A young Swansea makeup artist has worked on a national photoshoot for The Body Shop with the cosmetics guru for superstars Kate Moss, Cameron Diaz and Claudia Schiffer.
Alex Hough, 25, who works at The Body Shop in Swansea’s Quadrant Shopping Centre, worked with makeup maestro Chase Aston on the campaign which will go live later this month.
She was one of just six make-up artists from all over the UK selected for the campaign to promote The Body Shop’s hottest new products for summer 2014.
Alex, who was recommended for the role by her manager at the Quadrant, Rose Evans, did the make up for Libby Wall, of Liverpool, one of the young models featured in the shoot.
The resulting images will feature in a major advertising campaign including posters displayed at The Body Shop stores – including the Quadrant Centre – all around Britain from May 21.
Alex has to wait until then to find out exactly which of the images will be used from the large selection of photographs taken of Libby and so is as eager as anyone to get a first glimpse.
She said: “It’s so exciting. I can’t wait to see them; to think I actually worked on a national campaign like this, it’s incredible.
“We had some training from Chase which was fantastic and then we were able to create the individual looks for models we worked on.
“There was a festival theme for the style of makeup I did on Libby, a bronzed, vibrant but very fresh, summery sort of look.”
Alex, a student, works part time at the Quadrant centre branch of The Body Shop and has been there for six years, starting as a Christmas temp, going on to become a colour coach and then makeup artist for the store.
Now she trains her fellow staff to achieve stunning looks using The Body Shop’s unique range of cosmetics and she is the store’s top makeover consultant for customers.
She was nominated to work on the day-long photo shoot at London-based Lantern Studios, by Rosie, who has been very impressed by Alex’s artistry and her ability to adapt her makeup style to different customer’s needs.
Rosie said: “We work with Alex all the time so we know what a brilliant makeup artist she is and that’s why I was so keen to nominate her and it was no surprise to me that she was chosen.
“She is very talented and is also very sensible and a very bright girl and I’m sure she has a bright future in the business.”
Alex was among dozens of nominees but Rosie’s faith in her paid off when Alex made it to the final shortlist and became one of just six skilled beauticians chosen to work on the campaign to promote The Body Shop’s new Insta-blur range.
Alex would love to one day be a top makeup artist working on the sets of blockbuster movies and she said: “That would be a dream come true though competition is tough and I’d be incredibly lucky to go that far.”
But busy Alex has plenty of get up and go and combines her part-time job at The Body Shop with taking a professional makeup course at Swansea’s Gower College.
On top of that the forward-thinking young student, who has already graduated from Swansea University with a degree in business and accounting, is also studying for a Masters in Financial Services Management at the University of Glamorgan in Cardiff.
She said: “Finance and make up might sound world’s apart but I’ve always been something of a bookworm and I’m really interested in how businesses are run.
“It was great working on the photo shoot not just for the makeup but it has also helped develop my understanding of big company marketing campaigns.”
Her masters degree course involves her completing paid work placements at four different companies, her current one being with Atradius, in Cardiff.
Alex, who is single, said: “It’s nice to have lots of variety in my life, although with so many things on the go I don’t get much spare time.
“I suppose there are two sides to me. I’m quite academic by nature, which is why I wanted to go on to do my masters, but then I’m a bit girlie, too,” she laughed. “That’s why I love the make up so much!”
A former pupil of Olchfa High School, Alex was brought up in Swansea, where she still lives in Killay with parents, Vivienne and David. She has younger sister, Jordan, who is a hairdresser.
Ian Kirkpatrick, Manager of the Quadrant Shopping Centre, said: “We do have some very talented people working here at the Quadrant and Alex is clearly one of them and is destined to go places.
“It shows what a high quality shopping destination Swansea is and the part the Quadrant Centre plays in that.”
