The beauty industry is a crowded arena these days – a glossy world inhabited by self-proclaimed miracle workers and rife with an overabundance of eclectic products. But there's a burgeoning Canadian beauty brand determined to turn the volume down on hype and get back to feel-good basics. Victoria Radford is a 35-year-old Toronto-raised makeup artist whose studio in the heart of Yorkville is an oasis of chic – a subdued style haven on Hazelton Avenue that doesn't even bear a sign out front. Trained in holistic medicine and as an esthetician, Radford was personal makeup artist to Fergie (of The Black Eyed Peas) for four years. Now, Radford has her sights set on global expansion, with an upcoming second salon location south of the border. I spoke with her recently about her beginnings as a makeup artist, how she hooked up with Fergie, and her personal quest to help people discover who they truly are.
Congratulations on an enterprise that has such a level of luxury attached to it from the get-go.
That's what I was trying to create, something very different from anything that I've ever experienced in the beauty and fashion space. One of the things I wanted to immediately strip away was any kind of pretense. I wanted to create a little bit more of a private boutique feeling where people felt like they were coming home, so that they could openly explore who they truly are as a person, and then have us facilitate the physical representation of that. As a makeup artist, I believe that you are the most intoxicatingly beautiful person when you are properly representing yourself physically with who you are on the inside.
You toured with Fergie as her personal makeup artist for four years. What was it like working that closely with one person, one face and one approach to beauty?
It was wonderful! Both of my parents are artists, and my mother was my art teacher in school. One of the things she always would teach us is to find your voice. No matter what your medium is, find what it is that you want to say personally as an artist. There's always going to be someone that's a better makeup artist than me, but I decided that if I really wanted to come into who I was as an artist, that I could use exactly the same products on Fergie that her old makeup artists had been using religiously.
And I knew her look, but I started realizing that while I was using those exact same products, she would look quite different. And about three months in, she was watching Fashion Police, and Kelly Osbourne quite famously came on camera and said, "I think Fergie has a new makeup artist because she's been looking really good lately." I was only supposed to work with Fergie for about a month, but after that, she kept me on for much longer than I had originally anticipated. It was wonderful, because I got to expand my concept of what true beauty is, and why I thought I could really bring that out in someone. Touring with her was mind-blowing. I couldn't believe all of the experiences I had. I was very lucky and blessed.
And when did you decide to become a professional makeup artist?
When I went to school I was actually more interested in developing products. So I went to a school that was like a naturopathic college, never with the intention of becoming a naturopath, but more because I was interested in ingredients. I lived for a little while with my mother in California when I was younger, and one of the things that struck me about the west coast way of life is these women would eat natural foods but wear designer labels. And then I came back to Canada, and it was kind of like if you ate natural foods, you wore Birkenstocks! So I really wanted to marry style and high-end luxury with the concept of "natural." Now, it's a much more relevant thing, but 15 years ago, it was a relatively new concept. So I went to school thinking that I would learn more about products and then I started my career selling makeup at Holt Renfrew, because I wanted to learn more about the retail side of things, and I absolutely loved it.
You say that working with Fergie gave you the chance to expand your concept of true beauty. What do you mean by that?
My quest as an artist is helping people discover who they truly are. One of the things that would upset me is when I would see these "before" and "after" pictures on Instagram. The "before" shots looked like mug shots, and the women would look like Barbie in the "after" shots. And while I'm very supportive of other artists, these photos were really upsetting to me. All my "before" pictures are gorgeous, because I think when people are stripped down to a vulnerable place, it's beautiful You can't keep your eyes off of someone who's totally stripped down to nothing. So the "before" pictures are beautiful, and the "after" pictures are about bringing out who these women truly are. It's all an exploration. And if you look at my clients from when I met them 10 years ago to now, some of them look completely different. They have different hair colour. And a lot of them will actually stop getting plastic surgery – not that I have anything against it – but I shouldn't be about making everyone look exactly the same. By now, we've seen a couple of generations of people that have gone down the plastic surgery path and everyone kind of looks the same, which is not necessarily good. It should be more about using what you naturally have and enhancing that.
What gives you that kind of drive to go for it so wholeheartedly in a marketplace that's so overcrowded?
I've always wanted to have a kind of impact on the world. And I still am not 100-per-cent sure exactly how I'm going to do that, but I know that tomorrow I'm going to have a very strong impact with all of the people that I come in contact with, including all of my employees. And it just so happens that I'm going to do that in the beauty industry, and with makeup. But I'm not thinking of trying to compete with Estée Lauder. That's not my goal. My goal is to actually help people feel like they are living authentically, and in doing so, are the most gorgeous they've ever been.
This interview has been condensed and edited.