makeup school

Dani Guinsberg founded The Session School, a highly respected school of makeup in the heart of central London in 2008. Dani has been working as a freelance make up artist in the fashion, beauty and advertising industry for over 17 years.

Well respected, well known and highly successful, Dani is a popular figure in the industry. Her work features regularly in British Vogue, Teen Vogue, GQ, Esquire, Stella Magazine, ES Magazine, British Cosmopolitan and British Marie Claire (among others). Dani’s Advertising clients include Marks and Spencer, New Look, John Lewis, Barry M Cosmetics, BHS, Evans, Debenhams and Faith Shoes.

Dani travels all over the world for her career and is an expert in both beauty and location shoots. She also works on many other exciting projects, including Fashion Shows, Portraits & Pop Promos. By running The Session School Dani brings her wealth of talent and experience to the next generation of make up artists. She loves helping others realise their potential – whether it is by wielding her make up brush, or teaching with it! We couldn’t wait to chat to her about how she’s got to where she is now….

“Dani, it’s lovely to talk to you, thank you for taking time out to chat to us. Can you tell us about how you started your career in makeup?”

I began a career in make up around 17 years ago having finished art school. Wondering what to do next, I stumbled upon a short course much like the one we now offer at the Session School. I knew from day one of my course that makeup was for me, and half way through the course one of the teachers recommended I assist her and others at her top London makeup agency. I was very lucky and things just flowed to where I am now.

“So what made you want to set up the Session School?”

A few years back I was thinking about what to do with the wealth of knowledge I had in professional makeup, and I decided to give something back to help others achieve the amazing things I’ve been lucky enough to do career wise. I wanted to create the next generation of top hair and makeup artists, knowing that they have been trained to a very high standard and helping get them all where they deserve to be. That’s why I have set up an extremely good after care system at the Session School.

“You’ve clearly got a real passion to help others make it in the industry. Has it been difficult at any point?”

The hardest obstacle is finding the right people to test with – It is all about hard ground work and finding the right photographers and stylist. These days it is so much easier with the amazing social media we have available. Back in the day it was all about research and networking with the right people!

“So is there anything like a typical day for you?”

I get up around 6am every day to walk my one-year old puppy, Walter the Whippet. If I am working on a photoshoot, I usually jump straight into a taxi, as my makeup kit almost weighs as much as my own body weight! At work I spend around an hour creating a makeup look suited to the client’s brief, and then spend the day keeping the look fresh and immaculate. In between shots I answer all kinds of email related to The Session School and liaising with my team back at the office.

Once back at home I take Walter for another quick walk, usually cook something healthy and have a relaxing bath.

“Sounds like you’re always busy! What do you love most about your career at the moment?”

I love the people involved in the fashion industry. I cannot emphasise enough how many wonderful people there are. Everyone is super creative and amazing ideas are bounced around between us. I also adore the amazing locations that I get to travel to – places that I never dreamed existed!

“We won’t lie, we are a bit jealous! If others want to follow in your footsteps, what would you advise them to do?”

Make sure to find a makeup course that has good reviews or comes highly recommended. It does not have to be a long course, but one that offers all the basics, high teaching standards and has a good aftercare service in place. Make sure you research some of the teachers and that they are still working in the industry. It is really all about building a good portfolio and assisting as many different types of makeup artists as you can to get inspired by different styles. At the end of the day all clients want to see is evidence of beautiful makeup looks you have created.

“Great advice! So tell us, what’s your must have makeup product?”

RMK’S Colourless 0 Face Powder. It is essential for helping set makeup to last all day – especially on photo shoots.

“What’s the best makeup tip you can share with us? We won’t tell!”

Always start with professionally prepped skin. It is so important to understand the skin type you are working with before you apply any cosmetics to the skin. The skin needs to look and feel its best and then your makeup application will be flawless.

“Dani, thank you so much for talking to us, it’s really inspiring to see how you’ve progressed to where you are today, and we’re sure there are lots of future makeup artists who will love hearing how you got there!”

To find out more about Dani, The Session School, the courses they offer and more, visit their website. You can also Tweet them @sessionschool or call on 020 7224 3127.

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We know how many people are considering starting a career in makeup artistry, and we also know how many schools and courses there are out there. So as we love you all, we thought we’d do some of the leg work for you and take a look at a few.

It was a cold and rainy afternoon when we jumped off the tube at Barbican station and paid a visit to the London School of Beauty & Makeup during their November Open Day.

The first thing that we were struck by, was how “normal” and professional the salon looked. There’s no hint that London Esthetique, the salon that is the storefront of the school, is part of a training facility. Modern and well presented, the salon looks exactly like you’d expect from a high-end London salon, with plenty of space and a number of retail stands for brands such as MUA Professional and Murad.

We were shown around by the lovely Marek, who told us that the school has been established since 1995, and its premises have had to grow with their success. Their now on their third location, which is five floors of training and treatment rooms, including the salon, a fully functioning spa and a makeup studio. The idea is that student can become comfortable with working in a professional salon environment whilst they train, so that they are 100% prepared to do it for real once they’ve qualified.

The whole school was incredibly clean, but had a really nice ambiance without any clinical feel that you often get with training facilities and the students were all so smart in their uniforms, you couldn’t tell them apart from their tutors!

We were particularly interested in the makeup courses LSBM offer, as we’re soon hoping to be able to bring you more tutorials. LSBM’s Creative Executive, Laura Hannon, took some time to sit down with us and chat about the school and the work they do training future makeup artists. Laura herself is a successful makeup artist who has had over thirteen years in the industry, working on photographic, fashion and bridal shoots among others. Laura is involved in many of the classes, and ensures that students receive as much practical training as the basics and theory also needed. LSBM say that they strive to help their students find work after they’ve graduated, and Laura and the other tutors often take their students onto shoots with them for some hands-on experience.

After we’d finished chatting, Laura performed a makeup demo to a packed studio to show students an example look. We’ve posted a piece on the finished look and how to recreate it yourself, which you can see here.

Once the demo was complete, we took a little peek at the masses of makeup in the studio, and for us it was like being in Aladdin’s cave! LSBM use many different brands, from MAC to L’Oreal, Illamasqua to Bobbi Brown, and we were pleased to see Laura extolling the importance of hygiene and sticking to the Safe Beauty Association guidelines on dispensing products and cleaning brushes etc.

We really like the variety of different courses that LSBM offer. For aspiring makeup artists like us, there are courses that would fit around most circumstances. They offer full-time, part-time, evening and weekend courses in most beauty and makeup subjects, from beginner all the way up to challenging courses for those already qualified. As well as NVQ’s, the London School of Beauty & Makeup offer students the chance to gain CIDESCO, CIBTAC and BABTAC certificates, as well as a number of other industry recognised qualifications.

During our visit, the staff were really friendly and made us feel so welcome. The facilities are incredibly impressive, and that combined with the large variety of courses makes LSBM a very exciting choice for people who want to break into this competitive industry and have really strong knowledge and experience before they do.

You can find out more about The London School of Beauty & Makeup and the various courses they offer here, you can give them a call on (+44) 20 7776 9767 or why not pop in for a chat?