every month I have pinch-myself moments.
I was in Elton John's house once and all the Friends cast were on the floor dancing and I thought, "This is hilarious, we're here doing makeup and this is work?" There was another time when we did the makeup for Elton's stag party - I was making up really amazing singers into drag queens. It was hilarious.
I am very spoiled because I forget it's a magical world. I've worked with Kate Moss so many times. I bumped into her backstage at a fashion show this season and she ran up to me and gave me a kiss and a cuddle. All the Revlon team were like: "Oh my God, Kate Moss just ran up to you."
You forget that something like that isn't normal. It's quite a weird thing for someone else to see.
I worked for makeup brand Mac for 10 years and spent eight years travelling the world as part of their pro team - I was at New York, London, Milan, Paris fashion weeks every six months - that was a bit of an adventure.
A year and a half ago I left Mac and became my own boss. I'm based in London but I'm in Paris every other week. I'm shooting non-stop and doing my own shows. It feels like a nice time to be doing my own thing.
How I became a makeup artist is a funny story. When I was 17 I was asked to be a hair model - one of those things when they give you a crazy haircut and take your photo. There was a makeup artist there and I was kind of taken aback - I didn't even know this world existed. I thought: "What, this is what you do for a job?"
Where I grew up, in Dumfries, you were a doctor or a dentist or a hairdresser and that was it.
At the time I was at Glasgow University doing a philosophy degree. I lasted six months. It was fate that I met that makeup artist. I looked into the job and there wasn't a course in Scotland so I had to go to London.
I quit my degree. My parents thought I was mad. I had to work all day in a shop on Oxford Street to pay for my studies at night. I remember having my 18th birthday in London and thinking: "Oh my God, what have I done?"
After that I learned my craft in Glasgow on the Mac counter doing people's makeup day in and day out. After two years, just before my 21st birthday, I got promoted and moved to London to become a senior artist and part of the pro team.
I'm used to living my life at a million miles per hour and I'm not afraid of hard work. The only challenge is for years I missed friends' events. My best friend's birthday is in the middle of Milan fashion week and I would always be working.
This year she turned 30, and because I'm self-employed now I thought, "No, I'm going to leave Milan out." Her birthday was more important.
Visit lynseyalexandermakeup.com.
Elizabeth McMeekin
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