Today we’d like to introduce you to Imani Kaylan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Imani. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Growing up, I always watched my aunt put on makeup and always wondered how she accomplished certain looks and I never really became heavily interested until my two older sisters started to get into makeup. I became interested in makeup when I was 15 years old, and I have not stopped since.
At first, I just stuck with the basics which was eyebrows and mascara and it took so long just for me to get down the formation of my eyebrows. I started getting into YouTube and Jaclyn Hill and Aaliyah Jay was my favorite MUA at the time and I rewatched her tutorials until I got the hang of it. I started with light eyeshadow looks; I can still remember the first time I ever did a look of myself and I thought it was the best thing ever, now that I look back it wasn’t that good but I was learning. Time goes on and I’m in 11th grade and I thought I want to be a makeup artist. The next day I woke up, grabbed my little sister and did her whole face. At that moment, I knew I had the skills of a MUA I just had to put my mind to it and keep practicing. Giving myself years of practice has brought me closer to my goals. I still have a lot more to learn, because in this industry there is always something you can work on. I currently work in the Houston/Hunstville area due to my attendance at Sam Houston University, and I plan on widening my area of work.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?Becoming an MUA has not been easy at all. There were times where I became frustrated in my work because I couldn’t t complete a look or my ideas weren’t just working out. As a makeup artist, you’re basically an artist and every face is a canvas, it can be complicated trying to come up with looks and fully exporting those ideas onto the client’s face. When I first started, I had trouble creating looks for all skin tones because before that I only worked with my skin tone. I started practicing more and became confident when working with other skin tones. My biggest challenge was not being credited and payed enough for my work. As heard from many other MUA’s, including myself, many people don’t want to pay the full price for your work. Yet, they want you to use $40-$70 products on them but only want to pay $30 for a full face. I was shorting myself and downing my work just to do what I love. I had to stop my business for a while and organize and re-plan thing now i’m back in business doing what I love.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Flossed Faces – what should we know?
I am the CEO/MUA of FlossedFaces. FlossedFaces is my makeup business specializing in of-course makeup. My signature looks are my glitter liners and cut creases. I tend to switch up the type of looks I do but something always guides me back to glitter liners. As a MUA, I am most proud of how beautiful I can make people feel. I never discriminate and I make sure no matter whom the client is I always go all out on my work. There’s days where we don’t always feel pretty, days when we want to hide the zit that came in overnight or days where we just want to look good and I love to see the look on my clients face once I reveal the masterpiece I created. MUA’s work hard; with being that most of us were self-taught, I can say what sets me apart from others is that I am passionate. If I fail, ill get right back up and try again and ill practice and practice till I feel that my work is perfect and even after that, I continue practicing.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Overall I want to thank my sisters and clients because when I was not the best at my craft my they still let me practice on their faces. Even if I gave them a horrible look they wore it proudly and reposted all my work. When I didn’t have the funds to purchase makeup for my clients my parents made sure I had at least something and they would go on Facebook and advertise my work, even when they knew it was not the best. Also, another big thanks to my sister, Danessa for helping me rebrand and redoing my logo over every time I wanted to make a change. Don’t get me wrong, I got criticized and they told me what was cute and what wasn’t but they always supported me and never put me down.
Pricing:
- Flossy Freestyle – $65
- Full flossed face – $60
- Flossy Glow – $55
- Light Flossed face – $50
Contact Info:
- Website: https://FlossedFacesMani.as.me/
- Phone: 281-706-7482
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flossedfaces/
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