Lash Artist of the Month Spotlight | Emma Jönsson
Meet Emma.
Emma is our October 2017 Lash Artist of the Month. She is a lash artist in Sweden who has been perfecting her craft for a little over 2 years. We got to chat with Emma about her journey to becoming a lash artist and what it has taken for her to get where she is today!
What is your story?
I grew up in a little village called Marieholm, Sweden. I lived there with my family of two siblings and mother and father until I was 20 years old. Later I moved to the city for almost a year before I started to get homesick and moved back to the place where I grew up. I just love how quiet and peaceful it is. I studied economics in Malmö, the capital of south Sweden. I had to take a bus home and I remember the peace I experienced when I would get off the bus and just take a deep breath and embrace the quietness. I knew that I was home.
My journey as a lash artist started in May 2015. My best friend had just become a lash artist and I thought it was the most amazing thing. I remember saying that I could never be able to do that because I didn’t have the patience. I believe it took a month or so before, stubborn as I am, I said to myself, "Why wouldn’t I be able to do this? Of course I can!"
Right away, I booked a seat at a lash training in Gothenburg. It was sooooo hard!
The first six months I was ready to give up at any time. I hated it!
My work wasn't as beautiful as the pictures I saw on instagram, my first training was nothing to brag about either. I sat for close to four hours with every new set of classic lashes. I decided to take another course and if I didn’t get better after that, I would give up. It had been 8 months after my first lash extension course when I traveled to Värnamo and took the advance classic course. This course was the light in the dark tunnel I had been waiting for!
I started to get so much better, faster, and every set from there just became more beautiful. From there, my love for lashes grew and grew.
Today I have my own company called Beauty Maniac and I am trained in several techniques. I have competed in the Swedish Mastership (12th place), London Lash Battle (6th place) and found my true love in lashing, fantasy lashes.
I could not imagine doing anything else in my life but this! True love for your work is when you sit and work all night, without a thought. When your hobby becomes your work, it becomes your life. I can sit all night long, editing pictures, doing advertising, booking customers, planning my next creation for fantasy lash art and never get sick of it. I’m blessed. Truly blessed.
How did you hear about Lash Affair?
I saw pictures on instagram with the hashtag #lashaffairbyjp and clicked into it to see more. I immediately started following Lash Affair because I found the account so inspiring.
Tell us about your first experience of lashes
My first experience of lash extensions was total chaos. I had just come back to my hometown and I remember my mother and I felt like we just had to try out lashes! But this was before proper lash education was offered in Sweden. So when I woke up from my “lash nap”, I looked into the mirror and I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. It was glue everywhere and when I asked the lash artist she said, "Oh it will come of in a day or two." I didn’t really know anything about it so I went home and didn’t question it. But I knew something was wrong because it hurt so damn much. I couldn’t sleep, because just laying my head on the pillow made my lashes hurt. Two days later I wanted to take them off and the lash artist just recommended taking oil, basic oil, and putting it on the lashes and they would just fall of. Oh, they didn’t, trust me. And after trying this oil thing for a couple of days, I pulled them off myself. After this horrific experience I didn’t dare get my lashes done again until maybe 2-3 years later.
L / A ProTip:
If you've had damage like this, consider using a growth serum before getting your lashes done again so you can nourish and heal any damage that was caused!
What's your favorite aspect of lashing?
My favorite aspect of this job is that every day I get to express my passion for the art. I get to create something out of nothing.
You can make unsymmetrical eyes, symmetrical. Small eyes, big. We enhance the best features from a persons face and show the beauty in every client that they didn’t even know they possessed. I also love how you always can get better, go to more courses, and enter more lash artist competitions. This job never gets boring because you are always moving forward. This is without a doubt, the best thing about it all.
Do you edit or filter your photos?
Yes I do edit my photos. This is what I do with my photos:
- Adjust the light/brightness levels
- Adjust the contrast
- Adjust the color saturation
- Add my logotype or watermark
I don’t believe in changing the photo too much. That’s why I just adjust these three things. It brings the quality forward in the photo. But I know many artists that like to change a lot in the photo such as eye color, skin and so on. In the beginning I did too, but with time I believe that am on the way to finding my own style in the photos that I take. That is really important. When a client or lash artist sees your photo, they should recognize it as yours. That is what we should all go for!
What was your biggest fear going into this industry?
Not being good enough. I believe that was my biggest fear, and still is.
There are so many extraordinary lash artists out there. And they win prizes, get recognized in magazines and just do beautiful work! It appears to come so easy to them, when I had to work my butt of to do, what seemed from my side, a half good set. When I got into this industry I thought that I had to compete with all these amazing artists. And yes, in a way I have to. To maintain clients you have to do a good job. To win prizes you have to do a great job. But something I realized on the way, was that, you don’t have to compete. I haven’t been in the industry that long really, but now I’m trying to see other lash artists as colleagues and inspiration sources, rather than competition. I now believe that you don’t have to be the best to do beautiful work. As long as you do it with passion and love – that’s all that counts.
What's next for you?
Next for me is moving out of my in home salon and into a new studio in Lund which will happen February 2018. After that, I’m not quite sure what will be the next steps. I will compete in the Swedish Mastership 2018 but I’m also thinking about going to Amsterdam and competing in the Lash World Cup!
Short and Classy with this set by Emma
A little volume can go a long way, set by Emma
Great content from another great artist that's keeping standards high in our industry. If you would like a chance to be featured on our blog, don't forget to enter the next Lash Artist of the Month competition for December 2017 starting December 29th and ending December 31st! To enter make sure to follow us on Instagram at @lashaffairbyjp. Look for the LAM photo and follow the instructions in the description! Good luck and happy lashing!
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