I have to say, I was blown away by this lady, she is incredible at everything she does, right from the red carpets and the runways to photo shoots and to what goes on her in classroom. Not only is she beautiful and smart, but also incredibly warm and down to earth. She empowers her students to be the best they can be and her passion is infectious and easily felt.

I had a chance to sit down with her before I left LA and wanted to share with you a little insight into her world of makeup…

How did you get into a career in makeup?
I got into makeup by accident. When I was a singer/dancer, my mother mentioned that it would be wise to have something else to do while I was striving for my then dream. She told me I was always good with “beauty” and that perhaps I should get into the fashion biz or makeup industry, since I loved it so much. So I thought about it for 2 seconds and went to a makeup school in Hollywood. That was 15 years ago!

What was your first big job?
First big job was grooming Zac Efron for Popstar Magazine.

What is your favourite style of makeup?
Favorite style of makeup I’d say would be the sexy smoky eye whether it be classic black or golden bronze. I love this look along with the luminous glow I create to the skin with my airbrush formula.

Is there a difference in doing makeup on celebrities versus non-celebrities?
The only difference in doing a celeb as opposed to the everyday client is that the celeb will usually have an entourage or at least their PR with them, and they may have a specific idea of what their client (the celeb) needs for the shoot or what the event calls for. Usually though every client trusts my eye and expertise in the end, celeb or non-celeb, and I do what I think is the most beautiful for each individuals face.

What prompted you to offer the 4-day makeup course?
I developed and designed the 4-day intensive makeup course, because I wasn’t happy with the training I initially received early on in my career. I paid a lot of money and spent weeks in makeup school, but graduated without confidence and really felt like I hadn’t learnt much. I never forgot this and so years later it popped into my head that I should open my corporation and develop the Kimberley Bosso 4 day intensive makeup school, which offers personalized instruction so people can lean fast and get out there and work with confidence.

I condense what you’d learn in 4 weeks into 4 days, because makeup is not rocket science… it’s makeup! You need to learn everything possible, as many looks as possible, as many tips and tricks as possible. I teach all of this and then the rest is up to the students to get out there and dedicate themselves to practice, practice, practice and put into action what they’ve learned in the course. It’s a very intensive course , it goes all day, each day and the students leave with a pro certificate, complete confidence and knowing that they are at their best to get out there and start their new career.

When students thank me and tell me they are so happy with what they’ve learned and are excited to start being a makeup artist, it’s the best feeling that I’ve helped someone find their passion and helped them on the path to happiness. My course is exclusive to only 4 students per course and they get certified in both beauty and airbrush makeup. Also in the month of October I’m holding my course in Hawaii for those that want to study and get their makeup certificates in paradise! There will be a bonus day (5th day) on “The fastest way to make your career dreams come to fruition”!

What is your number one makeup tip?
My number one makeup tip is you must perfect the skin and make it flawless and luminous! You can be amazing with applying eye makeup on someone, but if you don’t have the skin down first, e.g. matching undertone, applying foundation evenly, creating a glow, etc… then it doesn’t matter how good the rest of the makeup is. Achieving beautiful skin is a must!! A girl can look polished with great skin and clean brows!

What is your motto?
Motto pertaining to success is: More than your skill is your will! And pertaining to makeup: Less is more

What is your favourite makeup item?
That’s a tough one!! I have SO many from various lines. For skin prep I always use the Dermalogica skincare range, they are just fabulous! A couple of my favorite products are the Skin Perfect Primer to prep the skin and for a day cream I love Dynamic Skin Recovery.

As of late, I love Chanel’s cream shimmer eye shadow pot. It glistens and is oh so sexy! And it’s easily applied with your fingers swiped across the lid. Also Chanel’s Glossimer lip glosses are equally awesome.

I love the line Inglot. Incredible shimmer shadows and blushes as well as amazing smelling lipglosses. Kitten eyeshadow from Stila has remained at the top of my favorites list too. MAC has some classic shadows I love to, as well as their Face and Body foundation… super glowing and fresh and don’t even get me started on Makeup Forever… diamond powder, HD liquid foundation… ok this will take up your whole entire blog!! hahahaha!

What has been the highlight of your career so far? And what has been a low light?
A highlight of my career would be opening my corporation in 2008. It’s expanded my knowledge and business into educating others, writing articles for publications and my beauty book, producing and developing my makeup DVD series and having the freedom to take jobs when I want to hence having more time to spend with my little baby boy Brooklyn Rome! A lowlight part of the business is it sometimes can be a thankless job or dealing with irrational clients. But thank God that’s been few and far between. I’m lucky and grateful that my clientele are beautiful souls.

What is the best part of being a makeup artist and what is the toughest part?
The best part of being a makeup artist is hands down it never gets boring! There’s always a different face, new personality, different location, a different look to create, for a different event! There’s never a dull moment. Also being your own boss, setting your own hours are perks. And the money can be fantastic.

The toughest part is probably as I mentioned above. You can run across some clients with poor self-image and then when you can’t perform surgery on them, they can irrationally take their issues out on the hair and makeup team. Not fair but comes with the “beauty” territory. At that point we let our work history speak for itself. Sometimes you have to let go of control and surrender and know you’re giving your best. Also, starting out in the makeup biz can be trying. You have to pay your dues and give your time and product on sets for no pay to prove yourself. Every artist has to go through that at some point, but it makes you so much better and give you the feeling that you’ve earned your place later on in your career.

You have achieved so much in your career already, what are your goals for further? Any plans for a makeup line perhaps?
My current goal is to finish my beauty/makeup book, and then tackle the Bosso how-to makeup DVD series. Further down the line I’m planning on developing a fabulous product for the skin, which will develop into the BOSSO makeup line.

For more info on Kimberley Bosso’s makeup course, visit her website: http://www.kbosso.com/

WHO.. Aimee and Dan Crane’s Wedding

WHEN.. 14/04/2012

WHERE.. the wedding was held at Dan’s parents garden in Elimbah (at the foot of the Glasshouse Mountains).

THEME.. Overall wedding was to be handmade and relaxed, I wanted everyone to roam and mingle which is why we chose casual seating and cocktail meals. It was in a beautiful setting and I wanted to take advantage of the space so we had it completely outdoors with a structural tent in the middle for the dance floor and some tables for the older guests to sit at. Imagine a 50s garden cocktail party sans flamingoes. I made everything from the decorations to my flowers. The only thing we hired was the marquee, catering and the cake.

MAKEUP LOOK.. I have sensitive skin and don’t like wearing make-up at the best of times, but, I love everything 40s/50s/60s so if it was going to be anything it was going to be that classic mid-century look, with simple eyes and popping lips. (Makeup Artist’s note: I loved the look Aimee wanted to achieve for her wedding day. I chose a bright red lipstick, with no blue pigment in it to give it a more modern feel. I blushed up the cheeks with a pinky rose colour and used a liquid eye liner only on top, keeping the underneath of her eyes bare).

Makeup at the trial and on the wedding day

THE MOST MEMORABLE PART OF THE DAY.. was when Dan made his speech. I have never been so complimented in my life, and his sincerity was overwhelming. Truly very lucky to have him.

THE WORST PART OF THE DAY.. definitely the rain, it was on and off all morning then poured down about 15 minutes before I arrived and then again after the ceremony. Thankfully it held off for the rest of the night.

YOUR ADVICE.. would definitely be to do EXACTLY what you want to do because at the end of the day, this is about you and your husband-to-be. My mother didn’t speak to me for 6 months leading up to my wedding because she disagreed with everything I had organised, only to apologise on the night saying she should have trusted me all along. Do as much yourself (or with the help of friends) as you can, you will save so much money and be proud of the atmosphere you have created. I worked as an interior decorator for 8 years and have decorated many of my friend’s weddings so I knew a few short cuts but enlist in friends with skills, they will be priceless.

There were a lot of stand out products from the range. I loved the Foundation Base Skin Primer ($57), which contains Rosewater, Witch Hazel Extract and Grapefruit Seeds. It is very light and packed with goodness for your skin, but be sure that the primer has absorbed into skin before applying any foundation, as the mineral powder foundation will ‘stick’ to the skin otherwise. You will totally know if you have put the foundation on too early!

Secondly, I also really loved the loose foundation ($59). I think this mineral foundation is SERIOUS competition to all of the other mineral foundation brands out there on the market. You can use it as a dry loose powder or add a little water to your foundation brush and it becomes a liquid foundation!  I really liked the lightness of the product, it was almost as if Amanda wasn’t wearing any foundation at all, yet it gave a nice coverage. Another plus is the SPF 15+ rating!

One other thing that’s quite clever about Adorn is that because it is toxic free you are able to get quite a bit of ‘multi use’ out of their products (this is not really recommend for traditional makeup products due to the possibility of adverse reactions). Their mascara doubles up as a liquid liner (simply use an angle brush to apply). Their eyeshadows also convert to liquid liners, just by adding a little water. I used an eyeshadow as a highlighter and cream blush as a lipstick.

The possibilities are endless!

Here is my little feature..

I also want to mention the absolutely, super talented people I was working with on the shoot.  Milque Photography (THE BEST in Wedding photography) , Little Gray Station (who’s gorgeous founder is on the cover of Queensland Brides at the moment and who can transform the look of your wedding with her style wand). Darb couture designed the dress, Canturi the ring and Normy from Divine Studios put together this beautiful video of Nicky and Shaun…

Tell me about Platform…

Platform is a commercial photographic company that shoots a variety of styles such as: mining, corporate, advertising, and more recently fashion.

What lead you into photography?

My family has a good creative blood line dating way back. From a very young age I have always had this ability to see moments that happen in every day life that I thought would make an awesome photo. The more and more this happened the more I knew it was time to make photography my job.

What is the biggest lesson you have learnt about doing shoots?

Don’t stress out, there is always a solution to a bad situation. Don’t blame the model if the picture is not working – its more often than not the photographers fault.

What was your worst shoot ever?

Taking a photo of Wayne Swan for the cover of the Financial Review. He gave me no more than 1 minute to get the portrait. Wayne and I stooped talking after that shoot.

What was your best shoot ever?

A campaign for Suncorp bank. Not because of the pictures, but because of the 5 day road trip from Brisbane to Cairns drinking coffee, and eating awesome food.

As a photographer, what is your main focus when doing a shoot? the model, the clothes or the technical aspect of photography?

All of the above: pre production is key – having everything planned before I arrive on location. Making sure all the batteries are charged is maybe the most important.

What advice can you give to anyone who is in front of the camera?

Practice, and don’t be nervous.

Where do you get your creative inspiration from?

With my good mate AJ at 3am driving to the coast for a surf, drinking coffee, eating a snickers, talking shop.

What type of shoots do you love shooting the most?

Any shoot were the location, and the model are amazing, and there is no time constraints.

Where do you see yourself and your business in 5 years?

Skipping from country to country pleasing clients, and drinking great coffee.

Do you have any photographer you look up to? or love their style and why?

It would have to be Kalle Gustafson and Coco Productions for their ability to be amazing on every job, and their versatility.

Here is just a sneak peak, more photos to come…