Have you tried out Special Effects makeup yet? Meet Lisa Sonia, a makeup specialist who blends art in beauty

Have you ever dreamt of looking like a ghost, zombie, alien, or get an artificial broken bone, wounds, bruises or anything through makeup art? We bring you a solution.

Meet Lisa Sonia, an artistic beautician behind Lisa Faces as she takes us through her journey in the beauty industry, and hopefully you can be inspired or learn something from her experience.

Qn. How long have you been in this business?

Ans: Actively it is two years, plus the year I spent trying to master the art. It’s coming to three years now.

Qn: How did you join this business?

Ans: I joined the makeup business in my form six vacation. But from my senior one, I used to do makeup on my fellows during interact meetings, parties, till when I decided to take it serious.

I never had anything when I decided to venture in this business, I remember, I visited a friend of mine who had relatives in the USA, they used to send her eye pencils, foundation and other beauty stuff, so when I went to her place she was like ‘Lisa you like these things, why don’t you take them’, that’s how started to practice seriously.

Qn: Who or where did you draw the makeup inspiration from?

Ans: There is no one in particular, it’s just my love for art. I studied art when I was still in school and I am so passionate about it. Another thing is that I want to look good and beautiful as a person,so that’s how makeup came in.

Qn: Being a big fan of makeup, what comment do you have for girls who don’t do makeup, claiming it’s for time wasters and slay queens?

Ans: I think it should be a must for girls to look good, it doesn’t necessary mean that you should apply everything, but you can go for a simple foundation and lipstick or lip gross rather than being so basic. I actually don’t like girls who don’t look good when makeup is quit affordable.

Qn: There are many makeup artists, what makes you different from others?

Ans: When I was just starting, I wanted to do beauty makeup but because of my dying love for art, I felt the urge of creating and trying out many things, this is how I started to do special effects makeup. Special effects is good, impressive, unique and artistic.

Qn: Special effects makeup! What is it or how does it look like?

Ans: This makeup is mainly done in movies or photo shoots, it’s like putting something to reality for example making someone to look like a zombie, having a broken bone, bruised skin, accidents, and wounds among other stuff.

Qn: Eeh, that seems to be costly, how much do you charge for that service?

Ans: Yes it is a bit costly, but the amount charged sometimes depends on the kind of special effect to be used, the number of people to work on, number of working days, and the film script its self that the producer gives me.

Qn: What challenges do you find in doing such makeup arts?

Ans: The materials we use are very hard to get, like the real material we are supposed to use are very hard to get so we have to play around with what we can get, which are sometimes not good for the skin especially on people with allergies. We sometimes use paint, DYS, just to bring out a particular effect. But generally it comes out good and interesting to people who love art.

Qn: Tell us about the people or projects you have ever worked on?

Ans: I can’t give out names of some projects since they are not yet out, but for people, I have worked with Jose Chameleone, Stella Nante, Josephine Kabakuma, Samuel Kizito, and Larry King among others. I have also worked with Kids Fashion Runway in Kigali (2019), Kakuli Foundation +Size models (2019) .

Qn: It’s not easy to get into professional business especially working on celebrities, how did you manage?

Ans: I have a friend who recommended me, she is very close to film makers so it wasn’t that hard.

Qn: But where did you learn all this or who taught you?

Ans: I didn’t go to school for this, I just started by practicing on my little siblings, giving them these weird looks and watching tutorials to master the art. I used to tell church programmers to advertise my work for anyone interested in makeup services for parties, wedding, birthday, and graduation among others , though I wasn’t so confident about the level of my professionalism, I knew it was another step for me to take.

Qn: Beside makeup, what else do you do?

Am: Am a student, I am currently perusing a Diploma in Information and Technology in Business at Uganda Institute of Information and Communication in Technology (UICT), and I am graduating this year in May.

Qn: How do you find working while studying?

Ans: My school timetable favors me a lot because I study in the morning and get the rest of the day for work.

Qn: Are your parents happy for you that you’re juggling books with work?

Ans: Makeup is paying my tuition now. My parents are not into it so much and they didn’t even think that I would take makeup seriously.

Qn: it seems makeup is really paying! But how do you deal with the competition?

Ans: The competition is there and it’s so much since makeup is an idea that someone can get easily or learn, but one can still get some simple money out of it which is good.

Qn: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Ans: A successful beautician in special effects makeup, and an inspiration to many up and coming beauticians.

Qn: Any last words for the up and coming makeup artistes!

Ans: Yes – Don’t wait to have everything to start, you can also use the little you can afford to startup something, don’t be afraid of the beginning.

You can follow Lisa on Instagram: @lisafaces00, Twitter: @LisaFaces, Facebook: Lisa Face, Gmail: lisasonia34@gmail.com or contact her on +256-771953725.