What's it really like for a freelancing makeup artist around Halloween time? We caught up with the talented Nicola Bobin who's been freelancing as a makeup artist for the last 2 years in fashion, beauty and body art to talk all things spooky.
Halloween must be a busy time of year for you. When do you start getting booked up?
I usually start getting requests around a month before Halloween and then they obviously get more frequent leading up to it. Most people tend to leave it to the last minute (like the week before) unless its something quite specific or complicated.
Do you notice trends regarding particular looks people ask for each year? What's hot this year?
Yes, definitely. This year I would say zombies are quite popular due to shows like 'The Walking Dead' and it has become pretty obvious that film and TV plays a big part in what looks people will choose. When shows like 'True Blood' and films such as 'Twilight' came out, vampire's became a very popular choice. I think people like to copy what they see on their favourite shows or films and just pretend to be someone else for a night.
The characters don't even have to be related to Halloween anymore, you can be who ever you like to be honest.
What's the craziest request you've ever received?
I don't think I've had any really 'crazy' requests yet, but maybe a few unusual ones in terms of a Halloween look. I had one person ask to be an old man once, which I thought was quite funny. I think people like to use Halloween as an excuse to make their friends laugh or see how they might look as a certain character.
Do you have to do all the work on Halloween day? If so how do you manage this? Are there other days around Halloween that you get booked up?
Actually, there tends to be parties surrounding the whole weekend of Halloween these days. A lot of clubs hold themed nights then or people will have house parties on different nights. I will usually have my own plans for Halloween night, so to get around that I will either do my makeup before any bookings or after and make my way to my party. I take on loads of bookings on the other nights and then do a few earlier ones on the day. Every makeup artist loves the opportunity to dress up and scare people and Halloween is one of my favourite times of year for that reason!
