Meet Taylor Maddox | Makeup Artist- Bridal Specialist

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

Hi Taylor, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I’ve called Orange County, California home my whole life. Having spent my most formative years in both Santa Ana and North Tustin, it gave me a unique perspective that I carry today. North Tustin is known as a predominantly wealthy area, whereas Santa Ana is known to be a lower income area. Those two opposite sides of the spectrum also mirrored the economic relationship between my paternal grandparents and my parents, where my parents were low income and grandparents were wealthier. I was fortunate enough to have an upbringing where I did not need to worry about my next meal or whether I would have a place to sleep at night, but that came with a sacrifice. My parents would regularly be working two to three jobs so I would be left with various other loving family members as an infant right until I was around three years old. Once I needed to have more social interaction and stimulation I was put into my first dance classes. From then on it became a huge part of my life at school and after. I was competing in various categories of dance and with that comes costuming, extra classes, full glam, and many long nights. Due to my parents often working long and late hours during the normal work week it meant that weekends were spent running all the errands of the week as well as making time for each of their children and grandchildren. I thankfully had other family members and family friends that were able to take me to school and attend any dance commitments. That, however, meant I very often did not have my mother to help me with things such as my hair and makeup for competitions. Now let me be very clear, I love my mother to death, but while my mother would have done a decent job of doing my hair the makeup would have been quite a different story. I mostly figured out how to do my hair and makeup on my own for these occasions. Once my girl friends and dance mates realized I had a natural talent for it I would be the person everyone went to for dance events, school dances, and other occasions. A couple times I even had friends trust me to trim their hair and I would regularly experiment with my hair. After high school, I moved to Los Angeles and was fully encouraged to go to cosmetology school, the rest is history! I have been grateful to have been in the industry since 2013 professionally! While my parents and myself had to sacrifice time together I am quite lucky to have had the life that has led me to this amazing career.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As a late teens/early 20’s girl starting in the beauty industry in the early 2010’s I found it quite intimidating. I did not have access to as many of the resources that were available to us today. It was just the start of the Youtube beauty blogging queens and kings and my interest back then was editorial photoshoots and magazine shoots. I found I could not find relatable, professional content from the beauty bloggers I adored on Youtube. When I did meet other fellow makeup artists out in the field or online I found there was more gatekeeping and negative interactions than what I encounter now. I would say having to figure out things like how to start building a kit, insurance, contracts, etc was difficult because it was not spoken about from artist to artist as it is now. I personally had to learn much about those things through trial and error and some helpful co-workers found along the way. It makes me happy to see the beauty industry being so welcoming and helpful to our new artists. I love sharing with artists I meet and even my clients.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would have to say you need to check out Crystal Cove State park for some great hiking trails and views but make sure to read the signs or you’ll accidently end up on a 6 hour long hike. Spend some time at one of the many gorgeous beaches in Laguna Beach. Check out a sunset or sunrise, if you’re an early riser, at the Wedge in Newport Beach. Make sure to stop by South Coast Plaza if you want to get some shopping time in with many options. Grab some breakfast at the Orange Circle or my personal favorite, Original Pancake House in Orange. Get yourself lunch at Rutabegorz and finish with dinner at Mama D’s.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would have to give my shoutout to my parents. They have always encouraged my career path every step of the way. I am grateful to have had such supporting parents in that way.

Instagram: taylordmakeup_

Image Credits
Joseph Rivera, Janet Wheeland, Emily Magers, Alex and Jana