Send us Fan Mail

This week I sat down with Sydney makeup artist Max May. Nearly 30 years in the industry, self-taught, Armani Australia ambassador, Charlotte Tilbury Glow Squad, and one of the first artists in this country to build a blog and digital presence when the industry told him it would ruin his career.

In this episode we cover:

• How Max got started — growing up in the country, moving to Sydney, falling into hairdressing by accident and discovering makeup on set
• Why he never did formal training and why he still thinks assisting is the best way to learn this industry
• What it was actually like to assist in those early days — it was tough, the industry was different, and he got on a bus to pick up dog poop for the person he worked under
• His years doing fashion weeks in Paris, New York and Milan
• Being the Australian Armani ambassador and what that role actually looked like
• Directing fashion shows in Australia for ten years straight
• Working with Jennifer Hawkins, Laura Bingle, Sarah Murdoch, Cheyenne Tozzi, Miranda Kerr and Mel B on The Masked Singer
• Why he finds editorial more creatively satisfying than TV
• Being one of the first Australian makeup artists to go digital — he lost work and friends over it and did it anyway
• His social media formula: how many times he posts a week and what the algorithm actually wants right now
• Why he has zero interest in TikTok and is not sorry about it
• His thoughts on AI and staying relevant in a changing industry

Full list of products mentioned over on The Makeup Insider. 

Max May 

Follow TMI on IG

Follow Vanessa on IG

The Makeup Insider Blog 

Vanessa Substack 

The Makeup Insider TikTok