Photo Karen Graham.
Marie Stevens provides a variety of beauty treatments in her new home studio, designed to make her customers look and feel beautiful, including eyelash extensions and semi-permanent brow treatments.
Marie has always had style. Tall and striking, she can slip her hair into a pony tail, don a pair of big sunglasses and a sun hat and look like she belongs on a fashion cover. Now she is building a home business using her skills to make others look good, too, and they are grateful for her help.
At first, Marie applied her style instincts with retailers for the home in Millbrook and Port Hope, but an invitation by local photographer and friend Christine Hannah was her first foray into making women look good for a living. It was fun, she was good at it, and she could exercise some control over her work life. As a mother of two young children, the idea held a lot of appeal.
Operating out of a stylish new studio in her home located at 628 County Road 10 south of Millbrook, Marie now offers makeup applications for special events, with a focus on wedding parties. She explains that bridal make up is one of the most difficult styles to do well, as brides are the focus of attention in person as well as in the photos, requiring a flawless look that can overcome the many challenges those big days present.
Her most popular service is eyelash extensions. After a variety of training with different organizations, including the Canadian Beauty College, LashExt and Borboleta Beauty, as well as specific courses with world class lash artist Frankie Widdows, Marie is a highly skilled Lash Technician. She applies eyelash extensions with an emphasis on length, volume or a combination of the two, with extensive client consultations to ensure each service will be tailored to her customer’s specific eye shape, facial features, and individual preferences. The process requires patience, as an initial application process takes roughly 2 hours. In each classic session, a single eyelash extension is bonded to a single natural lash using medical grade adhesive. A more extensive Russian Volume technique involves using tweezers and building a fan shape with three to six ultra-fine extensions which is then bonded to a single lash, increasing the number of lashes from three to six times. With all lash extensions, as natural lashes mature and fall out, extensions do too, so this service requires briefer infill applications every two to three weeks to maintain the look.
Marie loves to learn and she is serious about doing things right. She is a member of the National Association of Lash Artists which mandates a significant list of procedural guidelines including approved adhesives, lash application and utensil sterilization techniques and a personal code of conduct. She is currently developing a complete Manual as part of the requirements to earn her certification from this organization. Remembering how ill- prepared she felt after completing her brief eyelash technician course, she intends to offer a type of master class course for other lash technicians to provide them with more detailed help, tips to solve common issues and generally raise the bar for the service in the area. She sees that as a win-win.
One of her newest service addition is for the eyebrow and is called Microblading. It is a form of semi-permanent cosmetic tattooing that fills gaps, defines, reconstructs and fills in over-plucked brows. It is a two-step process with an initial appointment followed by a following touch-up 6-8 weeks later. The process is more superficial than a traditional tattoo, which makes the result look more realistic but also means that touch-ups will be required to maintain the look every 1-2 years. She also offers traditional brow services to develop brows that frame the face and enhance the customer’s natural features.
Marie’s services can make you look good for a single day or much longer. For more information, visit www.mariestevensmakeupartistry.ca or call 705-761-7509. KG
