A MAKE-UP artist has spoken of the challenges that lockdown brought upon her work, life, and the personal project she is working on.

Since starting her career in make-up six years ago, Christine Cooling, 29, of Monmouth, has worked on films, hair campaigns, theatre productions, magazines and even written a series of articles on The History of Make-Up for Vintage Life Magazine.

Prior to working as a freelance make-up artist, she studied psychology and counselling at university and wanted “to help people”.

Within her new project, she wanted to mix the two and set out to visualise the variety of different mental health struggles in a unique way, on other people, using make-up.

“I know what it’s like to feel as though you don’t want to be here, and come out the other side,” she said.

During her time in university Miss Cooling went through what she described as a “mental break” and was put in a psychiatric unit as she was deemed a risk to herself and others.

“It was the lowest point in my entire life,” she added.

“It’s now been a decade since I started being ill. What I went through has given me insight.

“I didn’t think I would live to see 20, so to be sat here 10 years later - I didn’t think it would happen.

“Make-up is a tool to express myself and have an outlet. It’s given me my identity”.

MORE NEWS:

Miss Cooling hopes to bring a new dimension to make-up and creativity by using it to highlight social issues and feels there is a crushing pressure that social media can bring with the “expectation to be perfect”.

“Being different is okay. We don’t all have to look like Kim Kardashian to be accepted,” she said.

“The industry is looked on as shallow. I’m proud to be a makeup artist, but I want to change it and change societies perceptions.

“I want to empower people”.

As she was about to launch her project and put a callout for volunteers, the United Kingdom was put in lockdown due to coronavirus and ultimately her project put on hold.

“Lockdown has been very challenging with my little four-year-old off nursery and I have definitely found my own mental health tested with the anxiety of Covid-19 and different feelings of isolation, worry and loss of identity” she added.

“I know that many friends and people I know have struggled too. My work with weddings completely stopped and most have been postponed until 2021, but it has allowed me a lot of time to reconnect with nature and I’ve really enjoyed going on long walks, going yoga, riding my bike.

“The pandemic has highlighted how important our own wellbeing is and how vital it is to stay healthy mentally too, because during isolation there has been absolutely nowhere to hide or run from problems without our usual external distractions.

“Moving forward, I will continue to work hard and have taken many online courses during lockdown to improve my knowledge and skills.

“I am also looking into setting up a separate part of my business where I can become a motivational speaker and work in education to improve self-esteem, confidence and once again highlight mental illnesses and make them visible.

Miss Cooling is now getting back into work and is looking forward to restarting her project again.