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Made up about their award

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TWO West Clare sisters proved their decision to start their own business four years ago was the right one when they scooped a major national prize at the Beauty Industry Trade Event held in the RDS.

Caroline Tubridy and Gemma Keane from Keane For Beauty with model Basma Lemaabdi.  Photograph by Declan MonaghanGemma Keane and her sister Caroline Tubridy from Kilmaley both trained at Foxhall College in Limerick as beauticians before doing courses with Mac in London and Dublin. They knew they wanted to do something special, but at first they weren’t sure what.
Caroline recalls, “We started doing wedding fairs and we realised there was a huge market out there for mobile beauticians to go to the bride’s house on the morning of the wedding,” and that is exactly what the two decided to do.
Gemma and Caroline have been travelling around the county for the past four years visiting women on what is meant to be the happiest day of their lives. So have they found it tense?
“It is not a bit stressful. It is more relaxed for us to go to them rather than having them coming to us. The bride is very relaxed. She gets her hair done then we come and do the make-up and she can stay in the house and it is made very easy for her and very relaxing,” explains Caroline.
Although the Keane sisters have been regular visitors to the annual beauty industry trade event, this was their first year taking part.
“We have been there every year and the competition is something that we really wanted to do and last year, we said we would definitely do it, so this year we just went for it,” Caroline outlines.
Although there are lots of categories in the competition, Gemma and Caroline concentrated on their area of expertise, bridal make-up.
“Obviously, we had to put a look together and that took quite a lot of work but we had a backroom team who were very helpful. We got the dress from a designer in Cork and we decided our theme would be ‘vintage bride’. We had to source a model. We did a lot of trials on the make-up to see which look was the best. I also had to practise doing hair a lot because it is not something I am used to but I got help with that and managed on the day,” Caroline recalls.
The Keane for Beauty duo had two hours to achieve the look on the day.
“The dress was very Victorian with lots of lace. We went for very subtle make-up with a flawless complexion with light foundation with antique gold iridescent eyes with brown overtones. We finished the look off with lashes and liner. The blusher was a peach colour with pale lips. We used all Mac products because we find it has the good pigment and the colour is very accurate,” she continues.
The girls were placed third in the competition, which featured participants from all over the country.
“I was very happy with the finished look because the competition was very strong. It was our first time entering and I couldn’t be sure we would even get placed. We were up against professional make-up artists so even though I was very happy with the look, I was still nervous,” recalls Caroline. “We were thrilled with the result because to get placed was a huge achievement on our first time entering the competition. Entering is great but to get placed was an even better experience. It was a great endorsement of the business. It puts us up there with the best,” she adds.
Caroline and Gemma love their work and believe that getting it right can be as simple as just listening to the bride and remembering that often less is more.
“You don’t have to put on a lot of make-up for it to last all day. I think the key to bridal make-up is less is more, enhancing the features of the bride and making her look flawless.
“The biggest mistake is that the artist doesn’t listen to the bride and they put on too much make-up and the bride doesn’t feel like herself. That is the biggest mistake. It is better to go for a prettier flawless look,” Caroline believes.
Though both she and Gemma are delighted with being placed in such a prestigious competition, they are already aiming higher hoping for a win next year and possibly an international accolade down the line.

 

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