Complections welcomes students from around the world, offering them the opportunity to study with and meet new colleagues and instructors. Australian Cassie Sobel enrolled in the six-month Comprehensive Program after learning about the school from an ad in Make-up Artist magazine, and is now signed with talent agency Reload (www.reloadagency.com). Her work has appeared in ads for Coca Cola and MasterCard, editorials and music videos. Cassie came to Complections after studying make-up in Australia because “(she) loved the idea of concentrating on one facet of make-up for a few weeks at a time, with one specialized teacher. Not many schools work like that, and it was amazing to have those weeks to learn with someone who had been in the industry for so many years and who had so much knowledge.” One such knowledgeable source was fashion instructor Alex Borovoy, who “didn’t just teach us about how to do makeup, but also how to deal with clients and tricky situations. I could have done the six-week fashion section over and over for the whole six months!” Cassie says.
While admitting to being homesick, the school’s warm, social atmosphere helped Cassie grow both personally and professionally. “I found it quite hard sometimes as I was an international student… but I learned so much and I came away a stronger make-up artist, and a stronger person.” Since graduating, Cassie has flown to exotic locations for shoots (one of her favourite jobs so far was a music video in Vanuatu – “It was a lot of hard work and 4AM starts, but so amazing to think I could travel to such a beautiful island destination for work!”) She has also had many opportunities come her way thanks to her agency, which she joined because “(she) was excited by the prospect of being part of a boutique agency that had the time and resources to guide myself and my career in the right direction.” Cassie hopes to continue working in fashion and beauty, doing editorial and eventually collaborating with designers on runway shows. “I love traveling,” she says, “and so I would love to travel and work in New York and Paris and London.”
Cassie’s passion and hard work has helped her achieve great success since graduating, and her advice to students and alumni would be to “to practice and practice, (and) to pull out beautiful references from magazines and start filing them away for when you need inspiration. I have a mood board in my bedroom, and when I find new work that I love I pin it up, and change it randomly or seasonally.” She also stresses the importance of networking – “assist as many hair and make-up artists as you can, that way you will learn how everyone does everything and you can fine-tune your own style.” Although she’s only been working in the industry for just over two years, Cassie’s experiences speak for themselves as the kind of wonderful opportunities a fashion make-up artist can have.
