By Jelena Djurkic
As a Canadian immigrant, my entire extended family lives elsewhere and I’m only just reaching the age at which my friends are getting engaged. So you can imagine my excitement when I got word I was invited to my friend’s sister’s wedding. I was finally going to a wedding. Minutes after I opened the invitation, I was already thinking about what I was going to wear, where I was going to buy it, and what my makeup would look like.
Luckily for me, it was around that time I first spoke to Susan Kirsch; she invited me to her studio to do my makeup for the wedding. Naturally of course, I jumped at the chance. It’s not often that a girl gets to have a true professional mold her face. As a 21-year-old who still doesn’t have the hang of doing her own makeup —pathetic, I know— I was excited to see her.
So on an early Saturday morning, I entered Kirsch Makeup Studio. Light and airy inside, I was greeted by Kirsch. Having chatted with her a few weeks prior, she was everything I thought she would be: confident and relaxed. Before we got started, I told her two things: I wanted to play up my eyes and that I trusted her.
Her new makeup line, Pandora’s Makeup Box, lay sprawled on the table in front of us; deep pigments and lovely shades greeted my eyes, a minty lip gloss smothered my lips. I was in heaven.
In a market that is oversaturated with products, I wondered why a makeup artist would start her own line. But for Kirsch, it was part of an organic evolution: she wanted to create a line that suited her and her client’s needs. The products are heavily pigmented to give great coverage and are all of professional quality. But what really sets the line apart is her attention to detail. Her products are eco-friendly and have minimal packaging. Any boxes used have a plastic-free cutout window through which you can see the shade of the product. Any cardboard used is composed of recyclable materials and printed with soy ink.
It’s also fun. Tired of black makeup packaging, she decided to make hers bright, with a purple and green motif. There are over 100 colours of shadows and blushes in the line, designed for various skin tones. The line is currently sold online.
Kirsch first got into makeup after graduating from the business retail and marketing program at Ryerson University in Toronto. She went to work, opening her studio in 1985. She specializes in wedding makeup, doing over 200 weddings a year. But makeup, she says, is beyond putting products on people’s faces. She considers herself an artist.
“Makeup artistry is an art form,” said Kirsch. “I’m trying to suit that particular person.”
She told me of a time a young makeup artist asked her for advice on doing a client's makeup. “I asked her, ‘do you see (the makeup) finished?’” It’s an important question, says Kirsch, who feels that part of being a makeup artist is being able to look at someone and see what colours and products would work, based on their skin tone, eye colour, and the shape of their face.
“You have to have that image in your head. You have to have an inherent makeup [ability] that makes you an artist,” said Kirsch. “That’s something I can’t teach someone.”
Kirsch also specializes in camouflage and paramedical makeup. She got into it while offering her services to plastic surgeons who worked with burn patients or those with skin disorders, teaching them how to apply makeup. Kirsch has also been a volunteer for Team Leader for Look Good Feel Better, an organization helping women with cancer, for over 16 years.
Recently, she was working at a wedding when a client mentioned that she had a 10 year old niece who was going through chemotherapy. The little girl had lost her hair and eyebrows. Kirsch stepped up to the plate and created realistic looking eyebrows for her. The young girl was overjoyed and her mother began to cry. It’s moments like this that are the reason why Kirsch loves her job.
“I never did anything for that dollar. That’s not my stimulus,” said Kirsch. “I want to be creative and help others.” She certainly helped me navigate my first wedding ever, rosy cheeks and all.