This 13-Year-Old Makeup Artist’s Creations Will Give You Nightmares
Gemma Borkowski is only 13, but her talent is that of an experienced Hollywood special-effects makeup artist. The self-taught Australian teen creates vivid, extremely detailed makeup looks, and she could fool anyone with the realism of her gory appearance.
Gemma tells Yahoo Beauty, “What inspires me the most is probably the makeup and effects in movies and TV shows. That always give me heaps of ideas of what I can create next.”
A post shared by ⠀G E M M A (@gemmabks.sfx) on Nov 16, 2016 at 12:45am PST
Two years ago, Gemma wanted to do her own makeup for Halloween. That’s when she first fell in love with the craft of creating scary looks.
“I found a YouTuber called Mykie, who also does special-effects makeup,” she says. “I had never really heard much or seen much about special-effects makeup, and I found it really interesting. And I found myself continually going back to watch her videos over and over again,” Gemma tells Yahoo Beauty.
After familiarizing herself with the craft by watching videos online, she decided to try it herself for Halloween. “I remember telling my mom that I wanted the makeup for Halloween, and I ordered a few products online. And I’ve been teaching myself how to do SFX [special effects] makeup ever since then.”
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Her dedication to the craft is definitely paying off. She has gained more than 17,000 followers on Instagram, and her posts receive thousand of likes.
Gemma’s followers seem to be fans: “Very disturbing, but loving it!” wrote a commenter. “You’re going to have such a career in this if you want it, wow,” wrote another.
A post shared by ⠀G E M M A (@gemmabks.sfx) on Jun 26, 2017 at 6:45pm PDT
Her parents and friends are supportive of her talents.
“My parents have said that they are very proud of what I have achieved and how much I have managed to teach myself on my own, ” she says.
Gemma says that although she loves to do makeup, she recognizes that she is still too young to know if this is what she wants to do when she grows up.
“I’m really not sure where I see myself in the future. I hope that my Instagram continues to grow, and my makeup continues to get noticed by more people, but I’m not sure yet if makeup is what I want to spend my life doing,” she says, “There are quite a few things that I think I would enjoy as a career, but if I continue to do makeup all my life, I definitely wouldn’t be upset about it.”
A post shared by ⠀G E M M A (@gemmabks.sfx) on Mar 7, 2017 at 12:45am PST
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But, for now, Gemma is booked up to create looks for her friends. “They are always asking if I can do their makeup for Halloween.”
A post shared by ⠀G E M M A (@gemmabks.sfx) on Jul 3, 2017 at 5:10am PDT
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