My passion for makeup started when I was just a little girl. I remember being absolutely obsessed with it, especially eyeshadow and red lipstick! I would sit in my room for hours, just playing with it and experimenting with my own makeup. 

Any chance I got, I would ask any grown-up I was around at the time if I could do their makeup. I say ask, but what I really mean is pester. I would always say…”When I’m older, I’m going to be a beautician”. I was captivated by the thought of making other people feel and look good. 

Fast forward 25 years and I began to study makeup. I had been doing my own for years and was always pretty good at it, so I decided I was going to get into it properly and train to become a professional makeup artist. I studied YouTube tutorials and would practice on myself and my friends as much as I could until I landed myself a space on an intense Level 3 Makeup course. This was a 20-week course, and it was on this course that I learnt so much. It catapulted me to the next level of my craft. 

From there, I started my own self–employed business as a freelance makeup artist. I built it up over the years and had a very successful clientele. It was my passion and to me, it never felt like it was a job, but instead my hobby. I enjoyed every part of it. For me, the most rewarding part was the look on someone’s face when I would reveal their make-up look to them. 

Seeing the joy in their faces and watching how makeup would make my client become instantly confident, resulting in them feeling really good about themselves. That for me was priceless. Making someone feel good and confident in their own skin, is what makes my job so rewarding. I love helping people feel this way.  

The same goes for me too. Battling breast cancer and going through chemotherapy took a lot out of me, especially where my appearance was concerned. A lot changed for me in terms of how I looked, especially due to hair loss, weight loss and changes in my skin. One thing I could turn to, to help me feel better, was my makeup. Being a makeup artist during this time of my life, was such a blessing for me. I was able to lift my spirits and make myself feel amazing and confident, just like I had been doing for years with my clients. It was now my turn to feel this way, through the power of makeup. 

Makeup has always been my super-power; My super tools, especially during the time in my life, when I didn’t look or feel myself. I embraced my new look and with the help of makeup, began to fall in love with the “new me”. 

I feel like my passion for makeup has intensified from my experience and I love creating new looks to match my new look. Makeup brought me back to life, filled me with confidence that just oozes out when I am all glammed up. I capture this through my photography, as I do with all my clients. I’m able to savour that special moment, something that is so for me to reflect on. 

I am truly able to express myself through my makeup, especially with how I am feeling at the moment. It is a tool I use for a number of things… 

• To feel confident
• To express my emotions
• To teach
• Self-expression 
• To feel positive
• Distraction 

During the lockdown, I have been able to find my passion and love for makeup again. I see it as a blessing to refresh my skills and master my craft. I’m ready to be unleashed back into the public doing what I do best, which is making people feel good and confident about themselves.  

Makeup doesn’t make us beautiful, it enhances our beauty. I love being able to bring out people’s best features using the power of makeup. Each face is different, I love studying my clients’ faces, getting familiar with them. Instantly, I can tell what colours will suit them, and what style will accentuate their features best. It really is a work of art painting somebody else’s face; It’s a canvas and I love to get creative on it.

Makeup has changed my life and I couldn’t imagine a world without it. It’s like a sheet of confidence, instantly making you feel better; That for me is priceless, boosting someone’s confidence in an instant, including my own. 

Being stripped of my hair, makeup has been my super–power, especially where expressing myself has been concerned. On the days where I’m not feeling my best, I will “WAKE UP AND MAKEUP” and in an instant, feel on top of the world.

That for me is the power of makeup. 

Follow Leah’s journey on Instagram: @blessedwithcancer