New Blog!

So, I've started up this blog for a number of reasons, and would really like to hear from anyone who is in or has been in a similar situation and how they're dealing with it. Basically, a year ago I made one of the biggest decisions of my life, which was to quit my job to do a makeup course. This was a huge risk as my partner's job was coming to the end of it's contract and the economy in Ireland has been so bad (as I'm sure many people already know), plus the course cost quite a lot of money, so we potentially were going to be in a bad situation if it didn't work out. I got support from my family and friends, I think my mam was especially happy as she always wanted me to go to college and knew I couldn't stick dead-end retail jobs forever (I was especially unhappy in the job I was in at the time). So I went into the course, worked hard, learned a lot, made some friends, got good results and ended up with a diploma in makeup artistry and a cert as a beauty specialist, which I'm quite proud of!


Well, moving on, to say that this last year has been the most eventful of my life is an understatement! After I finished the course I looked for makeup-related jobs and even did a tiny bit of freelance work in my hometown; this didn't go very well as I didn't drive so it wasn't easy to get around, and I didn't have a massive makeup kit (although the case I had was too heavy to carry for more than about 5 or 10 minutes walking), plus as I said, things aren't so great in Ireland so getting your makeup done was a luxury most people couldn't afford. Also, my partner's contract wasn't renewed (which is what we were afraid of but didn't think it'd actually happen!) so were both basically jobless, and life was very tough for a while (not as tough as some people have it, but tough for us, who never had to worry about money before). Then, things just totally changed. My partner, who works in the food science industry and had been looking for jobs nonstop, was offered a job in the UK, which he took.


In the space of about 3 weeks, he had the interview, was offered the job and moved over to the UK ahead of me. We knew that it would be hard to leave our families behind but it definitely was the right thing for us to do. We were apart for 3 months, with just 2 short visits in between, and it was one of the toughest things our relationship has ever gone through. I had to stay behind to sort a few things out, like the house we lived in and getting our things over to the UK. But eventually it passed and in early September I arrived! So that's just a bit of the back story, I don't want to go on about it too much, it just explains how I came to be living in the UK and I hope it explains why I feel the need to start blogging.


So one of the reasons I came here too was because I knew I'd find it much easier to find a job in the makeup industry, and I knew the best place for me to start would be on makeup counters. I know some people may not agree with that but as I explained, freelance didn't work so well for me at the time and I think I'll learn a lot working on a counter. I am trained but I don't think you can ever learn everything there is to know about makeup, techniques and products are changing all the time. But finding a job has not been as easy for me as I thought it would be, I've had a few reality checks. I have had an interview recently but that's all I'm saying about it for now because I don't want to jinx it!


I suppose then, in light of everything I said so far, why I want to blog is, first of all, I know virtually nobody in the UK, and while my partner goes to work, I spend my days job-hunting, watching makeup tutorials, reading blogs and other related things. So I pretty much have nobody to talk about makeup with! My partner tries but he's a man (not saying all men aren't interested in makeup, obviously there are some well known male makeup artists), he wants to watch football and play the playstation! So I'm hoping I'll find some people to chat about it with and also it's just another way for me to vent about it! Another reason is, I think it'll be a more useful, constructive way for me to fill my time.


I know this blog entry is very long but it's my first and I just wanted to give a bit of background, they won't all be this long! The blog itself will be mostly makeup and beauty related, whether that's to do with my new venture into the makeup industry or whether it's product reviews or anything else along those lines. I think I'll also talk a little bit about my new life in the UK too, and what goes on in my day to day life or if anything exciting happens!! I hope to learn a few things so I'm happy to hear any suggestions anyone has (about anything!), and maybe I can give advice to someone who needs it if I've had a problem similar to theirs or whatever, speaking from my own experiences.


So I'll leave it at that for now! Thanks for reading!


Suzie