Deadly Design Make-up wrote:

is LOVE your last name.... why not play with that.... like LOVE GLAM Make-up Artistry or glamor love ... i would use your last name if love is your last name....

I thought Love wasnt her real last name?

Pretty Poison MUA wrote:

Haha, no, i was saying, "Jai Marie" is my actual middle name! So maybe i'll go by Jai Marie Bennett instead of "Tiffany Bennett" cause Tiffany is just..... ugh.

Oh cool! lol ya im totally gonna just shorten my name to Jai Martin now. less cutsey than jaimie. and you have a pretty middle name, i am of course biased lol

Mary wrote:
just thought I would add.... I am not against using another name from day one in this career...

I have advised a few people in my area with the name of Jessica to do it because there were so many in the area that were not good (Jessicas with a bad reputation)  it might lose them work...  I suggested going by a middle name instead but the problem is that when checks are written you need to be able to cash them so a middle name instead of first might work but if you change your last name you will need to file a DBA  and yes, I would do that if I had a really hard to remember last name.

Damn Jessica being the MOST popular name in the United States ALL through the 80s lol!  I was actually named after my great Nana so no my mom wasn't being "trendy" lol.  That's exactly why I also added the middle name in there. 

1) B/c it flows well and has a nice ring to it

2) So many damn Jessicas!

Jessica Myers - plain
Jessica Jean Myers - watch out lol!

Also I read somewhere apparently when ppl hear a person w/ 3 names in their mind they automatically associate it w/ intelligence.  No idea why but that sounds good to me!

Glamour Jessica wrote:
Glamourpuss

Taken.

Jessica Jean Myers wrote:

If you were to do an editorial for a magazine would you want the credit to read:

Makeup: real name
or
Makeup: Just Kiss N Makeup

That's not meaning to sound rude just really curious about this b/c that's the kind of thing that made me want to change mine.  I want ppl to know MY name.

/thread

I don't get it with all the cutesy forgettable names around here.  It's more Myspace than industry.

Mary wrote:
an example...  Would you take more seriously  a photographer contacting you by the name of John Smith or one by the name of divatog?

Yeah except when it is your real name and people swear you made it up. . .
Come on I dare you to be the 13 gazillionth person to ask what my real name is

Mary wrote:
I have a boring name but wasn't smart enough to change it early on in this career...

Having the same dilemma. When do you know that it's too late to change it? I am thinking of hyphenating it to Melissa Schwartz-Jones but wondering if that is to complicated?

I was given the wrong birth name to begin with:/ Melissa is so blah. And then I went and married a Jones...lol

Melissa N. Jones wrote:

Having the same dilemma. When do you know that it's too late to change it? I am thinking of hyphenating it to Melissa Schwartz-Jones but wondering if that is to complicated?

I was given the wrong birth name to begin with:/ Melissa is so blah. And then I went and married a Jones...lol

I think it's too late when you have repeat clients that already know your name.  If you don't you could go by a middle name??? 

There are a lot of Melissa's in the industry, my fear with a popular name that people might mistake you with someone that sucks...They here the name and skip over it on the off chance its the one they heard about or the one that screwed up a job once...  Thank God that the only other Marys I know in the industry are very good artists and NONE are in my area.

Melissa N. Jones wrote:

Having the same dilemma. When do you know that it's too late to change it? I am thinking of hyphenating it to Melissa Schwartz-Jones but wondering if that is to complicated?

I was given the wrong birth name to begin with:/ Melissa is so blah. And then I went and married a Jones...lol

Oh no you didn't!!!!



But yeah, I agree.  That's why I use my middle name also.  My name is Melissa Israel.

Melissa Rachelle wrote:
Oh no you didn't!!!!



But yeah, I agree.  That's why I use my middle name also.  My name is Melissa Israel.

hehe:) Rachelle makes it sound so much more chic though! Get ready everyone, I'm changing my name. Im a newbie so my short list of repeat clients shouldn't mind...

Lacey Love wrote:
I'm playing around with names for my business. I wasnt something that says Vanity and Glam but is very spunky and edgy that people will think is cute and remember... any cute ideas??

As a photographer, with very few exceptions, I don't like to work with people working with weird myspace names.

Jessica Jean Myers wrote:

Damn Jessica being the MOST popular name in the United States ALL through the 80s lol!  I was actually named after my great Nana so no my mom wasn't being "trendy" lol.  That's exactly why I also added the middle name in there. 

1) B/c it flows well and has a nice ring to it

2) So many damn Jessicas!

Jessica Myers - plain
Jessica Jean Myers - watch out lol!

Also I read somewhere apparently when ppl hear a person w/ 3 names in their mind they automatically associate it w/ intelligence.  No idea why but that sounds good to me!

you are all kinda lucky though to have the names you think are "boring" because at least people can pronounce it!  i had the same dilemma w/ my name b/c i didn't want to have a "cutesy" myspace name, but at the same time, i want people to be able to search me and find me easily if they hear my name at a show or whatever.  and i'm so sick of hearing my name mispronounced! although i cant blame anyone, its hard to say (my last name is Schmenk). so i settled on using my first name.  i still use my full name on my biz card and in print credits though.

but i will admit that i am not in love with it yet.  i feel a little self-concious with just a first name, like people will think i think im a big deal! like, who does she think she is, madonna or cher or something? lol. . . thoughts?

Jessica Jean Myers wrote:

Damn Jessica being the MOST popular name in the United States ALL through the 80s lol!  I was actually named after my great Nana so no my mom wasn't being "trendy" lol.  That's exactly why I also added the middle name in there. 

1) B/c it flows well and has a nice ring to it

2) So many damn Jessicas!

Jessica Myers - plain
Jessica Jean Myers - watch out lol!

Also I read somewhere apparently when ppl hear a person w/ 3 names in their mind they automatically associate it w/ intelligence.  No idea why but that sounds good to me!

Oh that's it...I'm gonna have to be Rachel Alizabeth Lisa from now on...

liz yu wrote:

deLisa is so cool!

You like it? I kinda do too, but I feel weird about changing it. Even if I ever get married. My father was the last Lisa, and he passed away 10 years ago. There is no one left from his side of the family, so as far as I know I'm the last Lisa standing. I feel like I want to keep it to remember him.

K M A wrote:
QFT
On message boards I may not use my full name anymore, but for business I definitely just go by my full name. I know many artists who started off with a cute name and by the time they started getting serious jobs they changed it over to just their name.

Kat is probably is referring to me as one of those people she knows who started off with a cutesy name and then graduated to my own name. I started off as "The Star You Are" here on MM, but quickly figured out that what Mary and Kat and countless others have been saying, is spot on. You will be taken far more seriously if you just use your own name.

But I still loved the name "The Star You Are," so what I ended up doing was creating two businesses (and two websites). I go by Allie Underwood for commercial, fashion, print, and film work. And I go by "The Star You Are" for my bridal business.

www.allieunderwood.com
www.thestaryouare.net

Cayla Parker wrote:
Ok, I've been playing around with MUA names for EVER while still building my port, and I just can't figure it out- and I've ALWAYS had a thing for names. My real name is just terrible horrible no good and very very bad- all you people out there with "normal" names like jessica tiffany claire jaimie (which is my middle name but i spell it jaime) BE HAPPY!!! No one has my name that is under the age of 80- not kidding. Therefore, I want a professional sounding name, not cutesy, but that also portrays my philosophy- that every woman is beautiful and makeup just enhances natural beauty. I need serious help lol- how can I portray that in..3 words or less!

I am going to note here for readers that this is a year old thread that was bumped.  However, I am going to respond to this post anyway...

You think no one under 80 has the name Cayla?  That name, and variations of that name (my daughter is Kaylee) are making a strong resurgence.  My hubby and I deliberately choose Kaylee because it was pretty rare.  He and I are both freelancers in our chosen fields so we know that if she gets into a business where remembering her name is important, it'll be easy to do so.  There still aren't so many K/Caylees, K/Caylas, etc that she'll get lost in a sea of them like I did in school (my name is Michelle).  And I'm 99.9% certain there is no one (yet) with her first and last name anywhere else on the planet. 

Cayla is a beautiful name, keep it.

EmElle Makeup and Hair wrote:

I am going to note here for readers that this is a year old thread that was bumped.  However, I am going to respond to this post anyway...

You think no one under 80 has the name Cayla?  That name, and variations of that name (my daughter is Kaylee) are making a strong resurgence.  My hubby and I deliberately choose Kaylee because it was pretty rare.  He and I are both freelancers in our chosen fields so we know that if she gets into a business where remembering her name is important, it'll be easy to do so.  There still aren't so many K/Caylees, K/Caylas, etc that she'll get lost in a sea of them like I did in school (my name is Michelle).  And I'm 99.9% certain there is no one (yet) with her first and last name anywhere else on the planet. 

Cayla is a beautiful name, keep it.

Cayla IS a beautiful name, and I chose it because it comes from Catherine, which is my aunt that passed away. I love Kaylee also. However, thats not my real name I want my MUA work separate from my modeling, and using a pen name isn't professional as a MUA- in the modeling world, I use it to keep away as many stalkers as possible. Trust me- my name IS 80 years old. My nickname is Essie, but I don't want people to think I stole it from the nailpolish line So far, my top choices are : Enhance your inner glow, perfectly imperfect, colours of inner beauty, and colours from within. I'm trying to portray the fact that every woman is beautiful, and makeup only enhances that. ANY help would be greatly appreciated- also I wont steal anyones ideas, I just need a little help but I will NOT steal whatever names you come up with

Mary wrote:

clients will take you more seriously if you just use your name.  I know it's not as fun  but a photographer is going to have a hard time selling a cute name to a big client, the client wants to hire someone with a real name it just sounds more professional... Look at the major artist agencies, none of the artists have cute business names, most go by their real name


an example...  Would you take more seriously  a photographer contacting you by the name of John Smith or one by the name of divatog?

+1
I used a "stage name" for a bit and I can tell you that for me, the second I switched to using my actual name, my clientele expanded by at least double and the KIND of clientele got better as well. People take you much more seriously.

Cayla Parker wrote:
Oh I totally understand that- but not sure I'd be taken seriously as "essie" which really is my name I go by. i'd like to portray the image that women are beautiful and makeup just enhances it- not looking to do a cutsey name type thing, what do you guys think?

Is your real name Ester?  I do know a 3 year old with that name.  A lot of older names are coming back.  Ella is another older name making a big comeback.  Lots of people are naming their kids after older family members.

Here's another thought... using an older name will imply that you are older and are more experienced.  It's this thought that I was actually against Kaylee, as I would be Brittany or similar names, I just don't hear "Grandma Kaylee".  It's a very young sounding name to me, and it might hurt her later.  Her middle name is an older name though (after my great grandmother), and it's something she can use with or instead of Kaylee if she feels it's necessary.  I think that Kaylee (and variations) is more popular now than when we chose it will help her somewhat, so I'm less concerned with it.

Do you have a middle name you like?

Andrea Martini wrote:
I would just like to add that I see nothing wrong with Essie being used...or Ester for that matter..but I can understand where you are coming from...I had a really hard time using Martini (which is my real last name) bc I figured people would think it was some "cutesy made up name". I always had a hard time accepting it bc I got called "olive" and asked if I was shaken or stirred all thru high school. lol.

Oh my gosh thats terrible! Though looking at your name, I wouldn't have guessed it was your real name either! I guess what I'm trying to do is create a business name, and for editorial, use my real name (blech) For right now though, I'm doing freelance and building up my portfolio, want to get into weddings and then of course editorial and anything else I can get my hands on, so for right now I think a business name would be more beneficial for a while, and I don't want the typical "makeup by essie" I like unique I really like Perfectly Imperfect but I'm not sure it portrays the right idea. Colors of inner beauty might though, and also enhance your inner glow. Agh, such a decision =/

EmElle Makeup and Hair wrote:
Honestly Essie Parker is unique and you would be remembered.  It's not all that cutesy either.

No one could make out checks to me though w/that name  is the only issue lol =/ I was really thinking about Perfectly Imperfect - that women should embrace their flaws etc. What do you guys think? (oh and PS no ones allowed to steal it! lol)

Cayla Parker wrote:

No one could make out checks to me though w/that name  is the only issue lol =/ I was really thinking about Perfectly Imperfect - that women should embrace their flaws etc. What do you guys think? (oh and PS no ones allowed to steal it! lol)

Yes they can write checks to you.  Talk to your bank.  They may do an "aka Essie" on your account.  Then it's no problem.  My bank did that for me when I had a nickname issue.  You could also set up Essie Parker as your business name, and your account would read dba.

Just Kiss N Makeup wrote:

Oh no offence taken. But I do I think its catchy and more memorable than my real name. I like my real name of course, Jaimie Martin, and I do use it. I usually say, Jaimie Martin with Just Kiss 'N Makeup, or some variation of it. I like it because it sounds like a business. Its not overly cute, but catchy. Thats what I hear anyway.

And there are some well known artists out there like Synthe and others where, that isn't their real name. But are very sucessful. I like to use both names. In an editorial shoot I think I'd like to use both, I dont think either sounds bad. I dunno, do you guys really think my name would just sound better? So far I've been using my business Just Kiss 'N Makeup around my area to kind of establish myself.

i'm actually in the process of developing my own business too and have been trying to decide on two names. i also will be marketing my self like so.... [insert business name] by Melissa Michelle. i'm not going to be using my last name. anyway, i think it's pretty professional to have a business with a distinguishing name... in my opinion.

Melissa Rachelle wrote:

Oh no you didn't!!!!



But yeah, I agree.  That's why I use my middle name also.  My name is Melissa Israel.

wow! too many melissas in MM.

Relaxing Minds- MUA Taj wrote:
At first I picked Beautful Results which I still use in the logo then went to Relaxing Minds as a business name because it wasn't used and it went with all I do.  I use Sp-aah2U for the pamper party division and made sure that both names are on the EIN.

My first & middle name and initials are common but I do use them as well plus I really didn't want my name plastered everywhere since I sometimes get calls from perverts.  Not to mention I had a stalker years back and went to mostly using my intitals TAJ or business name online.

Most of the time I use: Taj of Relaxing Minds OR Teresa A. Janes, Relaxing Minds when it comes to credit. 

Sometimes I have others work with me so choosing a standalone business name works best for me.  I thought about changing it but my given name is boring and so southern excluding the last name!  Plus people are always spelling it wrong!  Relaxing Minds is easy to spell when it comes to email and websites.

EXACTLY!!!! I've had enough shady people contacting me, thats why I didn't want my name in it. Plus no one can ever pronounce or spell my name correctly..its a pain. I figured Perfectly Imperfect is..perfect Oh, p.s. essie is short for a lot of things!! None of which people would even know lol! What about "Perfectly Imperfect by Essie" ?

Diana wrote:
I realize this is an old thread but there still seams to be a lot of questions and indicision about choosing a 'name'.

This us a no brainer people. Think about where you want your career to go. If you are looking to a career in wedding and private makeup application, by all means choose a cute or catchy name as it may indeed be beneficial.

However, if you have any hope of working in fashion, advertising, film or theatre, then using your real name or variation thereof (ie nickname/middle name) is the only smart option.

It takes years to build a brand and to earn respect in this industry. Pat McGrath is a brand. Gucci Westman is a brand. Do you really want to waste time and money on 'glamourpuss' or the like??

I totally understand the logic behind this but would it really work so well if you had a horribly unusual name like Fizza.  I mean I am so sick of spelling it out and still getting mail AND checks addressed to SUSAN (seriously, how that happens is beyond me but it happens REGULARLY!)  Face-to-face is fine, but over the phone - nightmare!!! And let's not even get into last names.  I've never really liked the sound of it - no it doesn't rhyme with pizza more like "fizz-aaa" - but it doesn't exactly roll of the tongue or sound very elegant.  I have also been asked if that is my "real" name.  My maiden name was Hussain and I was asked at least once a week if I was related to Saddam... ugh... I'm pretty sure that isn't going to get me more work.  I won't rant any more, names are a sour topic for me.  Maybe I'll get over it one day  

Oh and I had to add, My initials... FAQ - not kidding!! Can you imagine, "makeup by FAQ"....

Mary wrote:

clients will take you more seriously if you just use your name.  I know it's not as fun  but a photographer is going to have a hard time selling a cute name to a big client, the client wants to hire someone with a real name it just sounds more professional... Look at the major artist agencies, none of the artists have cute business names, most go by their real name


an example...  Would you take more seriously  a photographer contacting you by the name of John Smith or one by the name of divatog?

+1000000
100% agree!

Picture Perfect Makeove wrote:
I totally understand the logic behind this but would it really work so well if you had a horribly unusual name like Fizza.

Yes.  That is if you are good, personable and reliable.  While the first time they might f- up your name, if you made them happy, they will never f- it up again and they will remember you.  Seriously, how many people named Gucci do you know?  Diana listed her as an example.  And yet you Google her, and you can't miss her work.

People should not be afraid of their names.  Seriously.

EmElle Makeup and Hair wrote:
People should not be afraid of their names.  Seriously.

Exactly. 

However if your name is really that bad, why not create a new name based on your real one... models and actresses do it all the time.

I find it funny that someone is willing to register their company name as Glamourpuss or some other stripper sounding name but registering under a normal name is unthinkable.