Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaie Saunders.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am 24 years old and everyone calls me ‘Kay’. I’ve been doing makeup on myself since about the 6th grade. I have always been a pretty artistic person. I liked to draw and paint, especially on my Barbie’s faces when I was younger so when I got my first makeup kit in middle school for a dance recital it kind of came naturally to me. After the first time, I actually got to put real makeup on my face I became obsessed instantly. Then after a while, I started doing my close friend’s makeup at school, nothing too fancy just a little eyeliner or eyeshadow in the hallways. but I think that was the start of my real love for makeup. A few years later when I turned 17, I started an internship at a local beauty salon called The Powder Room and there I learned everything I needed to know about makeup like products and applications and it’s where I got the name Kay. The owner helped me get my first couple of clients, clients that I am blessed to still have to this day. After my internship was over, I started doing makeup out of my mom’s house full-time. Offering $20 full faces just to bring in clients, taking as many pictures as I could and posting them on social media every day until I went from 3 clients a week to 20 clients a week. I used to put all of my energy and spare time into learning new techniques and practicing on myself or forcing my sister to be my model so I can give all my clients and future clients the best version of Kay and a flawless face.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road to get to where I am now hasn’t been as smooth as I thought it was going to be when I first became a makeup artist. In the beginning, it was really hard to gain new clients and some of the techniques I learned in my internship weren’t as easy to do on other people as they were on myself and that caused me to get a little discouraged about my work and my potential. I ended up taking a little break from makeup to go work a normal 9-5 just to support myself and my family. But in 2019 when my oldest daughter got sick and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy she needed 24-7 care. I quit my job to take care of her by myself without nursing because I was so scared to leave her with anyone else. Every day while I was home taking care of my daughter I would do my own makeup to occupy my time and ease my mind then I would take a picture and post it to social media. That’s when a lot of people really started to look at my work and actually like it and share it. I started get a lot more bookings. People wanted me to travel to them for prom, weddings and groups of girls. I would have at least 6 faces every weekend and that was really big for me. From that year on I started gaining more and more clients, meeting girls I’ve never met before and I even got the chance to do a celebrity’s makeup when she visited my city. That’s still crazy to me to this day! I was so nervous but excited my talent could even reach further than Beaufort, South Carolina.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a makeup artist. I specialize in makeup application. What I do is take the most basic makeup products you can find, give them a high-end feel and appearance and help turn my clients into living dolls. That’s why I named my business The Brat House. There’s something about giving girls a doll-like look, making their skin smooth and glowing that brings so much joy and satisfaction to me and my clients. That’s part of what makes doing makeup so enjoyable. I’m mostly known for my eyebrow shaping, face contouring and my overall natural looks. My signature service is a Natural Beat, which is a skin-like full face of makeup. I use a very light hand with everything so my clients do get the natural yet glam look they are looking for. I’m very proud of the fact that 9/10 times I’m going to give you exactly what you ask for. Whether it’s a graphic liner or a specific eyeshadow look you saw on Instagram, I’m going to deliver. And if it’s not to your exact liking then I’ll fix it until it is. I think that’s what sets me apart from other makeup artists as well. My presence with my clients is always warm and bubbly and genuine and if you don’t like something I won’t tell you “oh well, I like it”, I like fixing it until it’s exactly what you want. I genuinely want all of my clients to leave The Brat House happy and then go tell all of their friends and family how much they love their makeup. I always want everyone to like me and have a great peaceful experience when they get their makeup done by me.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
During covid, I really had to learn about safety precautions when it came to taking clients and keeping all of my clients, my environment and tools safe as well. It wasn’t too hard to enforce everyone wearing a masks during their appointments because my clients felt just as I did about contracting and spreading Covid but with all of the restrictions covid put on the community it was hard to have as many clients as I did before. The safety protocols I used during covid are still beneficial to me today to help keep everything sanitary and safe for all of my clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thebrathousemua.as.me/schedule.php
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/__kaybrat?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebrathouseSC?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kaiesaunders?_t=8a7axFRT75n&_r=1
