Chris Stedile
Castlegar News
A sudden rush flooded over Castlegar’s Krystal Sutherland after news that voting for a make-up contest she entered was being extended to March 15.
“I was so relieved because I had no idea I’d even made the top 50,” she said. “Twelve hours to get 2,000 votes. That’s beyond anything — well, it’s just crazy.”
Sutherland, a make-up artist, entered the Brush Contest, sponsored by L’Oreal Paris in search of their next make-up designer.
The world-wide competition is open to makeup lovers, amateurs and professionals looking to prove they have superior skills. Round one has ended and voting for the second round is underway.
However, Sutherland wasn’t notified until Sunday afternoon. This left her in a panic as the original closing date for voting was that night.
She only heard the news from another contestant commenting on her video: “Congratulations on the finals, good luck. Vote for me too.”
A mix-up with L’Oreal’s email system resulted in Sutherland never being notified of her acceptance into the second round.
After a mad scramble to get the word out and drum up support, Sutherland acquired nearly 1,000 votes in just 12 hours. At the time she spoke with the Castlegar News, Sutherland was in 12th place.
The deadline for voting has been extended, however, and Sutherland asks for support from her community.
“Knowing that I have two weeks is better but it’s still nerve-wracking because I’m up against big city folk and people that know a lot of other people. It’s tough when you come from such a small community but I’m hoping if everyone rallies around me, that I can make this happen.”
The Brush Contest required entrants to submit a three-minute video that showcased a look they created under a specific genre. The category for this contest was colour clash. Every artist interpreted that in their own way and put their videos up on YouTube.
Then was the time for the judges to go to work. Each country had its own judges and the Canadian ones picked 50 entrants to go through to the following round.
“I was voted into that round,” Sutherland said. “All of our videos have been posted on thebrushcontest.com and it’s now viewer voted. Whoever gets the most votes and rises to the top five will be going to Paris, where they will compete against each other for the chance to become L’Oreal Paris’ next makeup designer.”
The winners receive $160,000 as well as a one-year contract with the company.
“All the other people had a week prior to me,” Sutherland said. “You get that initial push from your support team, such as family and friends. So I’m hoping they’ve all had their push and they’re letting their guard down these next couple weeks.”
Sutherland is hoping to get as many views and votes as possible.
“I didn’t expect to make it this far so this is already a huge win for me. I’m very proud, but to make it to Paris would be a whole different level of amazing.”
For those who haven’t yet seen Sutherland’s video, she explained: “My look is definitely a little bit more glamorous. I like to go more on the glamour side of things so I definitely tried to stick with that theme but in the colour clash theme they gave us, it had to be more dramatic at the same time.”
She said in the end she made it glamorous yet edgy.
Sutherland began studying makeup artistry when her first son was born three years ago. It started out as a passion she could have fun doing with friends but quickly turned into more than that.
“It kind of blew up and I started doing weddings and photo shoots. I’ve had my name featured in magazines now and all sorts of success.”
You can check out Sutherland’s video at thebrushcontest.com.