“Take in the journey because it goes quickly.”
- Damone Roberts
I’ve attended quite a few keynotes and this was the best so far. I came in as a fan and left as a stan! Damone is such an open book and inspiration and touched on so many things; from trends and every brow question you can imagine. No stone was left untouched. He’s my new friend in my head.
He started at Fashion Fair and went to Costco
He didn’t get hired with MAC until the 3rd interview and people thought he was crazy to leave Costco and work for nearly half the salary
Within a year and a half he was promoted to manager
He started reading a lot about Anastasia and went to work for her because of he was so intrigued by eyebrows. At MAC he was limited because he could not groom brows but noticed how shaping them with product really helped.
At Anastasia he learned about brow structure and he introduced her to using products such as eyeshadow and and brow highlighter
3 years later he was ready to start working for himself
How to get celebrity clients
There’s no magic rule to getting a celebrity client. Be the best at what you do and they will find you; you can’t just call up Madonna or Beyonce and suddenly they’re your client. If you’re good they will find you.
He also said that when he’s with Beyonce they go through social media and look at pic and pay close attention to details.
On America’s Sweetheart, Lupita Nyong’o
There’s a lot of competition out there, learn your craft and know your client based. Money is green and the world isn’t all blonde hair blue eyes anymore. Right now, America’s sweetheart is Lupita Nyong’o; if you can’t work with that texture of hair and skin color you’ll see yourself out of a job.
He’s very confident that she’ll take home an Oscar.
On Damone Roberts brow products
They’re a lot of different skin types, color, and hair textures. When he worked on his formulations in the lab with scientists he wanted to make sure they worked for everyone. The brow gels don’t flake or get shellac-y on you, the brow powders won’t fade, and the pencils don’t smear, brown products won’t turn grey and blonde won’t turn orange.
On why they’re better
Doesn’t know if they’re better but with salons in both Beverly Hills and New York he listens to the needs of his clients. It’s only of the few places where a client on the Forbes list and a girl from the hood that’s saved for her appointment are sitting right next to each other. He hears what they both want and that’s what makes his products unique.
On his OPI nail polish color “Damone Roberts 1968”
They came to him after being featured on a television show because they wanted to honor him and what he was doing. The color is based upon the salon’s signature green color. It was released twice, sold out worldwide both times and will be back once more.
He just got the call this week and it hasn’t been announced publicly so there is no date in place.
Makeup rules
There’s no rules. If it makes you happy then why can’t you?
On this big break
He offered to accompany a makeup artist as an assistant for free and she got called to work with Chaka Khan as a 2nd (he did the extras). The following day he was called by the director and Chaka Khan had a request for him to do her makeup. The original artist was not happy about it. He later went on tour with Chaka Khan and they’re friends.
On if he ever got his esthetician license
He admitted to doing brows without his license because as an artist he knew how. He was threatened by the press to go public once he became even more famous than he was. In California you need 600 hours for your esthetician license and learn about facials…just to wax. He worked with the school and taught classes to expedite his hours and get his license.
I want to note that this is not uncommon. I know a few nail techs that did the same and even regular students are given opportunities to earn extra credit and hours for events and projects.
His salons
Appointments are 15 minutes long and that gives time to remove the hair, fill them in, and get rid of any redness. He works on men as well and keeps it masculine. They offer a huge selection of services to give clients what they want.