A Q&A with Amoy Agyeman, Makeup Artist and Entrepreneur

What did you want to be as a child?

A doctor. My father is a doctor and I grew up saying, “Daddy, I want to be exactly like you, I want to work with you in your office.” That was the goal from day one. At school, it was about trying to get the grades to make it to medical school

What made you change course and decide to become a makeup artist?

You know, I’ve been so thankful that my parents always told me that they were proud of me and that they knew I tried my best.  However, at the end of the day, I wasn’t an academic person in the sense that I never had the grades to get into medical school. I tried, I tried my hardest throughout high school and I had to work hard, to get good grades to move on to the next level. I went to McMaster University and majored in biology but by the end of the program, I did not have the minimum GPA that was needed to get into a medical school.  I had already done five years, and it was a four-year program, and I still didn’t have the GPA, so after speaking with my advisor and people in the medical profession, I had to make the decision that medical school was not going to happen for me. It was truly heart breaking to have to tell my parents. I remember telling my dad and it was just hard. They understood and wanted to know what I wanted to do next.  I remember telling them that I wanted to be an Aesthetician.  They said, ‘absolutely not, that’s not a career, find something else.’

Sometime after that conversation, I went on a mission trip, and I loved connecting with the young girls, and I saw that there was such a need for women, especially young women, in the area of counselling. So, I decided to do a master’s degree in counselling at Tyndale University.  It was a great program, but I was emotionally drained after my masters because it was so much work. Again, I’m not an academic, so it was twice as hard for me doing all the papers and assignments.  In my other program, I was used to doing more lab work, I didn’t need to write a lot of papers. Oh my gosh, it was just so hard for me. I also did two years of internship. It’s only supposed to be one, but I really wanted to make sure that this was something that I wanted to do, so I did two years and by the end of it I was extremely exhausted.  I am also the kind of person that really takes on people’s pain, I absorb it.

After I finished my masters, I knew that emotionally, counselling was not the career for me. I did not think that I was going to last very long doing counselling so I had to figure out what else I wanted to do.  At that point in time, I was newly married and my husband and I decided to move to South Africa, for family business that he was working on. I was there to support him and not doing too much, just trying to recuperate after my master’s. It was around that time that my sister introduced me to makeup videos on YouTube and I watched them and I was like, wow, yeah, this is it.

I love makeup. I’ve always done it for people and done it for myself and loved the idea of photoshoots and all that fun stuff. I realised that I had this one moment in my life where I could choose. I was married and doing my own thing, so it was not like my parents could say no. I enrolled in a fashion and photography makeup course and through that I was just like, yeah, I love it. Even if I’m making dimes, I love it.

Thank you for sharing that story. I see so many parallels in what you have just shared and my own journey and I am sure it will resonate with other people as well. Often, it is a winding road to that place where you are doing something that brings you joy and fulfillment and most times getting to that place is not a straight road.

I feel for young people who are in university or just coming out of high school, trying to figure it all out. Some people just know what they are good at and what they want to do in life and they have what it takes. For other people, it takes forever because you think that you want to do something, you get into that career and then you’re like, oh my goodness, I could never do this long term.  There are also so many career choices these days.  I think back to when my parents were going to school, it was a lawyer or doctor if you wanted to support your family, now there are so many different careers options.

I remember once asking my mum, “why can’t I just be a housewife like you?” She told me that I could, but she wanted me to have options so that’s why they pushed me. I really appreciate that they pushed me because my counselling degree helps me to connect with women in the makeup chair.  I have clients who don’t want to come to me without makeup on because they are just not used to other people seeing them without makeup. For many women it’s a very vulnerable position to be in and it can also be a very emotional time for them. I value their trust and I just love that connection. At the end of the day, I always think to myself that I have remained in this field because of the connection I have with my clients. I don’t have the longest list of clients, but I really love and appreciate the ones that I do have.

Let’s talk a little about beauty and how do you define beauty? Sometimes we are bombarded with images that seem unattainable and too perfect.  As someone in the beauty industry how do you define beauty?

That’s a good question. I have a love hate relationship with social media, but truly for me, I define beauty or making someone beautiful as enhancing their natural beauty. Whenever I have a new client, I always ask them, “what features do you love about yourself?” Some people will say their eyes, others will say their lips, then I let them know that we are going to enhance the features that they love.  I also speak with them about any issues that they may be having with their skin. I really want to help women embrace their beauty.  Every person is different, and everyone feels beautiful differently.  I think it’s important to focus on the personal features that you love and that will give you confidence and other people will see your confidence.

Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you don’t feel beautiful, right? When my kids were small, I remember wondering how I could make myself feel beautiful?  I felt like such a wreck, with so little sleep. I never had time to do my makeup unless I was going to see a client. I just avoided looking into the mirror because I didn’t feel beautiful.  My kids are older now but there are still days that I have to coach myself and remind myself of what I love about myself and look in the mirror and be comfortable and say okay, maybe I don’t feel like that right now, but I can do this to make me feel better. We all have moments in our lives where we don’t feel beautiful, and the positive thing about makeup is that it can help us to feel beautiful so that we can go out in the world and project confidence even when we are not feeling 100% confident.

In addition to makeup, are there other services that you provide?

Yes, I do brow tattooing and lash extensions. Makeup will always be my first love. Whenever I need to feel inspired and get myself back on track, I turn to makeup.  I found that especially as I was doing weddings and getting people ready for those occasions, lashes were a great complement because they make such a big difference to your pictures. When I am thinking of ways to expand my business, I also look to those areas that complement what I am already doing, that just makes sense to me.  Over a year ago, I also started doing microblading and micro shading of the eyebrow.  I always wanted to do it for myself because I felt that as a makeup artist, I always needed to have on point brows.  I had the sparsest brows and micro shading literally changed how I feel about myself. I just feel more put together all the time and that makes me feel so much better.

I think the things that I’ve added to my services are helping women to feel and look beautiful without having to take too much time, because most of us don’t have hours to sit in front of a mirror and do our makeup every single day.  I work at a spa, One Boutique Spa, which is at Markham Road and Sheppard Ave, and that’s just been really great because we provide a range of facials and other spa treatments and the services that I provide, complement those services. I also provide at home or in office makeup service for clients, whether it’s for events, getting them ready for red carpet or doing photoshoots, headshots, all that kind of stuff. It keeps me busy.

 It’s amazing how God works because during covid, makeup appointments came to a standstill unless I was doing content for my social media.  Being able to offer lashes and brows was a huge help to keep my business going during the pandemic.  During that time more and more people wanted to do their lashes and brows because that was the only part of the face that was really visible since we were all wearing masks. Being able to offer a diverse selection of services, especially those services, really, really helped.

Did you do makeup tutorials during covid as well?

I always taught makeup classes and we went online during covid because it made sense and allowed people especially for women, who were on zoom, to be able to put together their own makeup looks. I have always loved teaching makeup and I’ll never stop doing that. Now that things have reopened, I have resumed in-person makeup classes, and I offer those classes at the spa.

What is the best piece of business advice that you ever received and what advice would you give to someone who is thinking of becoming a makeup artist?

The person who really made a big difference in me and how I saw myself as a businesswoman is my husband. Remember, I am coming from a science background, my family has never been in business, so I didn’t know a thing about the business part. I just knew I had this passion and wanted to do it. My husband is a numbers guy and one of the first questions he asked was “how are you going to make money doing this?” He’s the one who always brings me back to reality and made me realise that I had to charge people and that I couldn’t just do makeup for free because I enjoy it.  I looked at success as doing the things that I’ve always dreamt about, but he made me understand the financial aspects of being in business for myself. Being a makeup artist is not easy, because you only make money when you have clients.  If you don’t have clients, you’re not making money.

I had to learn how to find clients, how to network, and build my clientele and to also put a monetary value on what I do.  I had to understand the value that I bring to a client and how to stand in that confidence. I also had to find the kind of clients that I like to work with. When I started out, I would just take anything and everything because I wanted to build my clientele. I remember getting advice from people already in the business that I should build a niche and be picky about the clients that I took.  I don’t find that advice works for people who are starting off. I feel like you really have to say yes to everything and that’s when you grow to understand what kind of work you like to do, what areas you thrive in, and who you want your clients to be, because we do have the power to pick that. Once I had established my business, I realised that I could be more discerning in the clients that I took, because the reality is you are not going to work well with everybody, its just not possible.  I think it’s easier to be picky when you have established your brand and you have a loyal clientele than when you are just starting your business and you are trying to find out what your niche is and find your clientele.

How do you craft a look for a client?  How do you decide what that look is going to be like?

I like to start off first by finding out what they want to wear, what kind of look they are going for, what event they are attending, or if we are doing headshots.  Most times, people have gone on my Instagram page or Pinterest to find pictures of looks that they like. Once I understand those things, it’s about how I can make this look work for you, for your face structure, for your skin type, then it becomes art. Some people have flawless skin, some have a lot of issues with their skin; I have to consider all of those things. To be honest, as I’m putting on your moisturizer and prepping your skin, I’m sort of mapping your face, looking at how your eye shape works, if you have a defined brow what your lips are like and all that kind of stuff. It’s really about saying, okay, I think this kind of look is going to work because it will amp up your face. The more familiar I become with a client, the more I understand their personal style and they how they carry themselves it becomes easier to create a whole picture. Makeup is one part, but it always highlights best when it’s cohesive with everything else, with your hair, with your outfit and how you feel.

Have you ever been in a situation where a client is unhappy with a look? How do you rectify that?

Thankfully, I’ve never actually had someone say, I hate this, take it all off. I think that would be heart breaking because it is an art for us as makeup artists. It’s a piece of who we are that we are giving to other people so if a person says, my gosh, this is terrible, take it all off, it would be heart breaking. I have had instances where people are like, they want to see the process before we’re done and they’re like, oh my gosh, I don’t like this. When I was younger, and just starting out, I had a few occasions when clients questioned certain parts of the look I was doing. I was like, oh my gosh. I’m getting this totally wrong and then it took me twice as long to achieve the look because I was second guessing myself or because the client was checking the mirror every 2 seconds. I have now learnt to take the mirror away and not let the client look at their face until the end or when it’s at a place where I know I’m happy with the look.  This is especially important with new clients. I’ve also learnt that it’s about preparation by asking the right questions. The more I understand the look the client is going for the less likely we are to have issues with the look I have created.

Have you ever had a situation where a client wants a look that perhaps is not going to accentuate their best features?

Sometimes I will get people showing me pictures of people who have completely different features. Or maybe someone is telling me, I don’t wear a lot of makeup, but the photo that they are showing me is of a heavy eye shadow look.  That’s why asking questions is important. I have to point out for example, that the person in the photograph has this really thick liner, would you like that thick liner or do you want something thinner? Sometimes the client doesn’t even know, they have not focused on all of those details, they are just sending pictures of a look that they are drawn to.  It is then up me to show them how this look could work for them

You mentioned that sometimes a person might say they don’t wear a lot of makeup, but they are presenting a look that requires a lot of makeup.  What do you think are some of the most common misconceptions people have about makeup looks and what’s the most common makeup mistake that people make?

The no makeup, makeup look is the hardest thing to break down to people because it’s true you are probably wearing the same amount of makeup as a regular makeup look. It’s just that you are using natural tones, natural colours, all that kind of stuff. As much as I’d love to say, oh no, you just need to use three products to achieve the no makeup look, that likely is not going to happen even if your skin is flawless and that is really hard for people to grasp.  

What are some of the essentials that everyone needs in their toolkit?

I have four products that I would say are my go-to, that you should have, if you want to walk out of the house feeling that little bit of umph, without doing too much or without wearing too much. The annoying thing is that for some of us, we still are wearing masks at work; the mask is like the bane of my existence. I’ve really had to kind of hone down on what can work with a mask without feeling like you have to touch up your face every time you take your mask off.

I always kind of divide the face into three sections; the top of your face, the middle of your face, and then the bottom of your face. If you can touch one area in each of those sections, then you look like you’ve done something to your face, like you’ve made some effort. I’m 100% an advocate for getting your brows done because it makes such a huge difference and cuts down your time. Having a really good brow product also works really well. If you are using a brow product to define your brows, I like Benefit products. Then for the eyes, I always do a good volumizing, lengthening mascara that will enhance your lashes. That makes a huge difference. You also could use a little bit of liner to do like a simple cat eye if you’re really quick with that but often people kind of struggle with that. So just defining your eyes with mascara does wonders.  Then I would focus on your lips. Some people like doing cheeks and lips.  Regardless of the option you chose, I say make sure that your lips look moisturized, or you have a pop of colour that really just freshens up your look.

The last thing is having some kind of complexion product. Some people, they just need a little bit of concealer underneath their eyes just to brighten up and make them look more awake. If you do each of those steps, that can be your great everyday kind of look.  You can build on that depending on if you have an event or if you have something where you just need to look a little bit more made up.

I always try to educate my clients about the importance of taking good care of their skin. That is something I do for myself as well. I worked hard on improving my complexion during covid because I wasn’t wearing makeup.  I’ve had a lot of issues with hyperpigmentation. I have eczema, my skin is very sensitive and can get very dry and itchy, so I’ve really been working hard on that. I always tell people, your skin is your base, makeup will look best if take care of your skin every day; make sure you don’t go to sleep with your makeup on.

Would you say that you are a makeup junkie? Do you love makeup so much that you want to try every new product or do you just stick to your tried and true.

I do love trying different products but if I am buying for my personal makeup kit, I only buy new products when the product that I am using is finished. I don’t like to buy a lot of products when I know I already have something that works. If I am buying products to use on my clients that’s a different story. There’s a reason why my makeup case is so heavy.  I’m constantly buying new stuff that I think is going to work for my clients, stuff that’s on trend, especially eyeshadow palettes, and there’s always a great new eyeshadow palette out there. I do have to hold myself back. The great thing about it is that most brands always have an annual sale where they give a huge percentage off and it really makes a big difference. With Sephora sale, or individual brands, you need to check their Instagram pages or sign up to their email list and you’ll see when they’re having a big sale. That’s what I do to kind of help the pocket a little bit.

Do you think that the beauty industry has finally figured out that their products have to reflect the diversity of the people that wear them?

I have two opinions about this.  I think there was a moment in time where I found social media and a lot of the YouTuber that I was following were really speaking out about the lack of products suitable for diverse complexions. Black influencers were speaking out about the fact that brands were sending them colours that would never match them and that the brands needed to do better. I think that made a huge difference. The Fenty brand launched at the height of that conversation, and they addressed that gap in the market.  I think it would have been a huge disservice if Rihanna didn’t make that a key point of her brand because she was so new, and her products launched at the point that these conversations were happening. I’m sure that these conversations also happened in the past.  For example, I had many conversations with clients who do work in the media, who have never had a black makeup artist work for them and many of the makeup artists were not coming with a kit that covers a full range of skin tones. I know women have been dealing with this for eons, but there’s also another side, and it has to do with the retail side and stores not carrying the full range of a brand. I realized this when I was working at Sephora because I knew that, let’s say Bobby Brown, Estée Lauder, they carried a wide range of colours, maybe not the full spectrum, right, but a wide range, but stores would only carry a certain part of that range.

Many times, when I was working, I was the only black makeup staff there and I struggled trying to find colours that worked for me, even though I knew the brands carried it. Customers would come to the store and they would come to me and I would have to say, we don’t carry colours that will match your complexion in this store but if you go to this or that store, you will probably be able to find it.  I always spoke out about this in our meetings. So, I think people not seeing colours that matched their complexion in the stores was another reason why brands got so much backlash. Sometimes you could find a better range of colours online but that is not always a good option because you can’t try it on and see if it works for you. I would say that the retail side was also a huge contributor to the problem not just in the availability of the products but also the lack of diversity in the ads that were used to promote the products. Things have gotten a lot better which is great. I hope it’s here to stay because you can see that it’s penetrating and it is so much part of the conversation now that the brands who don’t have a wide range of products really stick out.

Is launching a makeup line a dream that you have, and if you were going to launch a makeup line, what would that look like?

That’s so funny, because people ask me that all the time and, you know, I get offers all the time. I think there are so many great brands and products out there that if I was going to come out with a product, I would want it to be something that fills the gap in the industry. I think for me, if I were going to launch a line, I would probably want it to be makeup products that are also skincare, products that take care of the skin and make the skin better. If you are wearing something every day, it would be great if it was making your skin better, improving it and it’s not just be about covering it.  I think that would be amazing.  I would love to do something like that, but I am not sure that I am able or willing because I would have to let go of one of the things I’m doing right now. I just don’t have enough hands, enough time in life to add more to my plate right now but if that changes, yeah, for sure.

As we wind down our conversation, I would like to talk about conquering fear and self-doubt. Is that something that you’ve dealt with and if so, how have you dealt with it?

Only with God. You know, there are those moments, those times in life where you just don’t feel your best, where you are questioning everything that you do and whether you even love what you do. I remember, just before covid, I was feeling burnt out. I felt like I had no breathing space. As much as I love what I do, I was starting to resent it. I had long days and I just wasn’t loving the process or what I was doing. I was praying like, “Lord, what do I do? How do I get myself out of here?” All those feelings start coming when you are overworked and exhausted, and you just can’t see the light. Then the pandemic hit, and I was able to breathe, I had to put my makeup brushes down, take care of my family, stay home, get some sleep, focus on just one thing rather than trying to juggle multiple balls.

I had time to just kind of quiet myself and take the time to breathe, take the time to take care of myself and humble and ground myself.  It comes back to this whole social media thing. Like living in my reality and just embracing that and the flaws, the highs, the lows, just knowing that this is real, this is just the real part of life.  It’s not the perfect, it’s not the stress-free life that social media portrays. I found that spending time with people who uplift and encourage me and taking a break sometimes from social media helped me to get through some of what I was feeling.

In the moments of fear, or doubt, of not feeling confident in myself, I find that just paring back to the basics of who I am, how God made me, and the blessings that I have in my life, that’s huge. I felt that during covid, I was able to really appreciate the blessings that I had in my life, because before that I was just feeling like everything was a chore. Everything felt so hard and I was not enjoying the life. I was not enjoying the process, I was escaping onto social media to enjoy someone else’s life because I was not enjoying my own life. That was just so crazy for me. I don’t want to live that way. I want to feel happy and joyful and love what I do and be confident in who I am and the process I’m going through. So, I really just had to bring it back to the basics. Get some extra sleep and yeah, those are the things that helped me.

Now that things are opening up, how are you maintaining that work life balance?

That’s such a good question. During covid, I had time to spend with family and to relax, I was like, wow, this is amazing; but this is not life.  I know now that everything is reopening, it’s time to get back to the business.  My husband has always been my cheerleader and has been encouraging me to take it slow and be intentional about the jobs that I take and to embrace my limitations and start listening to my body when deciding how far I can push myself. He has encouraged me to say no, if I am emotionally or physically drained.  After being shut down for so long, I felt that I needed to start reconnecting with my clients and take the jobs that come my way because I never know when the next job is going to come. Covid really gave me that paranoia, like I can’t say no because I don’t know when the next job is going to come, and I need to pay my bills.  I do understand what my husband is saying because whenever I step out of the door and go to a client, I really want to do a good job and do give them my best and I can’t do that if I am emotionally or physically tired.

People have been more understanding since covid.  If I say no, my schedule is full people understand.  They also understand that I have two young children and other responsibilities.  I used to hide that and not talk about having a family because I didn’t want people to think that I’m limited because I have kids, because I have a family. Now, I am more open in sharing that. I do have little kids and with that comes certain responsibilities and I am only human and I can only do so much. I do know that life gets busy and I do have moments, days, weeks that are extremely busy and I feel torn up by the end of it. Now, when I have had a busy schedule, I make sure that I have a day of rest or time just to myself. Knowing that I have those free days makes it easier to handle the really busy times.

I think the point that you made about not wanting to share that you have a family and family related responsibilities is something that many women experience. You are right, we don’t like to share those details because we think that people will, as you put it, ‘think that we are limited’ or not committed to the job. I think it is important though, that we feel comfortable bringing our whole selves to the table.

 What’s your favourite motto or affirmation that you live by?

 I am in a women’s group and we did vision boards and then we kept each other accountable. I remember coming to the point where I realised that I don’t want to just survive, I want to thrive. That really hit me in all aspects of my life, personally and professionally. I felt like I had little kids and I was just trying to survive every single day, get through every single day because I was just always exhausted and tired. There were times that I felt that I was losing my inspiration and just feeling the heaviness and the pressure of social media because I was not posting content. I really came to the point where I told myself that I’m past just surviving. I’ve survived this long, now I need to thrive. That’s been my motto and how I’ve been thinking about taking my business to the next level, and how I can thrive in my sector and meet my clients’ needs. I want to be sure that I am doing what I need to do to go above and beyond and that I am really hitting the mark so much more than I was before.

I notice that you uplift and collaborate with other entrepreneurs, did that just happen organically or was that a decision that you made?

I’ve always sought to develop relationships with, and naturally gravitate towards, women who are uplifting and encouraging and being positive. Often times, it just becomes a relationship where we decide to work together on a project because we both really want to do it or because its something that really inspires us and hopefully will inspire the people that follow us on social media as well. You know, if I’m on a set doing a photo shoot, I’m not just the makeup artist, I’m helping my client get changed, I’m helping with their hair or straightening a dress out. I think my clients and the people that I work with see that I’m not just there to do my job, but to help in any way that I can to make sure that the project is a success.

I collaborate quite often with Darcie@darciesutherlandphotography. Sometimes it is a collaboration where we come up with content that we would like to shoot, and we brainstorm about how we can bring it all together. I have other clients such as Catherine@kaelakaycollection and she’s constantly shooting her collections so, you know, it’s a whole team that comes together to produce her vision. It’s just such a privilege to be part of those spaces, where people support the work that you do. I’m a team person, I work best as part of a team. I don’t like being a sole entrepreneur, that’s why I work at the spa because I love working with the team there, it’s such a good group of women. I gravitate towards groups of women or working with women who I feel great around and I hope that I make them feel that way, too. 

My final question is what’s next for Amoy? What is  your vision for your next steps?

You know, life is about going through different chapters all the time.  I do find a lot of stuff revolves around what’s going on with my family. I never know what will come next because my life is constantly changing, the plan is constantly changing, I’m constantly having to adapt. Thankfully, the great thing about working for yourself is having that flexibility and working with those ebbs and flows of life. So, you know, now that things are opening, I’m really looking forward to doing more collaborations. I would love to get some work out there in print and working with online magazines. I think that’s one box I would love to check off. I also would like to teach more classes. It’s a constantly changing environment for me in the makeup world. New opportunities come, new clients come. So many things have been shut down for the past two years and everything was put on hold; now I am reconnecting with people and working on new things. To be honest, I don’t have a concrete plan of what comes next. I wish I could say this is the plan and this is how it’s going to go.

It sounds as though you are ready for whatever opportunities may come your way.

Always, always. One thing I love about my job is that there are new things and new projects to work on all the time. It’s about reaching out to people who you know you work well with to make it happen. One of the great things about this job is that I get to do some really, really cool things.

Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me Amoy. Its been a pleasure.