Let me paint you a picture. I will have somewhere to go. This could be anywhere from my 9-to-5 job, to the grocery store, to a drag show. I will sit in front of the mirror and slap on the war paint. I will meticulously make sure that my cat-eye liner is at a clean point, pluck every stray eyebrow hair that dares rear its ugly head, and check my jawline from all angles to make sure there’s no dreaded foundation mask line. Some days, I’m pretty proud of what I can accomplish.
(other days are a complete & utter shitshow)
Whenever I receive the rare compliment on my makeup, it always goes the same way:
“That looks so nice! YOU SHOULD DO THIS FOR MONEY! CAN YOU DO MY MAKEUP?!”
No. NO. N-O. I can not, will not do your makeup. I can not, will not ever make money off of this. Am I upset about this? HELL NO. Let me tell you why.
Imagine a child playing in the mud. With great glee, they slap the mud around, smear it on their face, make mud pies. They’re having the time of their life! And then, someone walks up to them and says, “You’re SO good at that! You should do that for money!” It’s the same idea. You’re seeing someone blissfully happy doing something, and assuming that they should make money off of it.
This isn’t completely weird, but think of it this way: Maybe just playing in the mud for their own enjoyment is that child’s happy place. It’s what makes them smile. They don’t need anyone else to do it, and they don’t need to make excuses for why they’re doing it. The same idea goes with me and my makeup collection.
I love makeup – ADORE it. It’s my vice. I don’t really drink much, I quit smoking in 2010. This is my addiction. I love playing with it, testing new products, telling others what products I love and hate. It is what makes me completely, utterly happy. This seems completely normal to me, yet you’d be surprised how many people look at me like I’m insane when I tell them, “Nope – not trying to make money off of this. It’s just something I like doing.”
Besides, if you want a makeup artist, the talent out there is more mind-blowing than I could ever aspire to even approach.
See: Queen of Blending
See: Billy B
See: Pat McGrath
See: Nikkie Tutorials
There’s plenty of talent out there. I will continue to love makeup. I will continue to love nail polish. I will continue to tell you guys what I think about what.
I will continue to be that happy child, playing in the mud.
glitterfallout 
I couldn’t agree with you more.
It’s a HOBBY, why do people always ask about making money off of it?!
YASSSS! Exactly. It seems to be the opinion of people that if you’re SPENDING money on something, you should also MAKE money off of it. I’m just happy doing it.
We should start a League or something. ; )
It’s annoying though, so annoying, because people don’t treat other hobbies like this – with me it’s nail polish as you can guess, and you said it perfectly – if you’re spending money on it, that’s it, you have GOT TO turn it into a career or at least find a way to earn some cash off of it…
I started turning this against people and asking: so you’re hobby is music, how much have you earned off the songs on your iPod?