Case Studies
Pat McGrath
Known to many as the Queen of Makeup Artistry, Pat McGrath is a world-renowned MUA with over 25 years of experience in the industry. Born in Northampton, in 1970 McGrath has never had any formal training but completed an Art Foundation Course at Northampton College after finishing school. Inspired by her mother who loved all things beauty and fashion, she learned from her how to mix and create colours of eyeshadow suitable for women of colour. Just after completing her course, she met Kim Bowen who was a stylist for The Face and I-D Magazine. She was invited along to photoshoots and sets and then learned about makeup and started doing makeup. Her big breakthrough came from Carom Wheeler whom she had 3 years previously worked on, who asked her to go to Japan to work on the Soul II Soul campaign for 3 months with I-D magazine. This then led her to being named as the beauty director for the magazine and this is a job she still has till this day. From here she began to work with luxury brands during the 90s such as Prada and Miu Miu and created 10 seasons of looks and concepts for their shows and editorial shoots. Now in 2023, she works with over 60 brands during Paris, London, New York, and Milan fashion weeks every year creating concepts for the shows. With a love of all thing's makeup, she first worked on developing a makeup line in 1999 for Georgio Armani, as they loved what she brought to the table in terms of creativity, application techniques, and previous work. She then created her own brand that launched in 2015 called PAT MCGRATH LABS. She sold out so fast online that the brand set new records. The brand offers elevated luxury products that are aimed at Makeup Artists and help to create beautifully creative fashion and editorial looks. The social media sites for the brand screams opulence, fantasy and colour. With such a large success and following, the brand has continued to grow and is viewed as one of the best in the world. in 2021 for all her work in the fashion and beauty industry, Pat McGrath was the first ever makeup Artist to ever be awarded the title of Dame by Queen Elizabeth the Second. As well all her work on her brand and work in the industry she is also the British Vogue Beauty Editor since 2017 and she has also done every front cover of Italian Vogue for the last 20 years. McGrath is truly a powerful force in the makeup industry and continues to inspire, innovate, and grow to this day.
Bibliography
About (no date) PAT McGRATH LABS. Available at: https://www.patmcgrath.com/pages/about (Accessed: 20 November 2023).
Sowray, B. (2012) Pat McGrath, British Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/pat-mcgrath-biography (Accessed: 20 November 2023).
Dirshe, S. (2020) Pat McGrath’s first ‘unlimited’ makeup line launches very soon, Essence. Available at: https://www.essence.com/beauty/makeup/pat-mcgrath-makeup-collection-launch-date/ (Accessed: 27 November 2023).
Kim, M. (2017) Pat McGrath’s new ‘unlimited’ makeup collection is fall’s first mandatory beauty binge, Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/pat-mcgrath-labs-makeup-unlimited-edition-mothership-eye-palettes-pencils-lipsticks (Accessed: 27 November 2023).
Victoria’s secret the tour 2023 exclusive behind the scenes | pat mcgrath labs (2023) YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-M-gbFLMKM (Accessed: 27 November 2023).
Stacey Marie
Stacey Marie is an online MUA and content creator with a following of over just half a million on Instagram. Stacey with her love of all thing's makeup has inspired a whole new generation of makeup artists across the UK and the world. Starting out as just any other makeup artist Stacey loved makeup and specialised is bold and colourful looks. She started posting on Instagram at first just to share the look she had created and then started more in-depth tutorials when people started asking about how to achieve these eye-catching looks. She began to trend, and the style of makeup soon became popular, and people loved to recreate and take inspiration from her posts. In 2018 she came out with her first pallet in collaboration with BPerfect Cosmetics. A small Irish brand this was going to be their first big Collab. It was a hit when it first launched. People loved the colour rage and the quality of the shadows. She has then gone on to do a further 4 collaborations with the brand helping to put both their names on the industries map as well. Each launch is always highly anticipated and sells out completely on launch days. I think where Stacey has gone right in her career is that she relates everything back to the fact that she like many is a working MUA till this day and loves to work on clients. She also now does tutorials helping many to develop their skills and knowledge. During lockdown she and brands would put on competitions that encouraged people to get creative and create themed makeup looks at home. Me included. This helped bring people together and not feel lonely during such a debilitating time. It wasn’t really about the winning it was about having fun and supporting each others art. Stacey is someone that greatly inspires me and my love for makeup. She was one of the reasons I decided to study makeup and develop a love all things glam. You feel that you can relate to her and trust her opinions as she's got firsthand experience working in the industry.
Referencing
Marie, S. (2023) 'Soft Glam flame emoji #softglammakeup #neutralmakeup' [Instagram]. 30th August. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/staceymariemua/(Accessed: 18/09/23).
Marie, S. (2022) 'A million different colourways coming right up! sparkle emoji who wants a tutorial?! person hand up emoji side eyes emoji' [Instagram]. 31 May. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/staceymariemua/ (Accessed: 18/09/23).
Becker, K. (2018) PIC: Beauty lovers step out for launch of the BPerfect Stacey Marie Carnival Pallet. Available at: https://goss.ie/gallery/pics-beauty-lovers-step-launch-bperfect-stacey-marie-carnival-palette-144860 (Accessed: 18 September 2023).
Bperfect, B. (2018). BPerfect Stacey Marie ‘Carnival’ Palette Roadshow Launch - BELFAST! [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5T5f0MnwmQ [Accessed 15 Apr. 2024].
