 Going Pro
Brushing up on her skills helps makeup artist launch her own business
For Christine Cho, her love affair with makeup began at an early age – a really, really early age.
“When I was three or four years old, I somehow got into my mother’s makeup cabinet, using everything I could find,” Christine recalls. “After my grand entrance, my mother couldn’t keep a straight face. So I always tell people I’ve been doing makeup for a very long time.”
Christine seemed destined for a career in beauty from the very beginning; however, her journey to freelance makeup artist (her current status) included a few stops before its final destination – including the completion of a university degree and a reign as Miss Canada International.
“I travelled across the world and gained valuable insight for my future career,” Christine says. “I experienced being the person in front of the camera – and that definitely helps me empathize with the models I work with now.”
An early start
As a makeup artist at weddings, Christine began to use some of the skills she had honed while travelling – and appeared closer than ever to a career in beauty.
“A hair stylist that I worked with always told me I should consider doing makeup as a profession,” Christine says. “I never really considered the possibility of doing something I love and getting paid for it, but I decided I should pursue it.”
After doing some research on-line, Christine settled on the Yorkville School of Makeup and Esthetics because of its location, facilities, and flexible schedules, as well as the opportunity to work with instructors who remain active in the industry. In June 2007, she began classes – all while still working.
“From the first course, I was completely addicted,” Christine says. “It made me realize that I could do it as a profession – and it made me want it even more.”
Impressed from the Start
The course that really impressed Christine was Professional Makeup Artist I – the first course in the program.
“Even if you know how to do makeup, this class provides basic techniques and skills that act as a refresher or may add to your own knowledge,” Christine says.
For Christine, however, her time at the Yorkville School was about more than just the in-class training, featuring instruction in the latest trends, and daily makeup application practice.
“Going in to the Yorkville School, I was a competent and confident artist because I had gone through the struggles and joys on my own,” she says. “After completing the program, I knew how to be a professional. I’ve worked with professional photographers and models, and I have experience applying makeup on a number of different ethnicities. I was a more competent and confident artist. That confidence came from my time at the Yorkville School.”
That confidence has served Christine well in her career. In addition to having her work appear in a number of magazines, including Martha Stewart Weddings, Christine has begun to share some of the secrets to her success. She currently teaches workshops once a month, continues to travel nationally and internationally for Moroccan Oil as a freelance makeup artist and educator, has started her own YouTube channel that features makeup tutorials and demonstrations and appears regularly, as a beauty expert, on The Steven and Chris Show.
"I investigate the latest trends, ingredients and products in the beauty industry – giving tips to audience members and viewers on how to look, and feel, their best," she says. "I've always loved being in the position of educating or teaching because it gives me the opportunity to learn as well."
For Christine, the old adage "learning never ends" has never been more appropriate.
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