DIARY directory recently caught up with make-up artist, influencer and Director of Global Artistry for Morphe, Nicole Faulkner aka Lipsticknick.

You were recently named Director of Global Artistry for Morphe, you’ve taught at Make-up Designery and have even been on your own US make-up tour, where did it all start?

I went straight to make-up school after high school and at the time there was no Instagram, if you were going to be a professional make-up artist you were going to work on TV shows and movies, so once I graduated that’s what I did. I also worked on photoshoots and found that I really enjoyed that more. A lot of film and television like make-up that’s very natural, whereas my style is very crazy and creative, and I felt I could really express myself in those photoshoots but not really on the TV sets. So that's where everything took off for me, I started doing more photoshoots and working for MAC Cosmetics and in that time, Instagram popped up and was a major game changer because it was easier to get my work out there.

It was whilst working at MAC that I met clients that ending up growing me – I met Jeffree Star there, he came in one day and I could feel him looking at me and I was such a huge fan. We ended up talking and he said that he loved my make-up and asked if I would do his, so we exchanged numbers and it turned out we lived close to each other so started hanging out. Around that time, I also met a lot of socialites around LA and started working with a lot more celebrity clients; I was working at Playboy mansion parties and I really felt like I had my foot in the door

What's an average day like for you?

There’s no such thing as an average day for me, I’ve been with Morphe permanently since May and they keep me so busy! I travel so much with them as we have so many store openings and, prior to those, I train all of the staff and work on the product campaign shoots. In between all of that, I also work with Jeffree Star Cosmetics and a few other brands so every week there's something different or I’m on a plane. This year I’ve pretty much been on a plane once a week, so it’s been really busy, but I can’t complain, I love it!

What do you think was your big break moment?

There wasn’t one thing, there are so many things that led up to now but one thing that stood out to me this year was being nominated for my second Emmy for my work on Ru Paul's Drag Race. It was so cool to go to the Emmys and be surrounded by the best of the best and see my name up there!

Every year there’s been a major event that has propelled me, but I really value the little goals. We all have big goals, but the little landmarks are so important.

As a social influencer, Instagram is a major platform for you – do you have a schedule? Do you think about what you post?

I try not to post super late at night but sometimes I do and it gets really great engagement. The content I post expresses my personality, I don’t just want to be an influencer for make-up looks, I want people to look at me for different reasons, whether it’s clothing inspiration or just a good work ethic. I now try to infuse a lot more of my personality whereas before I would just post up close make-up shots and, whilst that was cool, as I’m evolving I don’t want to put all of my eggs into one basket!

Your collaborations seem authentic - is this something you're very aware to convey to your audience?

I just don’t try that hard, if I’m posting about something, it’s because I like it – I don’t really do brand deals like that because there is that level of fakeness to it that I don’t really like. If it’s a brand I use anyway then I’m like, I love this and I can get behind this message and am down to post it. I just kind of put it out there and I don’t overthink it, I think that’s when people stumble and it gets weird when you’re overthinking it. If I like a brand and they want to work with me that’s cool, I just try to keep it as authentic as I can.

How do you feel about being labelled an influencer?  

I feel fine about it, I think as long as you feel strongly about what you’re influencing that's all that matters! When I think on a broad scale of what I want to promote, it’s body positivity, it’s self-love, it’s artistry, it’s the fact that you can be fierce and be nice so when someone refers to me as an influencer, I’m super humbled by that and really grateful because that means I’m doing something right.

Any PR pet peeves?  

No, as a working make-up artist I love free products and I want to try everything so I’m just grateful for any PR especially because I'm not a super crazy poster or unboxer! The fact that PRs send items to me saying they just want me to have them in my kit and don't expect me to do all these things means a lot to me – it shows me after all of these years of hard work, people just want me to have their items in my kit. 

You’ve worked with brands including MAC Cosmetics and Beauty Blender, how do your brand collaborations come about?  

I’ve worked on campaigns with brands where they just reach out to me to do the make-up and on those types of collaborations, they just email me or DM me. It's really what they think I’m a right fit for, or if they have a client that requests me. I got a manager two years ago and she handles all those types of interactions.

Listed in DIARY directory in the make-up artist section, Nicole is one of over 900 make-up artists that PRs could work with. Subscribers can sort all sections according to social media following across Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. See our previous DIARY Influencers here!