A Teesside make-up artist who was coached by one of the country’s leading make-up artists is celebrating clinching her latest set of awards.
Gemma Clark of Redcar has managed to win three regional and one national award to add to her collection – taking her total to 18 make-up industry awards.
The 42-year-old, who specialises in bridal make up, has been working in the industry for nine years and during her continuous training she was selected for a London-based course run by Val Garland, star judge on the reality TV show Glow Up, with the catchphrase ‘Ding Dong’.
Gemma said: “It was an amazing experience to be on the coaching programme and working with some of the most famous make up artists in the industry. The people on the course were from all over the world.”
The talented Teessider’s latest awards are:
- Best Bridal Specialist 2024 (Northern) – Global Wedding Awards
- Creative Makeup Artist of the Year 2024 (North East) – English Makeup Awards
- Specialist Freelance Makeup Artist of the Year 2024 (North East) – English Makeup Awards
- Specialist Freelance Makeup Artist of the Year 2024 (Overall UK) – English Makeup Awards
Gemma said: “It has been an amazing two weeks, I am really excited to have won these.”
Now, running her business from Palace Hub in Redcar, Gemma, a former health and safety officer, said she never intended to work in the make-up industry, but just ended up here.
She said: “I didn’t intentionally choose to do this. I used to like doing make-up as a hobby and then I started making a bit of money out of it.”
As more people were asking for her services, Gemma decided to start doing it full time. She said: “It was never a career plan. But when I decided to do it full time, I have never looked back.”
Although she travels all over the region and as far a Scotland to do bridal make up, Gemma also likes to work on modelling shoots for campaigns because she can show off her creative talents a bit more.
She has even made up a few famous faces over the years, including Johannes Radebe, dancing star on Strictly Come Dancing.
