The half-French Solenn has been exposed to the arts since the age of three. Spending a lot of her time in culture-rich European countries, most notably Paris, has influenced her much. But more than that, creativity is really just in her blood, as practically everyone on her father’s side of the family is a painter and on her mother’s side, all are sculptors. This year she has taken her love of art and applied it to another medium: make up.
Earlier this year Solenn took a six-month course at the Fleurimont School in Paris, where she took up basic beauty and fashion make up. After finishing, she pursued further studies at the Make Up For Ever Academy, informally known as the Harvard of make up in the industry. Solenn will be going back to Paris to take up Prosthetics at the Academy.
“I like being creative and having no restrictions, beauty make up will always just be beauty make up,” she explains. “When you get into artistic make up you are free to do anything you want. You can bring imaginary characters to life. It really is like painting on a canvas, although it is more difficult since a canvas is flat, and working with a human canvas has obviously more dimension. You have to work with volumes.”
This course will prepare Solenn for her upcoming role as the instructor for the Artistic course in Maquillage Professionnel, the new make up academy under Make Up For Ever Philippines located in a studio behind the Make Up For Ever Boutique in Bonifacio High St. Here, she teaches alongside Make Up For Ever Philippines’ creative director, the Paris-trained Bobby Carlos. As the instructor for the Artistic course, she hopes to raise the bar in make up for the Philippines: to help Filipinas/Filipinos who are passionate about make up become global players.
“I want my students to understand the difference between make up as an aesthetic everyday indulgence and make up as an art that can be mastered as a professional,” she concludes. “I would like the students to expand their views on make up and be free of the rules of beauty. Beauty is seen differently by everyone and we all need to express to others what beauty is for us.”