5 Questions with Louanna Factora, NYC Based MUA
About Louanna:
I am a New York city based hair and makeup artist and currently I freelance for various TV networks such as Fox News, ESPN and Amazon Live. I also freelance for print, fashion, beauty and editorial. I choose to freelance because I am a mom, so I have to juggle everything and be flexible.
I've always loved the world of beauty, but I never thought that I could make it into a career. I remember dressing up my little cousin when I was younger, I would put makeup on her and we would take pictures. I think I was about 11 or 10 years old and she was about five or six, but I never thought that it actually would make sense as a career later on in life.
How did you get started in the beauty industry?
I decided to pursue the world of makeup after being away for a year on a national tour of Miss Saigon. I was a part of the cast as an ensemble and we would have to do our hair and makeup every night for the show - so I learned how to do makeup on myself and I absolutely loved it. I was in the dressing room every night with the other girls and we would just play around while chatting and applying our makeup and doing our hair.
So when I came home from the tour I told my mom that I really loved doing hair and makeup, but she wanted me to pursue nursing - but after trying it for a few months I said I cannot do this anymore, so I followed my heart and pursued the world of beauty.
I don't regret it and I really worked my butt off, I paid my dues, I worked for free, I did a lot of trade for pictures a long time ago back in the day when I was starting out just so I could collect pictures and have my own portfolio.
What were some of your wins & challenges in the beginning?
Back in the day a lot of the agencies wanted to see this huge book of pictures and that would be a representation of your work. So through blood, sweat and tears and a lot of sacrifice, because I was juggling being a mom as well - I did a lot of freebies so I could gain experience and connections and network.
Fortunately enough my big break came when my cousin, who was a lawyer for MTV and Comedy Central introduced me to some producers there and I was able to get my foot in the door in the TV world.
So that's where my career actually took off, I started doing commercials for Comedy Central BET, MTV and Viacom, and I built my reputation that way so I was able to network and connect with other producers and production managers.
I was solely a makeup artist but throughout the years I found that being a hairstylist as well helped in getting me hired because a lot of these companies didn't want to hire two people they just wanted to hire one that could do both hair and makeup.
I didn’t want to go through cosmetology or beauty school so I found a six week program for hair styling and that's what I took. It definitely helped me in getting me hired and getting me booked for a lot of projects.
What is some advice you would give to your younger self, or anyone wanting to break into the beauty industry?
If I could offer some some advice, to my younger self or anyone in this career, or wanting to get into this career it is do not burn bridges, it is so important in this industry because everyone knows each other, and the PA you might have been working with 3 years ago could be the producer or project manager or the executive producer of the next project you working on.
So treat everybody with kindness, with respect, work professionally and diligently and continue to strive and learn new things - because in this industry there is always something new that you have to keep up with. And lastly, love what you do, because if you love what you do you won’t work a day in your life.
Where can we continue to follow your journey?
If you’d like to follow my journey, my Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/looksbylou/ as well https://www.tiktok.com/@looksbylou on TikTok. I post a ton of beauty content as well as my daughter who is an aspiring beauty content creator as well.
