As Featured On
Meet Wendy
I am a licensed skin care professional and degreed makeup artist with more than 20 years of experience. My job is to make my clients look their best so they can be confident in everything they pursue. My focus is honest but caring advice, trusted protocols, and uncovering the real beauty in every face.
Growing up in the ‘60s in Park Ridge, Illinois, I was privileged to have a mother who was well-versed in fashion due to her modeling and television career. This exposed me to the fashion and television industry at an early age. As a child, I was better at art compared to math and science and I was lucky enough to attend the world-renowned Interlochen Center for the Arts in their intensive summer fine arts program. I later attended the companion Interlochen Arts Academy, a highly professional fine arts college prep and boarding school where I majored in art and theatre. Following graduation, I attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and focused on fashion design and painting. I also learned how to sew from my grandmother, and these skills allowed me to create costumes for local theaters. Landing an internship at the Minneapolis Children’s Theater Company provided me with firsthand experience in theatre production.
Professional
Experience
Returning to Chicago, I became an assistant for a major costume designer working with clients such as John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, and Jim Belushi at Marriott Lincolnshire Theater, the Steppenwolf Theatre, Organic Theater, Drury Lane, and Candlelight Dinner Theater. I designed and produced costumes and makeup looks for stage productions, along with industrial shows and television commercials.
Marriage and motherhood in the ‘80s brought me to Michigan, and I studied at the University of Michigan Department of Theatre & Drama and later Central Michigan University with a BFA in technical theatre. At the same time, I was introduced to the growing Mary Kay cosmetics line and became an award winning-consultant, developing business in three states. My personal and professional growth rapidly increased as I learned to teach skin care and produced makeup looks on a wide variety of faces. I had many opportunities to design and create wedding day finery and makeup. I enjoyed the people just as much as the faces that went along with them!
I developed a strong business sense and a desire to be a true professional in the field of skin care and makeup when relocating back to the Chicago area. I was very blessed to be trained at CBS Chicago in television makeup techniques by Wendy Kimmel. Through her, I was introduced to Reggie Wells at the Oprah Winfrey Show, who taught me African American makeup techniques. My client list included Bill Curtis, Deborah Norville, David McCallum, Lester Holt, and personalities at channels 2, 7, and 9, along with CLTV News, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and the chiefs at the Chicago Tribune. Other clients included Sedgewick Productions, the Midwest Beauty Show for Wella, as well as numerous commercials, fashion, runway, and film productions. My connections in the upscale Chicago bridal industry grew, and my business focused on bridal makeup services, which have now become the mainstay of my business today.
In 1994, I joined the team in the makeup department at the Mario Tricoci Salons, which continued for the next ten years. I produced a wide variety of beautiful makeup looks for all types and colors while gathering a strong base knowledge of product lines and ingredients. I developed a love for educating clients on their skin care regime, which brought me to the field of education in the salon industry. I became a licensed esthetician in 2004 and became an account executive/trainer for the B. Kamins Chemist line for the Midwest area. I furthered my esthetics training with a medical certification with Dr. Stephen Dayan in Chicago. I am a member/ educator of the Cosmetology Illinois professional organization, a member of Associated Skin Care Professionals, and a contributor to Wish Upon a Wedding, Chicago Chapter.
