Hi, Katy here.
I thought, what with this blog recently restarting, that I should be polite and introduce myself properly, rather than just talking at you! Plus, I get asked lots of questions about me, what I do, how I started etc so I thought a nice fully summarised blog post would cover all bases…
Who Am I?
I’m Katy Angelidi (An-guh-lee-dee) I’m an Award Winning Luxury Bridal Makeup Artist, Mum of 2. I’m originally from North London and I now live in Hertfordshire/Bedfordshire, in a small village near Hitchin. My last name is Greek, I married a half Greek half Northern chap and will have to spell that name out forever and ever.
This is me. Captured by Rafe Abrook Photography
Makeup Artistry; My Journey So Far
I’ve worked in the beauty industry as a makeup artist in one shape or form for 22 years. I still furrow my brows at that number because it is over half my life! I turned 40 last year and I sometimes feel like the luckiest person in the world. I’m doing what I always wanted to do.
I’m that person who is doing exactly what I said I wanted to do to the career lady in the library back in the mid 90’s. WAY before being a makeup artist was cool.
My love for makeup started from a very young age, watching my beautiful Mum applying her Ultraglow bronzing balls in her illuminated mirror and marvelling at the transformation as she clipped on her fuschia pink costume jewellery (the 80’s was a decade void of taste)…
This image by Kevyn Aucoin showed me the incredible transformative power of makeup.
I was unlucky enough to fall foul of bad acne from a very young age, so I escaped into a world of concealers and powders, studying the supermodels faces and the work of makeup artists such as Keyvn Aucoin and Bobbi Brown. This obsession carried on through school. It never lessened.
After I took my A-levels, with 3 creative subjects much to my schools disdain, I decided to take a year out before I went to the London College of Fashion to study makeup. I worked in a department store on the Lancome counter, where I’d been as a Saturday girl for 2 years. All of a sudden, I had regular customers coming to see me and only me. I got hooked on the buzz of helping women find their perfect makeup. And this sheer love for makeup, beauty and my clients has not wavered. I worked on makeup counters for many years, honing my craft working with REAL WOMEN and building up a loyal customer base (a few of whom still come to me for annual lessons). I never made it to LCF!
After ten or so years working in various brands and freelancing, I went on to work as a Global Makeup Artist and Trainer for Laura Mercier cosmetics and travelled around the UK, Europe and the USA training other makeup artists and generally living my best life! Nothing beats a company credit card and a week in New York! In my time working with Laura I worked on the London and Paris Fashion Week rounds and on multiple Celebrity campaigns, my favourite being with Jade Jagger on her Jagger Dagger campaign with Terry Richardson. I filmed a Bridal Makeup Special for Wedding TV. It was fast paced and a lot of fun.
Wedding TV filming in action.
Going freelance and the start of my Bridal Makeup business
I met my husband on a blind date in the May of 2008, we were engaged in the December and married the following October. Yes, it was quick but when you know, you know, right? We had a beautiful family orientated mix faith wedding. I’m Jewish, he is Half Greek. There was a LOT of food and a LOT of dancing. And yes, I did my own makeup…
October 2009. Pre Children. Photo by Paul White Weddings
January 2010 I handed in my notice and Makeup by Katy was formed.
In my first year I did 40+ weddings and fast had my work noticed on blogs such as Love My Dress and Rock my Wedding, working on special features for them as a bridal makeup artist, creating trend led makeup looks and working with the best wedding suppliers around. Being asked to be the bridal makeup artist for a leading wedding photographer on her wedding day pathed the way to multiple blog and Bridal magazine features and this led to so many incredible opportunities. I was the in house makeup artist for Q&A’s in many bridal magazines and the Beauty Editor for Ultimate Wedding Magazine for 4 years. I was working on some of the biggest bridal design campaigns, such as Isabella Grace, Flo and Percy, Chez Bec all whilst 30 weeks pregnant and I carried on working all the way until she arrived. It was whilst pregnant that I landed my first of 2 front covers for Your London Wedding magazine.
Shot by Claudine Hartzel
I now have 2 daughters, aged 7 and 2, my bridal business is thriving. I’m very selective these days with the number of weddings I take on each year, leaving enough time to give each client the absolute best service I can is very important to me
My girls <3
I was also recently extremely humbled to have won the prestigious TWIA (The Wedding Industry Awards) title of Makeup Artist of 2019, East of England, a title l am thrilled to have for the rest of the year.
Best Makeup Artist of 2019, East of England
I cover the whole of London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Bucks, Essex, Cambridgeshire and regularly venture up into Suffolk and Norfolk with the occasional European wedding each summer, to help me top up my Vitamin D! My all time favourite wedding venues are Brocket Hall, Luton Hoo, Gaynes Park, The Savoy, Claridges, Hengrave Hall, Huntsmill Farm and I LOVE the various Private Members Clubs dotted in and around Mayfair and Kensington that I get to see.
What Makes Me Different?
There are many extremely talented makeup artists out there doing what I do. All of us specialising in our own niche. For me, I am passionate about creating the dream look for my client that is timeless, elegant and with incredible attention to detail. Having been trained in a time before filters and easy access to facetune/photoshop, my work has to be perfect straight out of the camera. Natural bridal makeup has become my calling card. However, I can turn my hand to glamorous bridal makeup just as much as Boho bridal makeup. I take as much care working with the rest of the bridal party, the bridesmaids makeup is one of my favourite challenges. Creating looks for individuals with really different colourings/faces shapes/tastes and bringing them all in sync in a way that suits them. I don’t force everyone into the same look or pallette. They’re bridesmaids, not backing singers…
What Else?
Alongside my absolute love of Bridal Makeup, I also have a Beauty Coaching/Education business called Beauty Unfiltered. This fits in perfectly with my ethos that makeup should empower women and allow them to be their very best selves without the heavy, caked trend makeup that is so prevalent these days.
We’ve been featured and talked about in the Metro and Sunday Telegraph, taking a stand against the damaging trends that we are bombarded with day in/day out. This is my heart project. I have over 1000 women in my closed group all there to get value and online advice that doesn’t involve highlight, contour and 14 layers of concealer.
COME AND JOIN US
I also offer Bespoke Beauty Days which are VERY popular and I spend 4-5 hours with you detoxing your skincare and makeup, working out what you need and then we go shopping together, have a bite to eat and then have a makeup lesson with all your lovely new products. This is one for the wish list 😉
My latest venture is an online course called Confused to Confident – Become your own Makeup Artist in 6 weeks. I teach women, from the comfort of their sofa’s – the WHY’s rather than just HOW TO. This means that they can go on to make excellent, informed beauty decisions and purchases, rather than relying on makeup counter staff or youtube tutorials which may not suit their style.
I hope you can tell, I adore my work. I work day in day out helping women feel like the very best version of themselves. Building up other women has and always will be my passion. Inspiring other makeup artists with makeup ideas and inspiration is part of what we do as a community.
Aren’t I glad I didn’t listen to the teachers who said that no business could be made from being creative?
Katy x