TRISH McEVOY
Trish McEvoy always knew she wanted to be a makeup artist; in fact, there was just nothing else she wanted to do. Born in Ireland, and raised by her grandmother in Berlin, Trish started her love affair with makeup at an early age. The world of cosmetics opened up to Trish when, at five-years old, she first began playing with makeup at her grandmother's perfumery. Trish anxiously watched as customers were magically transformed at the hands of makeup artists. As a small child, Trish new she wanted to be part of that magic.
As she got older, playing turned into learning, and Trish began mastering the art of applying makeup. Throughout high school in Atlanta, her friends considered her to be the "makeup guru." She then took her talents behind the department store cosmetics counter for a large cosmetics company, where women lined up for her makeup advice. Trish headed to New York in the early '70s to pursue a career as an independent makeup artist. She trained Wilhelmina models, did photo shoots for top fashion magazines, and even worked with Pan Am flight attendants.
Trish recognised two things: she knew she had an innate talent for teaching real women to apply makeup, and she knew there was a need for products that would ease the application of makeup. So in 1975, Trish began creating the first line of high-quality, fool-proof makeup brushes. From yellow-based foundations to lipstick that would last, Trish went on to recognise voids in the cosmetics market and began to fill them.
When Trish met her soon-to-be-husband and noted dermatologist, Dr. Ronald Sherman M.D., they opened up a skincare/makeup centre together on Fifth Avenue. Trish began seeing clients at the centre, and her following grew even further. Initially her clients were strictly local, but as word-of-mouth spread, clients started coming from out-of-town while on visits to the city.
"What turned things around," Trish assesses, "was when my clients kept asking me, "Why can't I get your products near me - and why can't you come work in my town?"" This pushed Trish to go national with her products. However, Trish wanted not only her products available nationwide, but her expertise and talent for teaching women how to apply makeup. Faced with this challenge, Trish decided to personally train every makeup artist and counter person behind each Trish McEvoy counter.
In 1993, Henri Bendel turned out to be the perfect partner to start Trish's national expansion. Known for its avant-garde shopping atmosphere, Bendels gave Trish McEvoy Beauty the springboard it needed to be the success it is today. Within the first month, Trish McEvoy was one of the top two lines in the store.
Today, Trish McEvoy products are sold at over one hundred retail doors nationwide, and Trish continues to fill the gaps with cutting edge products and fool-proof application tools. Trish's philosophy is, and always has been, that beauty is all about options, ease and education, and that the best face to show the world is the one you were born with.
As her business continues to expand, Trish faces a challenge: how to keep the personal relationship she has with her client? Her answer: always give the customer what they need. Never compromise. Keep standards up. Take risks. Make the products exciting, but keep them basic and usable.