Kasia Wrona is a professional makeup artist with international experience, lecturer, author and founder of the Make up Manufacture Academy. He works in Poland and the United States. She creates not only make-up, but also make-up for commercials, photo shoots and films. We talked about her new book, makeup and working with the stars.
Judyta Witkiewicz: “Make-up anti-aging” – why did you decide to write a book about it?
Kasia Wrona: For many years, I had the great pleasure of conducting classes in image creation (including make-up and styling) for students of the Jagiellonian University of the Third Age. I actually do these classes all the time. It was these wonderful women who inspired me to create this guide. While writing, I decided to expand my readership a bit and created a guide that is basically perfect for any woman, especially those over thirty-five. It contains a lot of practical advice, recommended cosmetics, step-by-step make-up, there are even metamorphoses of stars. It is a very comprehensive book. The perfect gift for a loved one!
What mistakes do women (not only mature) most often make when applying makeup and what should they pay more attention to?
From my observations, sometimes we just don’t pay too much attention to makeup. I also believe that we do not properly care for the skin, and what is more, we are not educated enough in this area. I am talking about both men and women here. Sometimes we associate these rituals with vanity, but it was already known in antiquity that body care plays a huge role in maintaining health. The skin is the largest organ of our body! Taking care of it from an early age, and even from childhood, should be a basic issue of maintaining health. I strive for the fact that care is the basis (that’s why I started my guide with it) and without beautiful skin there will be no beautiful makeup. It seems to me that we should also have more courage when applying make-up, experiment, change the style from time to time, be inspired by new trends.
I also believe that, like any other craft, makeup is something worth learning. In my opinion, every woman should go to such makeup and care lessons at least once in her life. During my own make-up courses, women learn how to take care of their skin step by step, what products to use, how to apply makeup. They watch a make-up show and then try to do their daily make-up under my supervision. Some become so passionate about make-up that they come to these courses several times!
You work not only with private clients, but also with famous names from the world of show business. For example, you had the opportunity to paint Iga Świątek in New York. Is there anything that surprised you about working with the stars?
I don’t know if you can call it a surprise, but something that always impresses me is the achievements of the people I work with. Everyone has a story, everyone has gone their own way. It somehow inspires me, fascinates me. Sometimes they tell me how they got to where they are and that is very interesting for me, it gives me motivation. I realize then how hard work “success” requires, or how much our lives are governed by luck. This concept of success is also redefined every time, for each of us success is something different. For one it will be the title of a master in his field, for another financial achievement, for another – popularity. At the beginning of my career, I didn’t work with stars, so before the first assignments of this type, I was more nervous.
In fact, I started not from the world of show business, but from business, sports or politics. Each of these industries has its own specificity, and my clients usually reflect it. The image of businessmen or politicians should be official and professional, while working with athletes requires ease and naturalness, which should also be reflected in make-up. Perhaps a certain surprise in working with famous people was that they are often people like us. They struggle with the same problems, challenges, they actually live in a similar world, contrary to what we sometimes think. This job is a pleasure for me, especially when I have the opportunity to meet exceptional stars
While working at New York Fashion Week, where I regularly work, I have already met Kim Kardashian, Serena Williams, Anna Wintour, Alessandra Ambrosio and many other America’s favorites. Recently, I very often work in Poland with clients related to the world of sports or finance, such as Iga Świątek, whom you mentioned (although I met Iga in New York, when I was preparing her for the “Today Show” on TV NBC), or world champion Lukas Podolski, or professor Janusz Filipiak. I also have very fond memories of working with Magda Stachula, a great writer, and Marek Kondrat, whose film roles are well known to all of us.
You work with women in Poland and also in the USA. Do Polish women have anything to learn from Americans when it comes to makeup, or is it the other way around?
I think we can learn from each other. American women have much more courage in make-up, they experiment. It also seems to me that most American women wear make-up, while in Poland this beautiful, fresh “no makeup look” still reigns. Delicacy and naturalness are definitely fashionable in Poland. I think something in the middle would be perfect! There are also a lot of trends in the United States, not only in make-up, but in every other field. It is from the USA that the recently popular “foxy eyes” or “overlined lips” worn by Kim Kardashian come from. On the other hand, we fall in love with the “glow” popularized by Hailey Bieber. However, it must be taken into account that on the west coast of America, where these trends are shaped, there is a completely different climate, culture and lifestyle.
In European conditions, these trends will not always work out. Living in Los Angeles while studying at the Cinema Makeup School, one of the best makeup and make-up schools in the world, I discovered how easy it is to wear “Hollywood style”. Low air humidity, 300 days of sun a year… this is conducive to the durability of “glow” or “wet look” make-up, and it is enough to tie your hair in a bun for an hour to get super-durable Hollywood waves. In our climate, hair quickly straightens from moisture, and the “wet look” does not stay on the skin. Fatty products roll and do not congeal. Of course, it is always worth being inspired by new trends, but you also have to adapt them to our realities.
I have heard many times about biting off lipsticks and taking them out by women from perfumeries or ladies who did not wash off the mascara for several days, because “the packaging did not say that it should be done”. As a make-up artist, have you encountered similar absurdities when painting clients?
Hahaha that sounds like America! But it’s true, sometimes I hear things. At this point, it no longer surprises me and quickly slips out of my mind. Sometimes I encounter such absurdities not only from clients, but various stories are told to me by students or colleagues. Sometimes it’s funny stuff and sometimes it’s scary. Once during a training I heard that one lady smeared sandwiches with “cellulite butter”, which of course had a buttery consistency, but was intended for use on the skin. It happens that my clients wear disposable tufts of eyelashes for several weeks. Recently, a student told me that her client thought that nails grow from the tips, not from the cuticles, and wanted to advertise a hybrid manicure. It also happened to me once that I was working with a very popular person who tried to steal my cosmetics. I think there are such absurdities in every industry.
The three biggest make-up sins of women are:
It seems to me that women nowadays are more and more aware of make-up and care, especially those under 40 and do not commit too many “make-up sins”. However, if I had to choose, I would of course list falling asleep with makeup on as the first and most important sin. However, it seems to me that many women are already aware of how harmful this habit is. Too much makeup is probably the thing I don’t like the most. I believe that beauty should be emphasized, but not exaggerated. Among our deadly sins, there is certainly too dark foundation, or incompetently selected foundation, or a black line on the waterline of the eye with small eyes, or dark lines around the eyes at all. Of course, I couldn’t fail to mention inadequate skin care here, but it’s not a makeup issue anymore.
What should women over 50 avoid in make-up?
In principle, I could repeat the answer from the previous question. First of all, make-up minimalism, a well-chosen foundation and a bright eyeliner on the waterline will work. Too dark foundation makes you look older, orange shades add years. Instead of dark lines around the eyes, it is better to put on a beige pencil on the waterline of the eye. This trick is great for rejuvenating!
And what are your three proven make-up tricks for visually rejuvenating that women should know?
That beige eyeliner on the waterline! I recommend it even to women who don’t wear make-up – it works great in brightening the look, optically enlarging the eye. A visually rejuvenating trick is also eyelash tufts, which, after a few training sessions, can be learned very quickly. Some ladies after my training start wearing them every day. Tufts of eyelashes are perfect for drooping eyelids or small eyes. Another trick is just… lip gloss. If we do not have wrinkles around the lips, then lip gloss works perfectly in mature age. It perfectly rejuvenates, adds freshness and glow to our face, just like rouge on the cheeks.
Source: Gazeta
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
