick I was like Fo Sho, that'll be fun. We had brunch first (priorities), I did her makeup right quick, and then we found a nice spot to to take some photos. If you remember in Makeup to Go life I used to do quite a bit of photography, particularly during the pandemic when you know there was no access to working on human beings lol. I am still not killing it with a camera, nor am I going to be calling myself a "photographer" anytime soon. But getting a camera back in my hands felt nice 👍🏾 But what was really fruitful for me was a mindset shift. I have been really frustrated creatively. Collaborations often take time. You have to hustle and juggle and wait to get booked. It's nice to take control over your own creativity and make things happen when you want them to happen. They say that you don't have to monetize everything and that you can do things just for enjoyment. I would add to that though you really don't know where things are gonna go. I'm sure when I started baking when I was four years old I never thought it would turn into a pretty reliable regular pop-up business. So now with photography there are creative projects that I want to take on and I'm just gonna take them on. I'm not gonna have any expectations one way or the other I'm going to enjoy them and produce what I wanna produce and then we'll see what happens from there. Any Makeup-tographers out there? Or what do you do to stay creative? (if you are a makeup-tographer feel free to share tips 💡). Makeup used: @jonesroadbeauty - complexion and Miracle Balm (look at that cheek glow), @thrivecausemetics mascara, @tower28beauty serum concealer, @glossier boy brow, @burtsbees tinted lip balm Wanna get the 411 on all the products? Comment "Sio" and I'll DM ya 👍🏾 #mediamakeupartist #promakeupartists #makeuptogoblogapproved
It's been a year and the results are in. I absolu It's been a year and the results are in. I absolutely adore my @relavelbags_us makeup case with the plastic inserts. It dawned on me the other day while I was getting ready for a job oh it's been a year since I bought this. At the time I purchased it it was a fairly controversial purchase. A couple of higher profile than me makeup artists mentioned that they had tried the plastic case and they found that the inserts broke and they had various and sundry problems. The reason I was interested in the plastic inserts was because no matter what brand what style what size whatever: the foam inserts always moved. They would not stay in place hence my product would not stay in place and it drove me bananas. The makeup work I do is generally commercial, multiple talent, and I'm usually working either in a studio or on location but if I'm in an outdoor setting I'm usually on a trailer. And I work throughout California so my kit goes on a lot of car trips. I will concede that my makeup case lives a pretty soft life 😉 I have not had one problem with this case, but my foam cases lived soft lives too and they stayed trippin'! I will say that I did not try to use this case for air travel. The two recent jobs where I had to fly with my kit, I moved everything back into a foam divider case because that's what foam is for it's for protection. But for my regular degular every day, this plastic inserts kit has been The Answer. So you tell me; What has been your experience have you tried the plastic insert case and do you love it or hate it? (this isn't a sponsored post I bought this Kit. I like to review things after I've had and used them for a while so I can really say what the experience has been like) #mediamakeupartist #promakeupartists
Where there's a will there's a way... I recently Where there's a will there's a way... I recently received a cute little trial size @neutrogena sampler. It had two different kinds of sunscreen, a cute little bandanna, and a Neutrogena fragrance free makeup wipe. The theme is clearly all about festival season, and the tagline is "Feel the music, not your sunscreen". Alas, I was not feeling the sunscreen. Really to be more accurate it was not feeling me (I included the times so you could see I gave this more than enough "dry down" time). I love the fragrance-free makeup wipes, they are a staple in my kit, and throughout the years Neutrogena has had many many products that I've loved. However their sunscreens have never been it for me. Two things I will concede right off the bat; after I opened it I did notice that this was a mineral sunscreen which is an immediate red flag for deeper complexions. I don't even like the tinted ones. Secondly I understand that there are significant formula limitations with regards to making sunscreens in United States. I get all of this. All that said I have never once used a Neutrogena sunscreen that didn't make me look crazy. And actually I think because of the minerals in it, this one gave a blue purple undertone that trust me looked way worse in person. At one point I caught a young man staring at me and I was wondering what he was staring at and then I realized oh I have this foolishness on my face and I look blue. Meanwhile there is a sunscreen that I can get at Trader Joe's that costs $4.99 - not even the $10 one that people know about - I'm talking the yellow tube with the red cap. $4.99 and it's totally invisible on me once it sets. I'm sure this is a very good sunscreen and for a fairer complexion it'll look fine. Wear-wise, it's a bit thick and it stayed tacky it never fully felt dry. The other sunscreen I received in the sampler - which I have not tried - says it's "dry touch". But I-on know @neutrogena ... y'all keep calling these sunscreens "invisible" and they keep being anything but. What sunscreen are y'all wearing and loving right now?
@lipluffa and #thelipbar . Two great tastes that g @lipluffa and #thelipbar . Two great tastes that go great together (whatever candy brand that had that tagline please don't sue me) When I talked about how fabulous The Lip Bar color "Bawse Lady" was and how I ended up just giving it to that client I was asked by a number of people to see the color. When I spoke the other week about going to an event for the brand Lip Luffa, a number of people ask well what is it ? So here you go! As you can see Bawse Lady is a fabulous red but not Scarlet but not raspberry but not pink but all those things in one type of color. And since Lip Bar has always been oriented towards Black women/women of color it works fabulously on our skin tones. But be clear - it's not limited to people of color. Their other most famous color was renamed from Playmate to Big Gretch because it's Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's lipcolor of choice 👍🏾 (it's a bright fuchsia pink color). Lip Luffa is the kind of Fabulocity that could only come from the mind of a pro makeup artist. @stephielashes developed it to remove lip color, exfoliate the lips, and leave moisturizer behind in one step. And yes it *totally* works. It is fabulous 🤗. I like it for both prep and post lip color. Just be careful not to over exfoliate and also let your clients know that it's pepperminty just in case they're sensitive. Lip Bar you can get all over the place, LipLuffa I know you can get at the pro stores - or ask your pro makeup artist to get them for you - and you can check out their Insta to see other locations. 👍🏾 Have you tried Lip Bar? What's your favorite color? By the way this is not a sponsored post I paid for Lip Bar (only thing that could make me walk into a Target right now lol ) and I was gifted Lip Luffa at the event. #makeuptogoblogapproved
How are those Q2 goals coming along? If you're li How are those Q2 goals coming along? If you're like me, Q1 was such a [expletive deleted]-show, you're doing good to have held on and keep trucking. Now in Q2 it's - hopefully - time to really get down to business. For me that's meaning getting on a more regular off-shoot day schedule. Because obviously when you're on set or with a client, etc. that IS what you're doing that day and that takes up your time. But are you optimizing the rest of your time towards running your career/business? Particularly if you're working on any kind of a pivot? (as I am) One of the things that I am doing is I am going to treat myself to a couple of days a month in a co-workspace. I got 𝗦𝗢 much work done - from writing to web work to content creation - all in on 8 hour day. And dropping in as a "Day player" really wasn't expensive at all. I used Deskspace to find the location I went to. There are also alternatives like WorkThere and LiquidSpace. Co-work spaces want to rent out their empty spaces so there are often deals listed etc. The days we are not on-set are just as important to our careers as the days we are on-set. I've worked at home for years and had it not be a problem until recently, and now all of a sudden I'm the ADD Queen at home. If that's you, gifting yourself a change of scenery might be just the ticket. 👍🏾 How are you motivating yourself to stay on-target and hit those goals? #mediamakeupartists #makeuptogoblog #mtgfivesmallthings #promakeupartist
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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

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