Meet Taylor Jay-Reed | Professional Makeup Artist & Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Taylor Jay-Reed and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Taylor, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
In 2015 I became a competitive cheer coach, and they needed someone with artistic skills to paint skulls on the girls faces for the dance team showcase. I never had any intentions on pursuing makeup as a career. I was just being a team player. I am extremely artistic and creative and in my mind makeup is just another painting. I grew an interest into perfecting makeup and began practicing on my face while working from home. It became a sense of therapy, and helps me express my creativity. I have always engaged in creative activities to earn additional income because of my diverse skill set. For example I have earned income for doing hair, hired to paint home and commercial murals, self portraits, decorative party letters, and so much more. One day in 2017 I was scrolling Instagram and came across the Crayon Case Cosmetics preparing for a mega sale. Their brand has a super cool theme where everything looks like school supplies.

The artist in me fell in love and purchased just about everything they had available off the website. The company offers a brand ambassador opportunity for beginner makeup artists to receive PR packages with free products every time they drop new products. I was determined to become a crayon cutie because I was just getting started and had limited income and I needed some products. I did really great at getting noticed and reposted, but never was offered to be a crayon cutie. It didn’t stop me though as I perfected my work covid hit us hard. Being quarantined with absolutely nothing to do led to depression.

My best friend and sister told me one day “Why don’t you just become a makeup artist?” Crazy thing is it never crossed my mind that I could turn the social media comments into clients. I was extremely hesitant to take on their advice because I knew I didn’t have the money to purchase the different shades I would need. One day my best friend brought me a bag of makeup and a makeup cape for my clients with my Instagram name on it and told me “Now you don’t have an excuse.” And immediately after I told everyone on social media that I am not accepting appointments. The introvert in me never would have made that leap into making this a profession without the push and encouragement of my older sister and best friend.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The makeup industry is pretty broad but what sets me apart from the other talented makeup artists is I teach and promote the true beauty behind the brush. A lot of people, men and women use makeup for so many reasons such as manscaping, covering a blemish, hiding hyperpigmentation, etc. Some even look at makeup as an “Adult Thing” but I actually started my makeup journey with children.

During this journey I noticed that there was something about makeup and the bright lights that brought the toughest turtle out its shell. I enjoyed that feeling of being the reason someone can feel so pretty and it motivated me to push inner beauty. I created a Virtual Make-up tutorial teaching makeup techniques for a flawless beat that all ages can follow. I have done many 1 on 1 sessions with kids from age 3 years and up teaching and guiding each client to achieve their makeup goal. During those sessions I am constantly complimenting their natural facial features so they know that there is not anything wrong with their face, the makeup is just an “Enhancement to your natural beauty. “The fact that I focus so much on building my clients confidence while teaching them the main foundations to doing flawless makeup also sets me apart from many artists. Focusing on pushing being kind to your inner self is so important to me because I do have a mood disorder. My Mood Disorder made it extremely hard for me to thrive in the professional world.

As much as I wanted to dive in head first and push myself to be in the right rooms with the right people my anxiety always takes over. I am an introvert in an extroverted profession and sometimes the things that are necessary to thrive can be a little harder for me. I started to lean more on my support system in terms of attempting to create a solution for my social anxiety. The more I attended social media workshops, Ice breakers, conventions etc, I slowly started to learn the tools I needed to be successful in my profession. I used those tools and my creativity to show exactly how fun makeup can be to try to change the negative narrative makeup has. So I linked up with social media influencer Emoni Diamond and her mom and we created very fun photo shoots and they were a hit on social media. The creativity from the makeup all the way down to themes of the shoot had many people ready to book and learn how to do it. I love being a coach and I coach people of all ages how to slay their makeup so they can have the confidence to navigate through life.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
So my best friend is in town and it’s time to hang out.

Day One: So she lands and the first thing we have to do is check into her hotel because she is allergic to my big dog. After she’s all checked in and changed it’s time to eat but nothing heavy because we are going Thrifting so Starbucks Refreshers and smoked turkey sandwiches it is. Whenever we go out of town we love to hit a Goodwill to see what they have. We will go to Final Cut in Martinez Ga to see what goodies they have. The drive will be worth it because when we come back it’s time to eat.My bestie is a seafood head so the first stop is Juicy Crab. I love love love their breaded shrimp, crawfish and cheese cake.

Day Two: We are going sightseeing so I will do her makeup first thing and then we will head down to Krog Street to get some cool photos on the graffiti wall and bridge. Then we will head to PuttShack so I can beat her butt in some mini golf. After mini golf we need to eat again so Touch Down wings it is. I know she would love the Honey Hot and chicken fried rice. The bonus to this is we can take the food back to the hotel because she’s a mom and she has to check in with her family while we look at our photos we took that day.

Day Three: I definitely have to take my bestie to Breakfast at Barneys, because their grits and soul rolls are pretty darn delicious. After breakfast we have to go to the underground and visit Yandy from Love and Hip Hop’s skincare store Yelle Inc & Skincare. That would be a great experience because after we are done shopping at the different stores that are in the underground we could go to Dancing Crepe for dinner before heading back to the hotel.

Day Four: This is a great day to go shopping in Midtown and the first stop is Kilwins in Atlantic Station. They have the best chocolate covered marshmallows. Then we will go to some of the stores there such as Journeys, H&M, IT’Sugar, ect to get some gifts for her family. Then we will head to Bowlero and have a few drinks and get her but kicked in bowling because imma champ.

Day Five: We will start our day by going to breakfast/Brunch at Gotchas Breakfast Bar. The food is so good it’s a great way to get started. Then we will head to Beat The Bomb because me and my bestie do a great job with solving things together so that will be super fun and we are able to grab drinks and food.

Day Six: We have to go to the trap museum so we can take pictures. We grew up listening to that music so it would be pretty nostalgic to get some photos there. Afterwards we can head to Andrettis so we can try to play all the games to win some prizes to take back home to her kids. Then we can kick some butt together in the Virtual reality and the indoor go kart game.

Day Seven: Is the Last day we are going to head to Milk N Honey for some breakfast. I have heard great things about it. After breakfast we will head to the Black Wall Street market. This is something I want her to see because we are both Black Female Entrepreneurs and seeing other women who look like us thriving is great motivation to keep going. While eating lunch we can put together our scrapbook of our trip so we never forget the trip.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My story would never be a story without my support system. I would love to say thank you to my best friend Cashane Vance for giving me the push and acknowledging the talent I have. My Mother, Jenifer Jay who helps me with the mental toll running a business can take on you. Having a mood disorder and being a business owner is the most complicated thing but not impossible. I’d Like to thank my little sister Diamond Jay for always being there anytime I need an on site support system. She goes to many of my appointments to help everything run smoothly. And thank you to my business partner E’Asha Kemp and Emoni Kemp who partnered with me as we broke the internet a few times with our amazing photoshoots. I appreciate my past, future and present clients. They make me better every time I pick up my brush.

Website: www.TaylorJayTheMUA.com

Instagram: @TaylorjaytheMUA

Twitter: @TaylorJayTheMUA

Facebook: Taylor Jay The MUA

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Other: Pinterest: @TaylorJayTheMUA

Image Credits
@ahsaevisions (photographer)