I Began Experimenting With Makeup When I Was 14, Now I Use It To Create These Dark Characters

Let me introduce myself first. My name is Joyce Spakman, and I am a professional make-up artist and a self-taught stylist.

I began experimenting with makeup when I was 14 years old. It all started with some small designs and doodles on my arm. I didn't even know make-up education existed but when I was in high school one of my teachers told me about it and I immediately knew what I wanted to do in the future.

When I was 18 years old I started a theatre make-up studies in Amsterdam that took 3 years. These were the best 3 years of my life! I loved working with make-up every day and every year I noticed a big progress in my own make-up works.

At that time, I also started working on my handmade headdresses and Miss G Designs was a great inspiration for me. At school, I wanted to complete my characters with some cool styling. So I started with headdresses from cheap materials that would still look good on camera. I really liked the creativity involved and the more I did it, the more I wanted to experiment with it.

On my third year of studies, I started organizing workshops: first, make-up workshops, and later - headdress workshops as well.

Fast forward 12 years I work as a freelance make-up artist. I love working at events and festivals. I also have a lot of masterclasses and workshops here in the Netherlands. Now I have my own workshop space and some people call me a hoarder because of the number of materials I have. I spend hours on eBay (I think a lot of people can relate!). The one thing I still love doing the most is creating the whole character, from styling to make-up. Although, these kinds of projects could take up to 2 months.

All the pictures below show my designs created from scratch. I really hope you like my work.

Some of these pieces are available for buying at my Etsy shop. I also make custom items.

More info: Instagram | Etsy