Juan Lopez Alvarez and Jeff Euen-Gow talk about importance of skill behind make-up
Make up plays an integral part in everyone's life. It can form and deform an identity with the stroke of a brush, and the make-up artists at Seventa Makeup Academy know exactly how long the stroke should be.
In a conversation with Juan Lopez Alvarez and Jeff Euen-Gow the founders of Seventa Makeup Academy, Meaww came to know about the aspirations and the anxiety which is invested in developing an identity through make-up.
Please tell us more about Juan and yourself, as the founders of Seventa, what are your aspirations for the business, tell us more about your own experiences and what led you to start Seventa.
Jeff: Seventa Makeup Academy is dedicated to transferring its passion for beauty and professional make-up to those interested in developing a career using makeup expertise. Whether aiming to be a professional freelance artist, retail artist, or just because you want to have a professional artistry skill, we can help build the package of skills you need to achieve top of your game success. We started Seventa Makeup Academy to inspire, develop and support personal growth and to equip makeup artists with skills for success. Seventa Makeup Academy’s Education Director, Juan Lopez Alvarez, has over 20 years’ experience working with some of the world’s top cosmetic brands and has shared his knowledge and expertise as a teacher with some of the biggest beauty brands and training academies in the world.
Starting his career in a top Spanish training academy, Juan quickly grew to supporting the founder and developing successful courses before coming to the UK to manage teams and deliver growth at counters with top makeup artist brands. Being part of the early momentum of the revolutionary Charlotte Tilbury artistry range, he was promoted to support skill development and business growth, helping create and deliver training programmes in this ground-breaking beauty company. Having developed his own loyal client list, Juan understands personal service and has poured his multi-layered experience into his own educational venture by founding the Seventa Makeup Academy. Skilled in color and application, Juan understands the customer and the business and knows how to develop would-be artists to their greatest potential.
Without listing the celebrities can you please tell us of any weird or funny moments with celebrities while doing make-up?
Juan: Red Carpet entrances are so important as the whole World can be watching… and judging… So, everything is going well with this make-up and the client was putting on her shoes, nearly ready to walk out of the door. As she placed her foot into her shoes one of the high heels broke and just collapsed to the floor along with her in it. OK, so what do we do, ‘I have another pair’ she said and then she frowned, ‘what’s wrong’ I said… ‘my other pair are open toed and I haven’t had my nails done and I need to walk out of this door in less than 10 minutes.’
My head starts spinning, what can I do? “I’ve got it, the solution”, I said. I went back to my make-up case, pulled out a palette of body and face painting aqua-colors and told her to choose a color, she looked at me like I was mad crazy. ‘It will work’, I promised her…She chose the color, I painted her nails with the aqua color and then sealed it with Spirit Gum which is like a liquid glue that we use in make-up for sticking on beards and wigs. She was so delighted and ran out the door just in time for her grand red-carpet entrance, freshly painted toes and all.
What do you and Juan see for the future of make-up artists in retail - do emphasize on the program here, and how the program shall revolutionize the industry.
Jeff: The make-up industry has boomed over recent years becoming one of the fastest growing categories with growth projected to continue to increase. Beauty is an emotionally led category with beauty purchasers buying to look good and feel confident. With the rise of the digital shopping experience continuing to grow year on year it is critical that the make-up artistry interaction and customer experience is expert-led, personalized and engaging.
The skills required by a retail artist are much wider than just artistry talent. The Seventa Makeup Academy’s Retail Make-up Artist Course programme has been developed with this in mind. It allows candidates to learn the make-up skills they need, but also understand the role and the interpersonal skills that lead to a successful customer experience, driving sales and brand connection. The artist must be able to listen and chat comfortably to the customer, advise personally and link sell-through service to deliver business results.
Anything more you would like people to know about Seventa and the outcome of the courses you'll offer?
More than ever today, the world of bricks and mortar retail is challenging. Success lies in brands which deliver great experiences, consistent outstanding personalized service and expertise. It’s not just about how a customer wants to look, but how she wants to feel and developing this empathy to achieve a more connected and successful customer relationship is the ultimate goal. Brands need to offer a consistent outstanding physical experience and finding the staff who can deliver that has never been easy.
Seventa Make-up Academy aims to fill that gap through the Retail Makeup Artist Course Programme equipping new entrants to retail artistry to be successful from day one and achieve a return on the brand investment in them. Students will walk away from the Course Programme feeling prepared, confident and powerful; ready to take the next step in getting their dream job with their favourite beauty brands and be successful in delivering results, thereby enabling them to quickly shine and also have a stronger opportunity to develop their aspirations further and grow within a Brand or Company.