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SPOTLIGHT on Sheri Vegas Founder of Makeup Weapons
Firstly Congratulations Makeup Weapons won best independent makeup brand at the Australian Makeup Industry Awards. An Award LAUD Magazine very proudly sponsored? How did it feel to see all your hard be recognized by your industry?
This was a dream of mine. I had been a finalist for makeup artist of the year for 5 long years, so I’m so happy that this year was finally my year and I won two categories. It’s amazing to see your hard work recognized by the top people in the industry …the people I have spent years looking up to.SPOTLIGHT – Sheri Vegas – Founder of Makeup Weapons
Makeup Weapons is a range of luxury and cruelty-free makeup brushes and tools. Behind the Brand is the incredible Sheri Vegas.
Sheri Vegas is one of Australia’s most sought-after beauty industry experts. Sheri Vegas is a fresh and innovative make-up artist/ beauty therapist that is in constant demand from the film, photographic and bridal industries. Sheri and the Makeup Weapons Brand are multi award industry winners.
Sheri is not only personally a beautiful, talented person, She has Developed The makeup weapons brand to reflect her own ethos.
LAUD Spoke to Sheri recently about MAKEUP WEAPONS.
Interview by EMMA KIRK
Firstly Congratulations Makeup Weapons won best independent makeup brand at the Australian Makeup Industry Awards. An Award LAUD Magazine very proudly sponsored? How did it feel to see all your hard be recognized by your industry?
This was a dream of mine. I had been a finalist for makeup artist of the year for 5 long years, so I’m so happy that this year was finally my year and I won two categories. It’s amazing to see your hard work recognized by the top people in the industry …the people I have spent years looking up to. Its also always overwhelming to me when these icons in the industry love my brushes. At last year’s beauty expo Rachel Montgomery walked past and said I” I love these brushes” I can’t even describe what that means to me.
What is your background, what inspired you to create Makeup Weapons?
My background is I have been a makeup artist since 2009. I love what I do, to me it isn’t really work. I still love nothing better than doing an editorial shoot. I started makeup weapons because when I realized the process involved with making the real hair artist quality makeup brushes that were on the market. I realized I wasn’t comfortable using them, I wanted to make quality brushes for the professional artist that were ethically produced and cruelty free.
Tell me about Makeup Weapons Brand? how long was the process from conception to going to Market?
It took me 3 long and tedious years, from having the idea to finally producing the product. I didn’t want to just put my name on someone else’s designs, so I did everything from the idea, the concept drawings and development to raising the capital to start. I also had a challenge finding synthetic hair that was good enough for artist quality brushes, so this took me some time in development. The other stumbling block was the wood used. I wanted to use something sustainable, so it took some convincing that sustainable bamboo was the right path as this wasn’t normally used. The other clear difference is that I wanted actual copper (it’s a lot stronger) and double crimping used not painted aluminum with one crimp, so I had a bit of trial and error getting a manufacturer who could accommodate the change and also understood the reasoning behind it.
From where you have been in this process, looking back, what advise can you give to aspiring Entrepreneurs?
I would advise any up and coming makeup artist to enter competitions and give time to do charity makeup work, this is what really helped me gain recognition and mentoring in the early days. I did a charity parade and met Becca Gilmartin who really has really helped me to gain an understanding of the industry. Rae Morris was also very encouraging at the beauty expo when I won a Fantasy award. The industry is full of great artists who freely give their time to help new artists find their way. I think also going overseas was great for my career I won a makeup scholarship when I had been an artist for about 3 years and got to spend a year in London. This was a real turning point for my career and helped me with my confidence and I was able to do really cool things like work on London Fashion Week. On returning I was signed to an agency here, so this was great for it enabled me to do a lot more editorial work. As far as starting as an entrepreneur understand you won’t have enough money … whatever you think you need you will need more. Don’t give up…develop your own product., don’t just put your name on someone else’s. But most importantly understand it will take time and effort. Develop a product that has a unique point of difference
What sets Makeup Weapon Brushes apart? As an Awards winning Makeup Artist, what were the Not Negotiable features you had to have whilst designing Makeup Weapon Brushes?
It is the quality and usability without a doubt. I am passionate about animals and cruelty free is very important to me, so all my products are. I will never ever bring out a product that isn’t. I also wanted professional brushes that my peers would love using, I wasn’t at all interested in doing what was already on the market in the form of the cheaper synthetic hair. The brush bomb soap I developed as a way to not use chemicals to clean my own brushes, the bonus is it also cleans brushes way better. The bio glitter as a way to not litter the earth with plastic and it is also nicer to use on the face. I really try for all my products to be useful in some way and something not already in the marketplace.
Where is Makeup Weapon Brushes Available ?
We have stockists Australia wide for those that want to touch and feel and have just landed our first American stockist, so America is our next big push. They are also available online at our website. www.makeupweapons.com.au
What is next for the Makeup Weapons Brand?
The push to America is big on our agenda in the next year and I am currently sourcing more Australian stockists
And What is next for you Sheri?
I am currently in a creative stage and I have a lot of creative shoots planned for the coming months. I’m just about to head overseas to London for some makeup work and then I’ll be working on the new idea I have for another product that hasn’t yet been put on the market by anyone. I’m also still in the process of building my new artists agency “Luxe” which is designed to help other artists gain quality work.
Making a difference by supporting the communities for Sheri is incredibly important. For each Makeup Weapons brush sold 50 cents is donated to charity. These Charities include Wildlife Warriors, The Australia Marine Conservation Society and White Ribbon and can be selected by the customer when purchasing a Makeup Weapons makeup brushes.
Follow in Instagram @makeup_weapons @sherivegas_mua
View more Beauté Stories https://laudmagazine.com.au/project/sheri-vegas-makeup-weapons/
www.makeupweapons.com.au
www.sherivegas.com.au '
