FROM KITCHEN START TO BEST IN WALES TITLE
Beautician’s wedding win
AHUMBLE beautician who started out by painting faces in her kitchen has been crowned the best wedding makeup and hair specialist in Wales. Prettybow Makeup and Holistics was recently crowned the best in the country at the Welsh Wedding Awards 2022.
The business is owned by Carly Clark, 35, who lives and works in Brecon.
Having left school at 16, Carly always knew she wanted to work in the beauty industry and went to college to study beauty therapy.
“We covered makeup, but it was very old-fashioned looking back,” she said. “I would say I’m self-taught.
“From the age of eight I knew I wanted to be a makeup artist – I would cut out pictures from magazines and stick them in a scrap book. After working in beauty salons I was always more drawn to makeup and in 2018 I went self-employed, and haven’t looked back since.”
Carly initially started out working in her kitchen as she couldn’t find a room to rent at first. She eventually found a space at Beaunique in Brecon, and now she says she has the “best work friends and clients”.
In the last few years Carly has had a lot of success, and it’s been overwhelming for the woman who started out doing people’s makeup in her little kitchen.
Carly said: “I have won six awards in five years. Looking back feels crazy to me. This recent hair and makeup specialist of the year 2022 was incredibly rewarding after such a tough two years in the pandemic – being self-employed, and seeing the beauty industry and wedding industry hit hard.
“Last year the wedding industry had to fit two years’ worth of weddings into one year. It was tough, so this award feels like it was worth the early-morning alarms and travelling around Wales.”
In terms of what’s the best part about her job, Carly said she loves seeing her clients come back to her over the years.
She has done people’s makeup for their proms and then she sees them grow up, have children and still return to have their makeup done. This sense of client loyalty, for Carly, is priceless.
Carly said: “Not only do you need to be good at your job – a lot of the time clients come to see you as you are likeable, friendly and down to earth.
“I have a calm and relaxed approach. You will never see me stressed, even if I am inside. During the pandemic I started offering makeup lessons through my Instagram, and ended up growing my page to 15.7k followers.
“My goal is to go down the teaching route, and offer lessons for other artists wishing to update their skills and those wanting a career in makeup artistry.
“There are so many people doing this job you can often get overlooked. I really want to be good at my job.
“I learn constantly – my brain is always thinking of ideas. Being recognised for my work just makes me feel like everything I’ve done has been worth the hard work behind the scenes and the worry of the pandemic and stress of money.
“Work hard and get rewarded, I’ve always reminded myself.”
So, after being dubbed the best in Wales, what are Carly’s top tips?
Well, when it comes to day-to-day beauty, she offered the following advice: Find out which skin tone you are and look at your veins. If they are blue/purple, you are cool toned/have pink undertones. If you have green veins, you have warm tones and if you have a mix of both you are said to be neutral toned. Once you know this you will always be able to choose the perfect lip colour and the perfect shade of foundation. Carly said she also loves to use a nude liner on the waterline to really open up the eyes.
“You must try it,” she said. Carly added: “I just want to thank my clients and past brides for voting for me.
“I am so lucky to share special moments of the wedding morning with brides and their families.”