Sacha Walters, Staff Reporter

Paul March

Faces are his canvas and eyeshadows, blushes and lipsticks his paint. Turning a woman's face into a masterpiece is his job and according to Paul March, professional make-up artist, many men see him as living the charmed life.

"My brothers would be the ones to say I get to be around the girls all day," Paul said. His male friends offer to help him work all the time, free of charge, he said with a laugh.

However, for Paul, his job is no joking matter, as the consummate professional, he is committed to taking the world by storm.

Professional confidence

"I know mystuff and I'm very professional. Not one girl can say I was working with Paul and he made a pass at me." If a client wants to see what he's doing he has no problem whipping out a mirror. But he was not always this confident about what he wanted to do with his life.

After attending Meadowbrook High and West Avenue Institute, he got a diploma in marketing from the University of the West Indies - Extra Mural Studies.

"I started a small business (as) a meat processor," he said, a business which he retains today.

But he stumbled upon his talent two and a half years ago.

"I went to The Face Place to get some information for somebody and Mrs. Elima Hall saw me. When I was leaving, she said, 'So when you coming to class?' So I said, 'No the information is not for me.' She looked at me and said, 'You know you'd be good at it'," he said.

She was insistent, "Why don't you do the make-up course?" she said. "Make-up! No man, bad man nuh do dem things deh," he said laughing.

Destiny calling

However, Mrs. Hall's words stayed with him. The thought never crossed his mind before, despite the fact that his brothers were artistic, he assumed that gene skipped him.

"It was like destiny calling," he said.

So he signed up for the three-month course and learnt the basics from Mrs. Hall and her daughter.

"Doing make-up is like driving," he said, further explaining that you get taught the basics and learn the rest from apprenticing with professionals.

Paul hardly started small; his first professional job was doing the make-up for the Jamaica Festival Queen pageant along with three other artistes.

"I was so nervous," he said, but the event went by without any glitches. Honing his skills with other professional make-up artistes like Charmaine Duhaney and getting a wealth of knowledge from his mentor Mrs. Hall, he has become the professional he is today.

He has worked with Pulse on a number of major assignments, Miss Jamaica World, French Connection and video shoots for artistes from Japan and China.He freelances for Body Accents and will work with Appleton Temptation Isle promoters this summer.

His list of clients include: beauty queens Sara Lawrence, Regina Beavers, Lisa Hanna, Cindy Breakspeare and Kimberly Mais. But the average woman is not left out either as he also does waxing and threading.

'I'm straight'

Paul admitted that many people assume he is gay because of his profession but he is very candid about it.

"For the record, I'm straight. Many people look at me and they ask, 'are you gay?' Sometimes I can see it in their eyes, before they ask me, I just say no," he said. But that stereotype would never prevent him from pursuing his dream.

"I am who I am and I don't care what people think ... I wouldn't let that stop my dream because I love art and I realised I was good at make-up."

While he lost Mrs. Hall last year, a very important influence in his life, at 65, he still carries not only an image of her but the drive for the skill she discovered in him.

"I miss her so much," he said.

To relax, Paul fishes, swims or spends time with his four-year-old son Kyle.

Flair asked the master to give a few make-up tips on make-up for Red Stripe's Reggae Sumfest. He worked his magic on Rebecca Silvera, businesswoman/model.

Paul March can be contacted at 840-5420.

Step 1: Groom brows.

Step 2: Apply oil control lotion, bronzer and foundation. He recommends wetting your sponge and removing the excess water before using it to apply a cream to powder foundation, which is ideal for events like these.

Step 3: Apply highlighter to eyes.

Step 4: Apply eyeshadow, use a powder as they hold up better under these conditions.

Step 5: Apply eyeliner.

Step 6: Fill in brows with a brush and powder, it gives a natural look.

Step 7: Apply mascara to the lashes.

Step 8: Apply blush to the cheeks.

Step 9: Apply lipliner all over lips to stain them so your lip colour will last.

Step 10: Apply gloss for a sexy shine.

Step 11: Ready to party all night at Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest. - photos by Yahneake Sterling/Staff Reporter