going green When makeup artist Cathy Tolpigin swapped her kit for clean, green and sustainable only products, she was taking what would become the first of many giant leaps toward a more eco-conscious career. The Green Edit founder reveals to Hannah Gay how Earthloving brands are finding their footing amongst the pros.
Cathy, you’re a makeup artist by trade. Give us a brief run-down on how you got started, and how long you’ve been in the industry. “My creative career spans over 20 years, having studied fashion at The University of Technology, Sydney. I graduated in 2000 and worked as a fashion stylist in television. I later studied Advertising Media in 2007 whilst working in creative services for a busy boutique branding agency. Personally, I love the power of makeup and the ritual of skincare to nourish and enhance, so I studied Makeup Artistry in 2014 when my kids were young, as I was looking for flexible working hours. Since then I have worked as a freelance makeup artist on fashion, advertising and beauty shoots for many brands. I also work with brand founders to create bespoke imagery and content, managing all aspects of shoot production including concept, storyboarding, styling, sourcing the perfect studio or location, photographer and videographer, model casting and, of course, creating a glowing makeup look for models on the day of the shoot. This is where all of my experience working in the industry has come together.
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My passion is bringing brands to life and working with brand founders who share the same values when it comes to natural, ethical, sustainable and crueltyfree beauty.” You specialise in the use of organic and natural brands. Tell us what prompted you to work with organic makeup only? “Whilst completing my makeup diploma we were advised to purchase what were considered to be the high performance, luxury mainstream brands as we were told these were the only brands that work in a professional capacity and that clients would want to see these brands in our professional kit. So, I stocked up on these products initially and used them on my clients. At the time, I was on a personal health journey and through my research it became apparent that these beauty products had questionable ingredients in them and many were not cruelty-free, so it just didn’t sit well with me. I was also asked by my clients to recommend beauty products I used in my kit and I didn’t feel good about recommending these products either. So I invested a lot of time and funds to test and try natural products in order to curate a professional kit I could trust and felt great about using.”
