When you think of makeup, you usually think of really beautiful CoverGirl models that are covered in lots of stunning and extravagant makeup designs, and not scary monsters that could give you nightmares. Well, that’s exactly what Senior Nicole Miceli does.
Miceli, who is a technically a junior, is planning to graduate one year early with the class of 2018 despite being in the class of 2019 to study cosmetology at Paul Mitchell The School Tysons Corner.
“I decided to study cosmetology two years ago, probably around middle school,” Nicole said.
Ever since then, she has been hooked on doing makeup to herself and others.
Cosmetology is defined as “the professional skill or practice of beautifying the face, hair, and skin,” and that is exactly what she does. Nicole has been studying to be a cosmetologist and enjoys doing all types of makeup including TV and movie makeup. Nicole told me a story of how one of her friends who also is studying cosmetology got hired to work as a cosmetologist on the set of the hit TV show, The Walking Dead.
Nicole’s favorite “genre” of makeup is gore. She likes to practice her scary makeup on herself and her brother, who presumably enjoys it. She also practices her makeup on her mannequin, who she named Sharon.
She went over the process of making cuts and blood out of makeup materials.
“First I take Spirit gum and stick it onto the area which I am placing the cut,” she said. “Then I take some modeling wax and I blend it into my skin where the spirit gum is. I take an exacto knife and cut into the wax in order to make the skin look broken. Finally, I take a few creme based paints and cover the area to give it a bloody look.”
I couldn’t believe how disgustingly realistic her makeup could be, and I wondered if there was anything she wasn’t grossed out about.
Surprisingly, Nicole is grossed out by lots of things. The grossest of them all is pimple popping videos. Nicole’s mother, GM’s school nurse Mrs. Kelly Micelii, doesn’t understand why Nicole is so grossed out by the pimple popping videos when she is always dealing with blood and gore.
“I guess she is okay with popping her own pimples, but when its other people, I guess it grosses her out. [The videos are] oddly satisfying in some way,” Mrs. Miceli said.
Despite having a clear path ahead, Nicole has hit a few bumps in the road with her journey to becoming a cosmetologist. This year, Nicole signed up for the cosmetology course at ACC. She started to take the class but dropped it soon after, after realizing she already knew everything that they were teaching.
Prior to dropping the class, she had all but one of her standard diploma credits. Nicole already knew what she wanted to do with her life and only needed one more English credit in order to graduate this year, so she decided to replace her free period with an Hy-C English 12.
Nicole has to create a makeup portfolio for colleges in order to get in.
“I take lots of pictures of my makeup and I create a portfolio. With that portfolio, I send it to both of the schools along with all of my other information.”
Her makeup art is so detailed that she has convinced some people that it is real.
Nicole told me she would describe herself as a nice person, but she hates talking about herself because she doesn’t want people to think of her as being self-centered. Growing up, Miceli’s mother described her as being “feisty and very artistic.”
Mrs. Miceli has great hopes for her daughter in the cosmetology industry. “When she has her mind on something, she will follow through,” she said.
Not every 16 year old can say that they are graduating early, and not every makeup artist can say that they specialize in cuts and scabs. Nicole Miceli has put her (artificial) blood, sweat and tears into her career, and this is only the beginning of her journey.
