In conversation with the founder of Half Magic

Can you tell us about your career running up to starting Half Magic?

I have a background in visual art and went to art school at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. I graduated with a BFA in Photography, thinking that would be the way to monetise my creativity, but I ultimately didn’t see a path forward working in commercial digital photography because I so missed drawing and painting. 

A year or so after graduating, my friend’s mum had the best solution – be a film and TV makeup artist, because that way, I would get to merge my love for painting and drawing with the storytelling aspect that drew me to photography.

To get started, I took a ‘crash course’ in makeup artistry for film and TV. Instead of enrolling in a year-long programme at an official makeup school, I opted to take a private and shorter course with an established makeup artist, Jane Galli. I totally think enrolling in a makeup school is an amazing investment if you’re serious about a career as a makeup artist. For me at the time, I didn’t know if I was!

I started my career by answering makeup ads on Craigslist and doing hundreds of very small jobs. I learned a lot of techniques through trial and error on the job, rather than in a makeup school classroom, which is why I don’t always approach makeup in the same way as traditionally trained artists. 

As I completed more and more jobs, I would always update my website portfolio and add stronger pics of my work to it. I would consistently get rid of my “weakest” pics of my work, so that a new prospective employer would be looking at my best and freshest batch of work. 

The more jobs I did, the more jobs I would get hired on, and I started working on so many short films that they eventually lead to my first ever feature length film, which was the Academy Award-winning film, Moonlight. Under the Silverlake was the first movie where I got to experiment with fun playful looks and that film is why I was brought in for an interview with Sam Levinson for my position on Euphoria.

What are your responsibilities as the founder of Half Magic? 

I’m fortunate to have been able to surround myself with an incredibly talented team, which lets me focus on the things I do best – dream up the most incredible makeup products possible (and oftentimes seemingly impossible products that my team somehow manages to turn into reality) and set the creative vision for the brand.

As a founder, I’m also a key voice and teacher for the brand, so I take on a lot of our educational videos and tutorials, with the goal of showing people easy ways to use our products and experiment with their makeup. I’m really excited to take this educational part further, and show the world how easy it is to add a little magic to their everyday looks.

How did you manage to create a niche within the beauty space that resonates with Gen Z? 

I think the reason #euphoriamakeup became so popular is because the show bridges the gap between fantastical makeup and everyday life. I think people were used to seeing bold, colourful, and glittering makeup on the runway or in fashion but not on TV. Seeing these looks on a group of relatable TV characters who were not lit for “beauty”, but who were instead portraying real life scenarios and really “living” in these makeup looks helped redefine this kind of makeup as accessible and totally wearable. That really resonates with Gen Z.

How did you start the company and when did you finally decide it was time to bring in investors?

I was able to start Half Magic because my A24 and Euphoria family invested in me to co-found the brand. We wanted the ability to create, shape, and establish the brand independently before bringing in investors, who will help fuel the next stage of growth.

What advice would you give to other female creatives and entrepreneurs? 

To make sure you have a super strong ‘why’ to your brand, and to stay connected and always in service to that ‘why’ – why did you create your brand and why is it important that it exists? There’s so many start-ups now, and your brand will need to break through layers and layers of clutter in order to be successful. 

I’m learning so much and I hardly consider myself someone to be able to give proper advice at this point, but this sentiment of ‘why’ is my guiding light.

What’s next for Half Magic – anything new planned for 2023?

We’ll be available at a major retailer later this year, so I’m super excited to see what happens when more people discover and fall in love with Half Magic!