Today we’d like to introduce you to Madeline Rouge.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After I graduated high school here in Miami, I rebelliously moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina at 17. The plan was always to become a Veterinarian. The UBA (Universidad de Buenos Aires) was free so I was learning Spanish as quickly as I could and taking random art classes to kill time and be forced into environments where I could only speak Spanish. I took pottery, photography, drawing classes, photoshop, etc., until one day, my Aunt said she knew a guy who gave sFX (Special Effects) makeup classes from his studio. I was hooked; body casting, molds, carving prosthetics, applying them, painting them, making contraptions that squirt blood, studying bruises, wounds, and diseases. I’m not sure how good I was at it but… It was awesome!
My professor recommended I take some beauty makeup courses, “Because if you know how to perfect a face, you will understand how to break it down better” So I did. I studied three levels of makeup with Brandt y Maculan, two incredible makeup artists known for painting one model at the same time. They would each do one side of the face and then one of them would do the lips. They did (and still do) a lot of the major magazine covers in Latin America. They would bring me to assist them on their jobs.
At this point, I was still set on doing sFX makeup, so I applied to The School of Professional Makeup in Toronto, Canada, and was accepted into their master’s program. After five years of living in Buenos Aires, I moved to Toronto alone, it was my first time ever in Canada. I didn’t even have a place to stay, but I found my way and a really amazing group of friends. The program was amazing. It was half sFX and half beauty makeup. Even though I wanted to do special effects, my professors would send me off on jobs that were beauty or fashion-focused. They would set up test shoots for me with fashion photographers and send my peers off to the sFX jobs.
So, I took their not-so-subtle advice and shot with tons of photographers that were also building their portfolios. It led to other opportunities and jobs and better and better photographers and better opportunities. I didn’t have a work visa for Canada and this Miami girl was COLD, so I moved back home after two years. I’ve been back in Miami for some time and for a while, I had jobs that were unrelated to makeup, like dog grooming, personal assisting, managing a spa and working as an esthetician and microblading eyebrows.
I never stopped doing makeup. It took a while to network and build my portfolio to a place where people would take me and my work seriously. It did not happen overnight. I invested a lot of time in people and also wasted a lot of time. Finally, about three years ago took the leap and decided to quit my other jobs and freelance full-time. I am very fortunate for the photographers that gave me chances, the major magazine publications that my work has been in and the amazing clients I have the opportunity to work with often and major opportunities like a Lexus/Vogue shoot and most recently, an actual Guess Campaign.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was not a smooth road! I thought of changing careers plenty of times. No one took me seriously when I came back to Miami. I sent out hundreds of unanswered emails asking for consideration or a chance. When you are in your 20s and say “I’m a makeup artist” people always respond with things like “oh! my daughter loves makeup too.”
It was really photographer Megane Claire who gave me a chance about six years ago after we were introduced by my amazing hairstylist friend, Emily Malin. Her work is amazing, so my portfolio improved greatly. Megane was also the one who finally convinced me to start posting my work on Instagram. That started the momentum. Like many artists, I get imposter syndrome. I take my work personally. If I have a bad shoot, it tears me up inside. I want people to be happy with how they look and feel good.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a freelance makeup artist. Ideally, I would work mostly in the fashion and beauty world, but Miami is a secondary market, so I end up working in advertising, commercials, tv, e-commerce, productions, music videos, and photoshoots of all sorts. Every day is different! Pretty much anything but bridal/weddings.
I am a licensed esthetician as well as a makeup artist, so my very thorough skin prep and massage before I put on makeup is what I think is my personal strength. I have a less is more approach. I want to see freckles, I want to see skin. I want it to be and look healthy and radiant and not feel heavy. I always try to leave the person’s skin better than I found it. But I am more known for the eye-catching editorial work I post on Instagram. Natural makeup doesn’t get much attention online but throw some extra makeup on in an image and people gravitate towards it and remember it.
I’m proud of how I work very sanitarily. Some of my products look worn, but mostly that due to me deep cleaning my kit every night between jobs. The models never share brushes, I never apply from the tube; instead use disposables for mascaras and lip products, and I never dip directly into cream products but put everything on a sanitized stainless steel palette that I work off of. Honestly, while many artists were learning these techniques for the first time, I didn’t really need to change much up during Covid.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
It’s Miami, so I’m stuck in traffic a lot, so I listen to a lot of podcasts – I especially enjoy Fatmascara, Chemist Confessions, and The Business of Fashion. I try to attend a lot of trade shows like The Makeup Show and IMATS and take a lot of classes and private sessions with artists I respect to keep me up to date and not get caught in my ways and stale.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@madelinerouge.com
- Website: www.MadelineRouge.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/madelinerouge
Image Credits
Male model freckles / harpers bazaar beauty shot / flame eye and ear liner – Alberto Gonzalez (IG – @Ag0nzphoto Guess campaigns/redhead velvet /Red lips with ysl lipstick/ dark skin model in bikini – Megane Claire @meganeclaire redhead on pink – Ian jacobs @ianjacobsphotography cosmopolitan – Matt Pluz @mattpluz
