About Me.

My name is Aimee Topham and I have had a passion for make-up from a young age. I always enjoyed messing around with blushes and lipsticks and eye shadows and remember getting my first make-up pallet as a 9 year old. It was just a barbie one but I carried it around with me everywhere!
As I grew older I used make-up more and more, starting off with your Maybelline Creme Matte Mousses and Mascaras that came in magazines as every teenage girl does. As I got to my mid to late teens I discovered Mac. From then on my skills as an artist began to develop and I began learning new techniques and styles. I experimented with colours and shades a lot more and began following and searching for other artists for inspiration and tutorials in order to improve myself. I did my first job as a make-up artist at 16 when I was asked to help with the make-up at my school performances after gushing to my art teacher about wanting to do make-up in films and television. It was a performance of We Will Rock You and I enjoyed every minute of it! I loved having someone sat in my chair as I made them up to be the character they were playing. Although it was just a small school performance with mainly parents and students as the audience it still felt like such an achievement to do and I felt extremely proud of the outcome. Unfortunately any pictures have long since been lost. From then on I began practicing on friends and family on a regular basis with my hairdresser and long term friend being one of my biggest fans and always asking me to do the makeup for any of her clients or models that she was doing shoots with. To this day she still continues to use me for anything she does and supports me in everything I do.

After my GCSEs I knew I wanted to go into makeup but decided to go to sixth form and get my A-Levels before I went on to do so. I Started at Marlborough Science Academy Sixth Form (also my secondary school) doing Art, Photography and Business Studies. Unfortunately, I stayed just for a year and although enjoying the subjects a lot, I found it difficult in the environment I was in to be inspired or motivated to continue. I had multiple fallings out with my art teacher over 'creative differences'. I wanted to capture the beauty and uniqueness of tattoos and body art, whereas my art teacher decided that it wasn't art and wanted me to do portraits of old women. Due to this I ended up leaving after my exams, achieving passes in Art and Photography at AS level. Once I'd left I looked for make-up courses at the colleges in Hertfordshire but unfortunately only found Hair and Beauty courses which I wasn't interested in and had only heard bad things about. I decided to pursue a second interest of mine which is animals and zoo keeping.

I started at Oaklands College in September 2014 doing Level 3 Animal Management. At first I really enjoyed the course, it wasn't very practical but the times we did get to spend with the animals were very interesting and rewarding. I particularly enjoyed working in the 'exotics' department with the reptiles and amphibians, This inspires me in a lot of my make-up and art work today and I love incorporating colours and textures that I saw within the animals into styles and looks.

From this I have found a love for body painting. I think as my model as a blank canvas on which I can create a piece of artwork rather than just a make-up look. Body painting and fantasy make-up are definitely fields in which I want to go into once I have completed the course!

Half way through the year at Oaklands College, I was made aware of West Thames College and the courses they had on offer. At first I only knew about the Level 3 course but already the standard was so much higher than anything I'd come across. I decided to go to the open evening in February of this year to find out some more information on the course. Whilst I was at the open evening I then found myself in the talk about the HND course. I was absolutely captivated and so determined to try get onto the course although with no make-up back ground I didnt think this would be possible. I spoke to Denise after the talk and asked her if with my qualifications it would be possible for me to apply. She said yes.
I applied to both the Level 3 and the HND as I didn't want to miss out on a chance of going to such a good college no matter the course. I first had my interview at the Level 3 and was accepted straight away which I was extremely pleased about! Then I had my interview with the HND, I was quite late to apply due to not knowing about the course until the last minute so my interview was one of the last in april. I had Branka and Denise interviewing me which I found quite nerve-racking but also very exciting.
Once my interview was over and I found out I was accepted onto the HND I was so happy! Especially because I had seen the standard of work from previous students and knew I had a lot of work to put in to reach that level. I began practicing almost every day, trying to improve my skills, learn little tricks and I watched so many tutorials my head hurt! I was so determined to excel in this course.

These are some of the first looks I did on myself and other people. I started working a bit more on actual make-up skills rather than body/face painting as I knew this is where I was lacking a little bit. I still continue to practice on people and myself at any spare moment I can, attempting new looks and different styles and techniques.

A huge inspiration for me whilst doing all my research and learning was Mykie. She is a self taught make-up artist from Los Angeles and is probably my favourite make-up artist due to her versatile, extravagant and detailed looks.

I am looking forward to getting into the course and learning so many new skills. I am very excited to learn bodypainting in year two and really be able to get into my looks and get creative with the design.





References
All photos credited to Aimee Topham.