A former Darlington College fine art student has been talent-spotted by a global make-up label. Before she jets off to LA, she talks to Ian Lamming about her artform

IT MAY have started with a naked Barbie, a tin of grey paint and a shoebox, but a Yorkshire make-up blogger’s imagination and passion for art has led her to Los Angeles.

Former Darlington College fine art student Sophie Peach admits to being a little bit offended when her primary school teachers sniggered at her first attempt at staging a fashion shoot with monochrome Barbie and a cardboard catwalk. Undeterred she is now breaking into the scene globally after picking up an international award.

She flies off to LA at the end of the summer to collect a £10,000 prize, meet other make-up contest winners from around the world and be at the centre of a glittering award ceremony as she becomes this year’s ‘NYX face of Halloween’.

NYX Cosmetics, a subsidiary of L'Oréal, was founded in Los Angeles by Toni Ko in 1999. Named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night, by 2014 the company was selling products in 70 countries with yearly sales of $93m. Every year it stages a global talent competition, The Face Awards, to spot the very best make-up artists and develop them for the future.

“I kept seeing the Face Awards on the internet so looked into it,” recalls Sophie, 19, of Catterick Garrison, who left Darlington College with the top award of D*D*D* BTEC Level 3 extended diploma in fine art. “I saw that it was only one day to the deadline so I chucked a design together with face paint, using my face as a blank canvas, shot a tutorial on the look and got through to the last 20. More than 2,000 people had entered in this country, including people who had been blogging for years who had thousands of followers.”

The next round was ‘animal kingdom glam’ and Sophie used NYX products she had been sent and Worbla thermoplastic to fashion a beak, with spectacular results and a top 10 placing. Round three saw her using mixed base to produce ‘punk extravaganza”, which was considered by three judges and a public vote.

“One of the competitors has 58,000 followers whereas I only have 4,400, but we were allowed to campaign and my make-up video had 13,000 views,” she says. “I made the top five and was invited to London to meet the NYX team and talk about my ideas.”

The final brief was the most difficult because it was so broad. “We could do any look,” says Sophie. “I just sat in front of the mirror and slapped it on, but I am very fussy. It took me from waking up to going to bed to come up with a design I was happy with. I also had to make a video of the process which I was pleased with.

“There was a lot of meaning behind it. The triangle in the middle represents natural beauty and what is around this is the extreme. It reflects my personality; normal on the inside with an explosive imagination. But I also had to be able to recreate it in just three hours in the London final. I have only been doing this for about a year so when I won the UK final I was so shocked, particularly as I knew the people I was up against. I wasn’t doing it for the money, but to promote my work and get my name out there.”

Her success came as no surprise to her Darlington College tutor Donna Slyfield. “Sophie is staggeringly talented and thoroughly deserves this success,” she says. “When she came to college she wasn’t overly confident, but flourished in her time with us. She remains humble as ever and everyone at college is incredibly proud of her achievements and excited to see where this NYX opportunity takes her. Her success is inspiring our current cohort of art students by showing them just what can be achieved if you have passion and commitment and are prepared to pursue your dreams.”

Sophie adds: “I loved art as a child and it was always the thing I turned to. I enjoyed the fine art work I put on canvas, particularly the attention to detail, but it did frustrate me that it took so long to complete. That’s why I started using my face and it became a cool obsession.

“I do feel sad washing it off, but at least I have photographed it and that becomes the work of art which can be framed. Now I take this seriously and see my future in it. I also create outfits, female warriors, in my signature green and can’t wait to see what opportunities LA throws up so I can take my artform around the world.

“I want to be the best at what I do and known for my designs, not to be famous as such, but because I am so passionate about my art, which, to me, shows that it is ok to be different as long as it makes you happy.”

  • Sophie’s work can be seen at facebook.com/GothSpectrum, instagram.com/goth_spectrum, or youtube.com/channel/UCpmAa4xD8CsDIn7KpDCuYJg