Make-up artist loves making the dead look alive
Shakira Cummings is one of the most sought after make-up artists and hair stylists within the Corporate Area, but none of her clients have ever told her thanks, as they are all dead.
Cummings, 40, is a mortuary make-up artist and although she is a certified beautician, she has no interest in doing the make-up or combing the living hair.
“That’s not my passion, I love working with the dead. I send my daughter to the hairdresser and I can comb hair. I just feel comfortable dealing with the dead bodies,” she said.
Cummings, who resides on Orange Street in downtown Kingston, has been serving the dead for a little more than two decades. She said she has worked with a number of mortuaries and has prepared the bodies of a number of famous faces including Bunny Wailer and Toots Hibbert. Believe it or not, Cummings said being a make- up artist for corpses was the farthest thing from her mind when she got enrolled at Del’s Beauty School and Salon decades ago. However, a busy weekend at Tranquillity Funeral Home changed her life forever. She stated that Michelle Cornwall, one of the funeral home’s directors, sought her assistance to comb hair as her hands were extremely full.
“She asked me if I was afraid and I told her no because growing up Orange Street was the home of funeral homes, so yuh get use to seeing the dead whether they are decomposed, shot up or sick. It was normal to touch the dead because I grew up next door to dead bodies,” she said. “I just found my calling at making dead people look as close as possible as if when they were alive. I feel good whenever a family member is pleased with the finished look.”
She told THE WEEKEND STAR that the job is just as demanding as that of a ‘regular’ stylist as the loved ones of the deceased often have specific requirements.
“Some people will want their loved ones to wear fake eyelashes and so on. There was this woman who wanted her mother’s hair to hot curl. I had to glue in hair, cut it and hot curl. There are persons who want small braids done or just about any style done. I feel good to know that I can make the dead look like they are coming from the salon,” she said. Cummings says she has got some strange requests.
“One of the weirdest requests I have gotten is from persons who will come with the names of their relatives killer’s names on T-shirts or in their shoes. They want them to be buried with the names of their killers on them. I try to please customers the best way I can so I will do it. It doesn’t mean that I believe they will be haunting anyone,” she said.
The mother of one says although she has grown accustomed to attending to murder victims, she cried after seeing the bodies of an elderly woman and her two grandchildren who were murdered in Spanish Town in November 2020.
“The little girl was the same age as my daughter at the time and it was really hard. I cried the day when they came in, all three bodies really rocked me. That one was really hard to deal with,” Cummings said. Unlike some persons, Cummings does not wear a guard ring or carry around a vial with her to ward off any ‘ spirits’. She instead relies on her faith.
“I eat and drink around the dead. There are times when I will be combing their hair and I get thirsty and I pull my drink and take a sip. The only thing is that no life is in the body. I don’t smoke or drink. I have never seen any shadows or anything spooky. I attend church regularly, drink my holy water and use my consecrated olive oil,” she said.