Amanda Gabbard | Celebrity Makeup, Beauty, Vogue, Amazon Live & Working with Celebrity Clients | Nick Egan Times

Amanda Gabbard joins Nick Egan Times for an in-depth conversation about building a successful career in the beauty, fashion, television, and entertainment industries.

A highly respected celebrity makeup artist, esthetician, bridal beauty specialist, and beauty expert, Amanda has spent more than two decades working with clients across television, film, fashion, media, and live events. Her work has been featured in leading publications including Vogue, The New York Times, Brides, HuffPost, Apple News, and Hollywood Life, establishing her as one of the most sought-after professionals in the beauty industry.

In this episode, Amanda shares insights from her career in New York City, discusses the evolving beauty and fashion landscape, and reflects on working behind the scenes across television productions, editorial photo shoots, fashion week events, weddings, and celebrity projects. She also talks about her experiences as a beauty host on Amazon Live, Style Code Live, and Amazon Prime Day, along with the skills required to thrive in a highly competitive industry.

The conversation explores celebrity makeup artistry, skincare, beauty trends, entrepreneurship, fashion, media, television, personal branding, and the dedication required to build a long-lasting career in the beauty world.

A fascinating discussion with one of the industry’s leading beauty professionals whose work continues to influence clients, audiences, and aspiring artists around the world.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:18

Hi everyone, thank you for this episode of Nikan Times. On this episode, we have a fantastic guest. We have the incredibly talented Amanda Gabart. Amanda is a celebrity makeup artist, bridal specialist, and beauty expert. Amanda has been based in New York City for over two decades, working in the beauty and entertainment industry. Amanda is a highly sought-after beauty expert. Amanda's work has been featured in numerous publications, including Vogue, NY Times, Brides Magazine, Huffington Post, Apple News, Hollywood Live, and that's just to name a few. Amanda has appeared as a beauty host on air with Amazon Live, Style Code Live, and Amazon Prime Day. Amanda has experienced in all areas from TV and film, photo shoots, fashion week, weddings, and special events. Welcome to the Multi-Talented Amanda. Thanks for coming on the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

No, thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

You're welcome. All right, tell me, how's it been going all over there?

SPEAKER_01 1:17

It's going well. It's very busy, but uh learning how to, you know, manage the it's like you love what you do, but you have to manage, like, okay, time with the family, and then time for yourself, and then you know, time for the clients. But it's good, it's going good. Hey, can't complain.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

That's great. All right, let's jump straight into it. Take us back. Tell us about life growing up for you, your family, and I guess uh your trajectory of how you ended up to where you are now.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Uh yeah, so um I grew up in Kansas, which is really shocking, and people are like, wow, like Dorothy Wizard and Voz. I'm like, yeah, totally. So um I have you know, a mom, dad, stepdad, and stepmom, and I'm one of five kids. So um there was a very famous psychiatric foundation called the Meniger Clinic that was in Topeka, Kansas. So three out of four of my parents are psychiatrists that all work at the same place. So that's why I grew up in Kansas, and three out of four of them were also actors, turned psychiatrists. So it's super weird, and I'm very normal. Um so then uh yeah, I grew up in Kansas and uh my parents loved the theater. My grandparents uh were acting teachers. They actually taught um John Malkovich, they taught Joan Allen, and when they retired from acting, they decided to become actors themselves. So she was on in Grapes of Wrath on Broadway and in Steppenwolf and in movies and things. So I come from a very theatrical family. You basically only have two ways to go entertainment or medicine or psychiatries, basically. So um, so long story short, we would go, you know, visit um, we had people who were on sets. So we would go, you know, visit actors, and um, we uh would just go to Broadway every single year, and we would go see shows. And I always felt like in our minivan, maybe we were the only car in Kansas listening to show tunes as opposed to like popular music. Um, so yeah, I knew uh right away, like I loved makeup and I loved acting in musical theater my whole life, and so I knew it was gonna do both. Um, so I got my BFA in musical theater um in St. Louis at Webster University at a conservatory, and then I moved to New York in 1999, and I was like, that's just a given. So I would do makeup as a side hustle, you know, you do temp jobs, people wait tables. So I would audition all day and then do makeup and anything else that would pay the bills. So that's the long and short of it.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Wonderful. And um, how did you specifically get into doing makeup? Like I suppose obviously, I guess entertainment ties into it, but that's a very, I guess, specific uh line or craft that you've chosen or that you did, and especially now you've obviously very well renowned for it.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Yeah, you know, it's a good question. I didn't, I wasn't formally taught. Um, I just like since I could walk and talk, I didn't care about toys or dolls as much as I cared about my mom giving me a bag of her old makeup to play with, and she would get ready for shows at night. So I'd watch her get ready and watch my grandmother get ready for shows. And I just thought it was so fancy. I thought it was just like magical, and you watch the person transform. And you know, now I realize the older I get, it's you it's giving someone confidence, and it's um kind of like behind the scenes getting someone ready for a big event. So um I was self-taught and like I would look through magazines and just try to copy the pages. And any friend I had or sister, would you sit down so I can do your makeup? And I'd get five dollars for allowance every week, and I'd go to the drugstore and just stare at the makeup and be like, I have five dollars. This has to be spent well, like life or death. And then um, then yeah, growing up and being in theater and being on TV, I would watch what the makeup artists are doing, and I I just wanted to know everything. What are you using? What is that? And why are you like I loved it? And they were like, Why do you care? Why don't you just relax? Um, but yeah, I got excited for both. And then um God, it just I went back to esthetician school later to learn more about skin because obviously the skin comes before the makeup. So along the way, I've picked up everything. I still to this day I've been doing it over two decades, and I learned from everyone older than me, younger than me, YouTube. I just I want to know everything about the science of the makeup and how to I love it.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Has has the makeup, I guess obviously over time technology and the way they create it's become better. But is there makeup now that's a lot healthier than obviously when you first started?

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Oh my god, that's a really good question. Yeah, um, you know, there's so much talk about you know, healthy makeup, vegan lines. I really I love them. I think that's you know, there's not so much talc and all the things that everyone is warned about, you know. Um now they have so many good lines like cy or say. I never know if I'm saying that right. Um, Ilia, bite, and so many products that and Westman Atelier is very clean. So clean makeup is definitely a thing where you want to enjoy it, you want to look beautiful and be elevated, but not be doing something bad to your skin or either insides of your body while you're doing it. So yeah, it's a good question.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Right. And you've done obviously some high-profile people. Tell me about those experiences, like Alpacino Brooke Shields. Like, tell me about those experiences.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

You know, it's always interesting to me that uh you immediately go back to in your mind the first time you saw them, you know, watching The Godfather, watching, you know, Brooke Shields and all the things she did. And um, it's such an honor, and I don't take it lightly. Um, and I also I think something important uh in my job is you're so close to someone. Like if I'm doing makeup, it's like this. So, you know, one more step, and I'm a dentist. So you're you're in very close proximity with the people, and I think it's important to adapt to them. Um, whether it's a celebrity, if it's uh an everyday person, whatever their walk of life is, what do they want? What do they need? Do they want to talk? Do they want to be quiet? You just have to gauge the person and really kind of feel the room. So um, you know, I don't really fangirl that much. I mean, every once in a while, after I've gotten to know them, I'll be like, oh my God, I can't believe it. Um, but I'm fascinated by them and what they're like and um their stories. I love it. They'll they'll tell these anecdotes, and I'm like, I'll remember that forever. Uh so it it's it's a it's an honor for sure. And um, like on Brooke Shields, I thought she's an American treasure, I should be paying her to do her makeup, you know. But the most down-to-earth, wonderful human, you know. It's always interesting, usually the day after it'll hit you, and you're like, oh, okay, life comes full circle.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

That's amazing. Um, tell me about your television career. Obviously, you've been on TV, you've done stuff there. Tell me about that, those experiences.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Yeah, um, so I enjoyed being um, I did musical theater for a very long time. Um, and then I would get do commercials, um, print ads, little bits in movies, um, or television, and I loved it. I still get that same excitement being on the other side. So I was like in a soap opera, One Life to Live, which people younger than 30 probably wouldn't even know what that is. But um, I did a lot of stuff here and there, and I love doing it so much. Um, and it's exciting, and I love to be now getting that person ready, whether it's a Broadway show, uh fashion week, um, their wedding day, a red carpet event, or I'll teach women makeup, just that kind of thing to give them when I walk in the door, I want them to go, oh, I'm so glad she's here. As and I don't want to be a part of the stress of their day, of the event, of the experience. Give them a little facial massage, relax them, make them feel good. Um, but yeah, so I loved being in front of the camera, and then I loved being behind it more because I was a little bit more in control of you know your fate when you audition every day. They're like, Oh, you're too fat, you're too thin, you're too young, you're too old, my niece is gonna get the part, you know, you never know. So it's my way of like joining both my loves.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Yeah, that's great. Great insights, too. Thank you for sharing. Um, have you had any mentors in your life that have like really guided you, I guess?

SPEAKER_01 9:52

My gosh, my mentors. Um, I think with the in quote show business, um, they really were my grandparents who taught acting and did all the movies. Um, she was in my grandmother was Cameron Diaz's grandmother in my best friend's wedding with Julie Roberts. I hear stories about that. And then my grandfather would do all these commercials and he'd be on. So I got such an insight to what the business is like. Um, and also a lot of you know, you will get rejected. They they didn't sugarcoat anything. So they would tell me, you know, don't do this, you have to do this, and you know, you're gonna have 18 no's before one. Yes. So I was ready for it, and I didn't candy coat anything to myself lying. It's like, oh my God, you're gonna get this job. You just never know. So, in a way, it rejection makes you stronger. So you can just keep going and going. You're like, that's fine. So when I switched to makeup, I was like, you don't want me? Okay, cool, someone else will. So it makes you very strong. Um, but it's mentors, I think my grandparents and my parents are very supportive. Um, and I think I have a lot of strong women in my life that um Samantha B, I was lucky enough to be on her show, full frontal, and do her makeup for years and be a part of that wonderful journey and learning from her of how she would handle people she worked with, people who worked for her, uh, the guests on the show. Um, so many people that I've met that I'm just very grateful along the way, even if they're not in the business, what the way they treat people is important to me. And that's how I feel every day. I don't care if you clean toilets or if you're a million, if you're a millionaire, like everyone should be treated equal.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

So yeah, definitely. That's fantastic. Um, and what's the best piece of advice I've ever received?

SPEAKER_01 11:46

I would say fake it till you make it. So if someone says, Can you do something? Yes, I definitely can. And aside you're like, oh my God, maybe not. Um, just do it, just jump in. I'd rather, I tell my young girls, sometimes I do master classes and train them. And I say, I'd rather have you try something that you're so scared of and fail miserably, uh, or think about it the rest of your life. I wonder what would have happened. Um, you have to try. Like you have to just go out there and do it. No one's gonna do the work for you. So that was instilled to me in my acting school as a makeup artist, as an actress, everything. So it's kind of like you're in control. You drive the bus and don't throw a pity party if you're like, oh God, no one's asking me to, you know, have this job or giving me this opportunity. You have to make yourself um put yourself out there, and the opportunities will come. You got to jump on it.

SPEAKER_00 12:45

Right. Um, and what do you want your legacy to be?

SPEAKER_01 12:49

Oh my god. Um to hydrate the skin before makeup. No.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Um I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

I think um, I don't think I've ever even thought about that. Um, you'd want it to be uh someone who is in your corner and I would like to make other women feel good, uh, feel really confident, and um just to be a genuine person, I think. Um there's a lot of, you know, in the entertainment industry and in the beauty industry, um, a lot of competition, a lot of the vultures and doing this and that. And I never wanted to be that person. Of course, you know, you have your you're strong, you can handle your own, and you can be tough when you need to be, but I choose to lead with kindness. And I think that's important just in general. That I was it, Maya Angelou, you know, no one cares what you wear, what car you drove, how much money you make, but they remember how you make them feel. So I think that's super important.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Yeah, definitely, and especially over time, too. You never know who you're talking to, how things change, you know, you'd know more than anybody. Obviously, teens fluctuate. So, you know, you might be here now, but you can change quite quickly. So yeah, I couldn't agree more with that. That's a great, that's a great um quote. Yeah, yeah. Um, and what motivates you, Daily?

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Oh man, um, I think my my type, my type A personality, I've always been completely self-motivated. Like, I love it. Like, um, I want to meet people, I want to create with them, I want to hear their stories. Um, I love beauty. I love when the face is bare and it's like my canvas and I get to know them, we talk, we laugh, we go deep. Because again, it's like we're right there. I always joke with my parents that I'm a psychiatrist too, just with a makeup brush. Because you know, you go deep really quick with hair and makeup people. So um uh oh god, wait, what was the question? What was he saying? Uh what motivates me? Um, I just I've been this way my whole life. Like, never been lazy. I need to actually make time to relax more. Um, I just love to create. I just want to go out there and soak up every single aspect of life of the day, and even if it's just like having a cup of coffee outside in the morning, just taking in the day and being like always staying very grounded and grateful about what I have.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Okay, great. Um, and what are your ambitions for the feature?

SPEAKER_01 15:17

My God, I guess to keep going on the same journey and um still learning the power of saying no, I think. Um, because I do love to work, um, just always finding that balance. I want to um, I'm gosh, I don't know. I think I love getting on a TV series and getting to know the people and watching how that machine works. Um I I love the theater. I love being behind the scenes, uh doing, you know, with Broadway performers. And um, I always feel like I'm Rocky behind the scenes, where wiping off their sweat, putting on some more concealer. I'm like, get back out there, kid, you know, like that manager. Um, I don't know. I loved uh creative directing um with models and with photographers and videographers. Um, I also have um a branding business that I started with my friend John White called Off White Media. So I've been dabbling in producing the past three years. Um, I always say I don't want to wait to create. So I don't know, I love it when people offer me jobs. That's great. But I'm also gonna create my own. Uh, and so we're branding businesses. So whether you have own a bakery, whether you have a huge corporate empire, um, we just want to brand it so it's like that beautiful, glossy mini commercial and that little highlight reel for your Instagram, for your website, and uh make it do what I do for people's faces for their businesses. So um, we're having a great time doing that. I just want to keep working and exploring, and who knows where it will take me. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Wonderful. And um You've always had a lustrous career, and you've obviously multi-talented in different, I guess, channels of your life. Um when you look back at it, what's your fondest memories? Like when you go, wow, okay, that did happen, or something that just really sticks out for you when you look back at it.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Oh my gosh, um, so many things. Um I would say, um, from my acting career, I would say one of the one things that stood out was that um I was in a 2006 Italian movie that was like the number one hit of Italy. I don't speak any Italian, I'm from Kansas, and so I was hired to be the mean American bride, like the bridezilla. So it's a it's a comedy, very slapstick, like something about Mary. Like it's not too deep. And it's just these amazing actors who I had no idea who they were. Um, so that was an experience that I always think, I can't believe that happened a million years ago. And talk about fake it till you make it. I had never been in a movie. I'd been in little bits, so I was like, oh yes, that's my trailer, no problem. And I'm like dying inside calling my mom. Um, so I would say that was a big uh career high as far as acting goes. Um, and I God, I guess with makeup, uh, it's yes, a lot of the celebrities being a part of this and being a part of TV shows where you like I was saying earlier, you watch it from the beginning to the end, you see how the magic happens, and you're a part of something of this entertainment world where people are sitting back watching TV, you get to be in it, and it's you kind of watch the magic happen. So I think those kind of things like Tracy Morgan, we did a commercial together and in the makeup chair hearing about the accident he had. So we're all like basically in tears, and then two minutes later we're laughing, and just yeah, there's so many things that you think, wow, it's a great job to have. I gotta make people look and feel beautiful and confident and meet awesome people around the way.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

Impressive. Um, all right. And if you were 18 again and you could go back and change anything, could be personally or professionally, what would you change?

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Like in the scope of life?

SPEAKER_00 19:05

It can be anything. So say you're 18 again right now, and you can go back and you could change, I guess, yeah, personally or professionally, anything in your life. What would you change or if you could change?

SPEAKER_01 19:16

I think that is an easy answer, and I know exactly what it is. Um, I my dream was to be on Saturday Night Live. That was my dream. Um, I used to train at Up Right Citizens Brigade and do a lot of comedy. Um, I would I grew up watching it, and I got to do um Anna Gas Dyer's makeup recently and a few others, but just SNL would have been my dream. Like celebrity impressions, making people laugh, and like, you know, and they say Nora Dunn, like to have that announcer say your name. Um, I think that would have been something if I could go back. I I got close to um a few things with that, with SNL and with um Mad TV, but never made the cut. So now we'll do the make it for the people who are no, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

But yeah, never too late.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

We'll see. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

And Sunday Night Live's timeless too. Obviously, even now to now, like it's incredible. So yeah, um, yeah, it's never too late. Nothing ever in life is too late. That's one thing I've learned.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

I agree.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

And um, what are your hobbies and passions aside from obviously everything you do? What do you, I guess, when you do have time to have downtime, what do you like to do?

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Well, I love to, I'm a dog mom, so I'm completely obsessed with my dogs. Um, and my husband's like, hey, I'm here too, remember me. Um, I've become a crazy dog person. Um, so that's one of my hobbies. Um, I really enjoy like dining out with my friends and just relaxing and having a glass of wine and talking and just being together. I think I'm on the go so much. Me being settled and sitting, watching some Netflix shows, cuddling with my dogs and my husband, and seeing my family. I think it's very grounding. And that quiet time, I think, is my most favorite thing.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

And have you done much traveling?

SPEAKER_01 21:16

I do, I travel a lot. Yeah. Um, God, I've been all over. I did um, I was flown to Scotland to do a wedding there at a castle, which is a whole other podcast. So interesting. Um, I would did a wedding in, I've I've flown to Peru for work, um, the Bahamas for work, and then traveling. Like my husband's family is from England and Ireland. So we go there all the time to visit his family. Um, yeah, I've traveled all over the world. I love it, but I always love coming back home.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Favorite place. Favorite place you've ever been to.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Oh my gosh, favorite place. I have to say it's the tie between Machu Picchu and Peru. Um my gosh, what else? What else? I would say, hmm. I also I love Rome, obviously. I have friends who live there. I go to Italy a lot, and then you you might know this because of your accent. Maybe I'm off, but York, England.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

I know obviously England, but I don't know York. Like I've heard of York. I think the T comes from there. Isn't there a T from there?

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Yeah, yeah. So it's like this little enchanting place that looks like a Disney movie with cobblestone streets and fresh baked bread. It's where my husband's mother's from. So it's like this quaint little phantasmical town. So I would say that's probably up there with top three.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Wonderful. Uh yeah, Amanda, thank you for coming on the podcast to appreciate it. I've had an amazing time interviewing. It's sensational everything you've done in your career, and obviously what you're doing now. So, yeah, thanks for coming on.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

Well, thank you so much. I appreciate the time, I really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

Thank you.