Last Thursday, in Episode 3 of Glow Up Ireland, the guest judge was Los Angeles-based Oscar-winning makeup artist – Michèle Burke.

In this challenge, the remaining MUAs were asked to create modern versions of some of Michele’s most memorable movie characters. We chatted with the two Kilkenny contestants after the show, with Michael Ryan and Carol Knox having two very different reactions to last week’s show.

Michèle won two Academy Awards for Best Makeup for Dracula and Bram Stoker’s Quest for Fire and has been nominated six times in total. Michèle’s credits include Dracula, Mission Impossible 3 & 4, Jerry Maguire, As Good As It Gets and Minority Report among many others. His main ladies include Penelope Cruz, Helen Hunt, Jessica Chastain and Cameron Diaz and his main men include Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom and Morgan Freeman.

Michèle thinks that the work of the characters shows “the true courage of a makeup artist” in a film. Whether Francis Ford Coppola asked for a unique take on Dracula or Tom Cruise searched for a never-before-seen vampire in Interview With A Vampire, Michele had to think outside the box, and that’s what she’s looking for when she asked. to MUAs to create modern times. versions of some of his most memorable characters.

The eight MUAs have also been paired up to test their team play skills, as it is asked to ‘double the team on sets happens all the time’ and is part of the challenge of a true work environment. The prize for last week’s challenge was to gain a life-changing all-access mentorship from this amazing award-winning makeup artist. So how did Michael and Carol behave?

The roles rotated for Carol Knox this week, making it her favorite episode so far.

“To have Michele Burke, a pioneer and a leading woman in her field who worked with all the stars in Hollywood was mind blowing. She is such a beautiful and kind woman,” she said.

“For this challenge of Michèle’s industry, we were matched, so the oldest – me and the youngest – Niall were matched. We had the best crack and we bonded during this episode. Our mission was to recreating the vampire character of Tom Cruise from Interview with a Vampire, so the vampire had to be very good looking. We were really happy with our look but as always, if we had had more time, we could have pushed it further. ”

Carol dodged the red chair this week and was delighted with the comments she received both on and off camera from the judges. “Having two people who believe in me more than I believe in myself has been very emotional for me,” she said.

Creative challenge
This week’s creative challenge was called “Primal Fear”. The remaining MUAs are tasked with creating a look that embodies their worst fear or phobia and this challenge saw Michael from Kilkenny fighting to stay in the competition.

Michael explained to the Kilkenny People how episode 3 was the one he worried about, “The theme for this week was facing your fears. I had planned a completely different concept for this look but on the morning of the challenge. , I changed my mind. My original concept just didn’t feel authentic, so I knew I had to tell my real story, “he said.

“It was a really tough day on set, I was in my head and panicking. I found myself facing what I expected, my look just wasn’t up to the mark. Luckily, I managed to stay and fight for another week. I’m glad I told my story, because the feedback from people who have been through the same has been tremendous. “

Don’t miss Glow Up Ireland this Thursday as this week’s guest judge is the Queen of Ireland and a national treasure – Panti Bliss. MUAs will be invited to create a distinctive drag look on their model and we can’t wait to see that. Glow Up Ireland is presented by TV star, model and influencer Maura Higgins which airs on RTÉ2 from 9:35 pm every Thursday.