MUD Grad Profile: Kata Baron

“When I put make-up on someone, I want them to feel beautiful, or see themselves in a new way.”

Every day Kata Baron sells make-up, teaches make-up techniques and does makeovers, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She graduated from Make-Up Designory (MUD) in January 2009, after completing Beauty and Character Make-Up, Studio Hairstyling and Portfolio courses at MUD’s Burbank campus. Today she works as a Color Consultant for Sephora, and travels from her home base in New Mexico to St. Louis, MO and Salt Lake City, UT to participate in trainings for leading national retail brands like Smashbox, Make Up For Ever, Benefit Cosmetics, Dior and Laura Mercier.

Kata enjoys the hands-on work she does in retail, saying, “We just did a huge Bare Escentuals event; it was such a good experience. We had eleven artists and booked over 300 people for makeovers back to back for nine hours. It was brutal, but it made me realize that I am meant to do this.” She augments her work at Sephora with freelance assignments, doing make-up for weddings and photo shoots in New Mexico and Los Angeles.

She credits the training and insights she received at MUD as key in developing her confidence as an artist, saying, “I feel blessed that I was able to attend MUD. There have been a few situations where I felt prepared because of what I learned at MUD. Being able to have one-on-one conversations with teachers from all different backgrounds of the industry was like getting pearls of wisdom. After graduating, I felt I had an upper hand, because I was able to learn a lot of lessons through their experiences.” This confidence served her well on a particular assignment, which she describes as a turning point in her career: “I did a shoot with a photographer who wasn’t very professional, and tried to put me down the entire time. From that experience, I learned my worth, and to stand up for myself. I [realized] I had to gain confidence after that photo shoot…it has been my favorite experience so far.”

Kata draws inspiration and gets new ideas from experimenting with make-up on her friends, styling for photo shoots, and looking at the faces of the people she comes into contact with over the course of everyday life. “I get ideas from the most random objects or people,” she says, adding: “Make-up elaborates people’s beauty, it should be used to express and transform, not cover up or disguise.” She has also created an “inspiration wall” in her room, which she uses to collect make-up looks that she likes. Her advice to aspiring artists is to find a job that involves perfecting their craft every day. She adds, “Granted, life is expensive, I am currently working four jobs, including my freelancing….Make-up artistry is my passion, and something that I love. You have to believe in yourself, and push for what you want.”