Forums > Hair, Makeup & Styling > Silliest thing you have done as a makeup artist

Makeup Artist

ShannonJennings MUA

Posts: 127

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

I'm newly pregnant & recently had my first male sit down in my chair. I was doing my best to reassure him that I wasn't going to make him look like a girl then I picked up a crease brush and jabbed him in the eye with the wrong end of the brush.

We laughed about it & then I pick up my second brush & do exactly the same thing.

I need to keep my eyelash glue & eye primer far apart too because I have nearly primed lids with lash glue a few times.

What have you done in a moment of foggy brain, pregnancy, hangover or general stupidity?

Feb 13 13 09:32 pm Link

Makeup Artist

Cynna Stylz MUA

Posts: 217

New York, New York, US

It's partly baby on the brain. You won't believe how tired and mis-minded you may get. Also it might have been just plain nerves with a guy at your chair. Don't worry it only get s better.

smile

Feb 13 13 11:22 pm Link

Makeup Artist

Crystal Rose Make up

Posts: 496

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Just the other day I was working on a girl who had really long beautiful red hair, so I made sure the curling tongs were nice and hot.

I started to curl her hair and when I went to released her hair from the tongs her hair was getting stuck to the barrel and I had to really pull to release it,  I did another two or so curls and the same thing kept happening.  I thought this was odd so I looked at my tongs and there was melted black goo all over the barrel,  I wiped them clean and panicked a bit.

I had rested the tongs against some plastic hair grips which melted onto the tongs and had set rock hard in her hair.  I panicked some more and thought maybe I could crumble it out with out her noticing to much, it didn't work, so now I starting to hyperventilate and thought maybe I could reheat the curls and it might melt the plastic and I could comb it out or something, with out her noticing, that didn't work either.

I couldn't think of anything else to do, I was sweating, short of breath and panicking so I kept on working and said nothing.

She called me the next day and said that she had to cut out plastic chunks from the back of her hair and if I knew anything about it,  so I owned up and told her what had happened. 

We ended up laughing over it ,  she wasn't into her hair as much as I though she was.

Feb 14 13 12:54 pm Link

Makeup Artist

jmorrismua

Posts: 60

Chicago, Illinois, US

When I was very very new, I was using eyelash curlers on one lady, but I caught the flesh of her cheek in the curler! I pressed so hard that it left an imprint on her cheek! She was so sweet and said she had a high tolerance for pain! I felt so so so bad that I didn't use an eyelash curler for about a year out of fear. Now I am very very careful lol

Feb 14 13 03:01 pm Link

Model

Sophie Nova

Posts: 2105

Los Angeles, California, US

Crystal Rose  Make up  wrote:
Just the other day I was working on a girl who had really long beautiful red hair, so I made sure the curling tongs were nice and hot.

I started to curl her hair and when I went to released her hair from the tongs her hair was getting stuck to the barrel and I had to really pull to release it,  I did another two or so curls and the same thing kept happening.  I thought this was odd so I looked at my tongs and there was melted black goo all over the barrel,  I wiped them clean and panicked a bit.

I had rested the tongs against some plastic hair grips which melted onto the tongs and had set rock hard in her hair.  I panicked some more and thought maybe I could crumble it out with out her noticing to much, it didn't work, so now I starting to hyperventilate and thought maybe I could reheat the curls and it might melt the plastic and I could comb it out or something, with out her noticing, that didn't work either.

I couldn't think of anything else to do, I was sweating, short of breath and panicking so I kept on working and said nothing.

She called me the next day and said that she had to cut out plastic chunks from the back of her hair and if I knew anything about it,  so I owned up and told her what had happened. 

We ended up laughing over it ,  she wasn't into her hair as much as I though she was.

I'm actually quite shocked that you felt it was acceptable to send her home like that, knowing full well that she had damaged hair, and with no apology or information on how she could take care of the problem. That she had to call you the next day to get you to "own up" says a lot about how you conduct yourself, professionally and ethically.

Feb 16 13 01:14 pm Link

Model

angel emily

Posts: 1020

Boston, Massachusetts, US

Crystal Rose  Make up  wrote:
Just the other day I was working on a girl who had really long beautiful red hair, so I made sure the curling tongs were nice and hot.

I started to curl her hair and when I went to released her hair from the tongs her hair was getting stuck to the barrel and I had to really pull to release it,  I did another two or so curls and the same thing kept happening.  I thought this was odd so I looked at my tongs and there was melted black goo all over the barrel,  I wiped them clean and panicked a bit.

I had rested the tongs against some plastic hair grips which melted onto the tongs and had set rock hard in her hair.  I panicked some more and thought maybe I could crumble it out with out her noticing to much, it didn't work, so now I starting to hyperventilate and thought maybe I could reheat the curls and it might melt the plastic and I could comb it out or something, with out her noticing, that didn't work either.

I couldn't think of anything else to do, I was sweating, short of breath and panicking so I kept on working and said nothing.

She called me the next day and said that she had to cut out plastic chunks from the back of her hair and if I knew anything about it,  so I owned up and told her what had happened. 

We ended up laughing over it ,  she wasn't into her hair as much as I though she was.

sad sad sad

Feb 16 13 01:20 pm Link

Photographer

Velvet Paper Photo

Posts: 468

Lexington, Kentucky, US

Crystal Rose  Make up  wrote:
Just the other day I was working on a girl who had really long beautiful red hair, so I made sure the curling tongs were nice and hot.

I started to curl her hair and when I went to released her hair from the tongs her hair was getting stuck to the barrel and I had to really pull to release it,  I did another two or so curls and the same thing kept happening.  I thought this was odd so I looked at my tongs and there was melted black goo all over the barrel,  I wiped them clean and panicked a bit.

I had rested the tongs against some plastic hair grips which melted onto the tongs and had set rock hard in her hair.  I panicked some more and thought maybe I could crumble it out with out her noticing to much, it didn't work, so now I starting to hyperventilate and thought maybe I could reheat the curls and it might melt the plastic and I could comb it out or something, with out her noticing, that didn't work either.

I couldn't think of anything else to do, I was sweating, short of breath and panicking so I kept on working and said nothing.

She called me the next day and said that she had to cut out plastic chunks from the back of her hair and if I knew anything about it,  so I owned up and told her what had happened. 

We ended up laughing over it ,  she wasn't into her hair as much as I though she was.

You got extremely lucky.  If I were still modeling & a MUAH did that to me I would be furious horrified.  I have very long hair & it's my favorite feature.

Sophie Nova wrote:
I'm actually quite shocked that you felt it was acceptable to send her home like that, knowing full well that she now had damaged hair, and with no apology or information on how she could take care of the problem. That she had to call you the next day to get you to "own up" says a lot about how you conduct yourself, professionally and ethically.

+1

Feb 16 13 01:26 pm Link

Model

Paige Morgan

Posts: 4060

New York, New York, US

Crystal Rose  Make up  wrote:
Just the other day I was working on a girl who had really long beautiful red hair, so I made sure the curling tongs were nice and hot.

I started to curl her hair and when I went to released her hair from the tongs her hair was getting stuck to the barrel and I had to really pull to release it,  I did another two or so curls and the same thing kept happening.  I thought this was odd so I looked at my tongs and there was melted black goo all over the barrel,  I wiped them clean and panicked a bit.

I had rested the tongs against some plastic hair grips which melted onto the tongs and had set rock hard in her hair.  I panicked some more and thought maybe I could crumble it out with out her noticing to much, it didn't work, so now I starting to hyperventilate and thought maybe I could reheat the curls and it might melt the plastic and I could comb it out or something, with out her noticing, that didn't work either.

I couldn't think of anything else to do, I was sweating, short of breath and panicking so I kept on working and said nothing.

She called me the next day and said that she had to cut out plastic chunks from the back of her hair and if I knew anything about it,  so I owned up and told her what had happened. 

We ended up laughing over it ,  she wasn't into her hair as much as I though she was.

You should be ashamed of yourself, as that is incredibly unethical, and could have caused the entire team you were shooting with a lot of trouble.


If I were modeling and someone did that to me I would be furious, and start looking into what could be done to invoice you for the cost of repairing the damage.

Feb 16 13 01:54 pm Link

Makeup Artist

EmElle Makeup and Hair

Posts: 5013

San Jose, California, US

I agree with the rest.  That is awful.  Depending on the shoot, that could have been many $thousand$ down the drain for a reshoot.  Can you guess who isn't getting called back, regardless?

Feb 16 13 03:52 pm Link

Model

S. Stark

Posts: 13614

Los Angeles, California, US

Crystal Rose  Make up  wrote:
Just the other day I was working on a girl who had really long beautiful red hair, so I made sure the curling tongs were nice and hot.

I started to curl her hair and when I went to released her hair from the tongs her hair was getting stuck to the barrel and I had to really pull to release it,  I did another two or so curls and the same thing kept happening.  I thought this was odd so I looked at my tongs and there was melted black goo all over the barrel,  I wiped them clean and panicked a bit.

I had rested the tongs against some plastic hair grips which melted onto the tongs and had set rock hard in her hair.  I panicked some more and thought maybe I could crumble it out with out her noticing to much, it didn't work, so now I starting to hyperventilate and thought maybe I could reheat the curls and it might melt the plastic and I could comb it out or something, with out her noticing, that didn't work either.

I couldn't think of anything else to do, I was sweating, short of breath and panicking so I kept on working and said nothing.

She called me the next day and said that she had to cut out plastic chunks from the back of her hair and if I knew anything about it,  so I owned up and told her what had happened. 

We ended up laughing over it ,  she wasn't into her hair as much as I though she was.

I hate to derail such a cute thread, but...I would cry!

I'm growing my hair out right now.  I'm growing it out because I want to, AND for professional reasons.  My favorite, favorite, favorite artist has agreed to paint my portrait in a style he no longer does (he's discontinued the series), when my hair is long again.

This is going to take me a couple years.  If anyone ruined that for me...

Shame on you.

Feb 16 13 05:57 pm Link

Makeup Artist

ThirdEyeMakeup

Posts: 316

Los Angeles, California, US

Just curious- Why did her hair melt? Did she have synthetic extensions in?

Feb 16 13 06:36 pm Link

Photographer

Velvet Paper Photo

Posts: 468

Lexington, Kentucky, US

ThirdEyeMakeup wrote:
Just curious- Why did her hair melt? Did she have synthetic extensions in?

Hair clips melted onto the curling barrel which was then placed in the model's hair.

Feb 16 13 09:05 pm Link

Photographer

Velvet Paper Photo

Posts: 468

Lexington, Kentucky, US

DP.  This shit is old now.  please fix.

Feb 16 13 09:05 pm Link

Makeup Artist

ThirdEyeMakeup

Posts: 316

Los Angeles, California, US

Velvet Paper Photo wrote:

Hair clips melted onto the curling barrel which was the placed in the model's hair.

Oh- Somehow i missed that part. Thanks!

Feb 16 13 10:24 pm Link

Makeup Artist

Magnolia Beauty

Posts: 56

Summerville, South Carolina, US

Aww thats more https://assets.modelmayhem.com/images/smilies/scary.pngthan silly (about the hair!)

My silly moment(s) have been how wrongly i was contouring for like, ever, and no one said anything to me! I would go under the cheek and then color all they way down, and I always wondered why it was okay for the models to walk around with brown blocks on their face but thought "well i guess it will look good in photographs" lol ughhhh

Feb 17 13 02:49 pm Link

Makeup Artist

TheMakeupMan

Posts: 3799

Los Angeles, California, US

Working on a big celebrity in their new home.  I had to set up on the floor as their was no furniture yet   I bent over to pick up my airbrush gun and my pants split right up the back and totally b.a. Her lol

I did a reach around and yup totally split , thank god I was wearing underware lol

Took off my button shirt , tied it around my waist  and continued her makeup as if nothing happened lol

Unbelievably she called me to do her gain and we had a huge laugh about it

Feb 17 13 07:28 pm Link

Makeup Artist

Camera Ready Studios

Posts: 7191

Dallas, Texas, US

I can't count them all....Nothing real devastating.... 

I showed up in the middle of the night for one of those dreadful all night media tours... I dressed in the middle of the night in the fog of sleep...I'm in the makeup room, chatting it up with the talent, look down at my feet and realize I put 2 different boots on... From 2 sets. They were both black but clearly different boots...I was too tired to notice that they felt different.  I had to stay that way all night...I never mentioned it but people must of noticed.


I dropped a disposable mascara wand (full of mascara) on talent in a white suit about 1 minute before our live shot on air...no turning back

another middle of the night thing...I had 2 talking heads next to each other, one black and one white guy... I had 1 minute to powder during the commercial break (live shots of course)  I powdered the white guy with the black guys puff... I didn't have time to fix it,  I had to duck out of camera fast.... and so he went on air with a black spot on his forehead... Nobody ever mentioned it, weird.

I asked Troy Aikman (while he was at the height of his career) what he did for a living.... Kill me now.

Feb 17 13 10:32 pm Link

Makeup Artist

Camera Ready Studios

Posts: 7191

Dallas, Texas, US

actually in my defense....every one of these instances was in the middle of the night on media tours... I don't do media tours anymore by the way smile

Feb 17 13 10:36 pm Link

Makeup Artist

ShannonJennings MUA

Posts: 127

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Tee hee! Mary, the powder one is priceless.

Keep them coming guys.

Feb 17 13 11:52 pm Link

Makeup Artist

ThirdEyeMakeup

Posts: 316

Los Angeles, California, US

The other day i was doing a makeup demo for an ad agency that organizes shoot for big clients. I did the makeup on 4 head-of-projects- Two women and two men. One of the men was older and his eyebrows were growing very long and curly and they wouldn't stay in place with brow gel. I decided to trim them, but I soon saw that I had forgotten my eyebrow scissors at home. So, I grabbed my tweezers and asked him if it was ok to pluck a few strays. I started plucking the longest hairs- I could tell it was painful for him so i stopped after 3.

Afterwards I was packing up my kit and I thought to myself: What the hell was I thinking plucking this guy's eyebrows?!? He was not used to getting primped at all and there i was introducing him to the pains of getting his eyebrows plucked. So he could hire me. For a job.
*face palm*

Feb 18 13 12:14 am Link

Makeup Artist

Dorota MUA

Posts: 82

Leeds, England, United Kingdom

this history with Tong reminds me my one a bit tongue

I was curling the hair with my babyliss tong...and I was using for the first time my new belt...that seems to be heat resistant...so I kept for a second my tong in tool belt pocket...(as it was heavy duty canvas tool belt lol...)
well..in some point I noticed two or tree black little marks on models hair...like some black glue/and I record that my tong got black melted something on tip ....I thought in first moment that my tong tip is burning and melting!!!! I was scared a bit! lol:P I said it straight away!...Because my reaction was very fast - I have removed end cleaned  the spots on her hair (while it was wet) straight away - so It didn't set into her hair & didn't damaged her hair at all...
Together with photographer we start searching what exactly I touched with the tong so I had melted black plastic/rubber looks like stuff on it....
We were laughing after noticing it is the tool belt...(pockets was covered inside with layer of black rubber...)

Of course - I don't use the tool belt from then tongue

(ps. I couldn't imagine to live my model with some unknown glued stuff in her hair! shocked-very unprofessional in my opinion...)

Feb 18 13 05:15 am Link

Makeup Artist

LizW_Makeup

Posts: 1621

Boston, Massachusetts, US

I tend to wear shoes I can slip out of easily so I don't leave scuffs on the seamless paper. Unfortunately, seamless paper is really slippery when you're only wearing socks and are in a hurry to do a quick touch-up...

AHAHAHAHAHA, WIPEOUT! *cue guitar*

Feb 18 13 08:47 am Link

Makeup Artist

TheMakeupMan

Posts: 3799

Los Angeles, California, US

LizW_Makeup wrote:
I tend to wear shoes I can slip out of easily so I don't leave scuffs on the seamless paper. Unfortunately, seamless paper is really slippery when you're only wearing socks and are in a hurry to do a quick touch-up...

AHAHAHAHAHA, WIPEOUT! *cue guitar*

Ha ha ha !!! Done that

Feb 18 13 12:41 pm Link

Makeup Artist

Rachel Lisa

Posts: 2975

Cincinnati, Ohio, US

So just the other day, I was reaching for my leave-in conditioner and somehow grabbed a bottle of Downey Wrinkle Releaser spray and sprayed and brushed it though my hair. (I have no idea why it was under my sink next to my hair stuff) Here's the thing...my hair is naturally curly- so in an odd way I wanted to see if it relaxed it or anything.


It didn't, just in case you were curious. But damn, my hair was April Fresh all day long!

Feb 18 13 08:45 pm Link

Makeup Artist

Rachel Lisa

Posts: 2975

Cincinnati, Ohio, US

Oh, and Mary- it's not a normal week for me unless I have at least one shirt or dress on backwards and don't realize it till the middle of the day.

Feb 18 13 08:46 pm Link

Makeup Artist

Rachel Lisa

Posts: 2975

Cincinnati, Ohio, US

Now I'm on a roll...

I was at a shoot and I was getting ready to use some FA foundation, so I was being a good little MUA and shaking the hell out of a few bottles and thumping them on the back of my hand before I mixed them. What I failed to realize was that I had already taken the tops off of them, so every time I hit my hand, I was shooting FA across the room, like a gloriously neutral United Colors Of Benneton rainbow!

Feb 18 13 08:52 pm Link