Doing a job you love is the best feeling – and I’ve had some awful jobs in my time, so I feel hugely fortunate that my working life involves all the things I love.

Makeup has always been a passion of mine, stemming from my troublesome, acne-prone skin and my continuous search on how to manage it and help disguise it. But along with this, my heart lies within skincare, talking about it, recommending products, creating bespoke routines for my clients, providing facials – I just live and breathe it.

It was a natural progression, or should I say, a regression. Let’s start at the beginning – my first cleanser was Anne French, remember that?! It was my Mums cleanser and so naturally I wanted to start using it, I felt so grown up. Having acne made me read up on what would help my skin, along with my Mums freebie booklet on the A-Z of skincare with her Woman’s Own!

This is where my skincare obsession began

I trained as a beauty therapist in my early twenties but quickly realised that I didn’t want to work in a high street salon, so I didn’t. My interest in makeup never waned, and was like an itch I had to scratch. In my late twenties I enrolled on a diploma course in fashion, theatrical and media makeup. But it wasn’t until I moved to Dorset a few years later and landed a job as a spa therapist, that I knew I had found where I belonged – a spa environment, using luxury products and training with Elemis, Phytomer and Bare Minerals. The spa closed and I decided to set up on my own and spread my wings.

I originally started out offering Beauty & Makeup and this evolved into my business today of Makeup Artistry – as it soon became apparent my makeup was the sought-after service and facials and massage fell by the wayside. I gradually let these treatments go and concentrated on my makeup and further training in this area. I gained invaluable experience and knowledge training at The Bath Academy of Media Makeup, and with Julia Townend at JT Makeup and then Mastered with the iconic Val Garland.

But then serendipity stepped in

During last year I took a part time spa therapist role locally throughout the winter, when my business slows a little, and I fell in love with spa treatments all over again. It reignited my love and passion for facials and massage. It was like finding an old friend you didn’t realise you’d missed – it just felt right – I felt content and completely in the right place.

I knew this was the beginning of something special

I’d always wanted to combine my two loves of makeup and skincare and now seemed like the perfect time. During my Facebook live session on skincare, I mentioned a “little room” within my home that I would be opening up to offer facials and massage and a friend of mine picked up on this and teased me (“its not a studio, its a little room!”) and a word that my clients use frequently to describe me is calm – much to the astonishment of my husband – then it all fell into place – my Little Room of Calm – where I share my makeup and skincare knowledge and expertise.

Everything is connected – there are no coincidences

My passion for skincare has always been there, but it had been hiding in the shadows of my makeup services and it just needed that little glimmer of light for it to be the shining star that it is. I needed to find it within myself to bring it back to the forefront of my services. No matter how many times someone tells you that you can do it, you need to believe it yourself.

My skincare treatments sit perfectly with my makeup services, working hand in hand to help you achieve healthy, glowing skin – looking and feeling fabulous, inside and out. Alongside my massage treatments, you’ll leave my Little Room of Calm relaxed, de-stressed and with a real sense of calm within you.

Book in for one of my Neals Yard Facials or Massage – choose from a 30 minute or 1 hour treatment.

My Makeup and Skincare Tutorials are perfect if you feel overwhelmed with the choice of products and how to incorporate these into your life – I’d love to help simplify this for you, get in touch to book in.