With his hair swept back in a short ponytail, the cool Rapee 'Fluke' Chusuwan fares as a makeup artist and beauty blogger, who made a name for himself on the alwaysfluke.com website.
Interestingly, he holds a bachelor's in law and a master's in public administration. With such qualifications, woudn't he be better off doing something else?
Fluke was previously a university lecturer for seven years and the head of an interactive media department before dedicating himself to makeup artistry of which he's notable for bridal makeup.
His job satisfaction comes from making women beautiful and happy. "When I finish doing clients' makeup and hand them a mirror, it's always rewarding to see them smile," said the independent makeup artist. "One woman even cried and said that she never thought that she could be so beautiful. It was a special moment in her life."
Besides sharing his beauty know-how with netizens, the 38-year-old wants to transfer his experience to wannabe makeup artists as he plans for an early retirement in 10 years' time.
When did you discover a flair for doing makeup?
My interest in drawing had me taking art classes from a young age and I loved drawing cars. The art classes gave me the basics for doing makeup, and initially I did stage makeup for the performing arts club at law school.
I joined the club to try out singing and acting but wasn't good at either. The job rotation then took me to the makeup department where I discovered my calling.
Why did you choose to study law?
I thought that I could apply what I learned at Thammasat University's Faculty of Law to my personal life while the education background would bring good career opportunities.
But after graduation, I realised that I didn't fit in with being a lawyer. I then wanted to become a car dealer but ended up pursuing a master's in public administration at Nida [The National Institute of Development Administration]. My focus was on project management _ a subject that I later taught students when I was a university lecturer.
Were you a strict lecturer?
No, not at all. People find me a talkative person, and teaching is just talking but entertaining to keep students interested.
My fashionable personal appearance, however, had some conservative older professors raising their eyebrows. So I had to quit the job even though I enjoyed teaching.
Did you go to makeup school?
I've been a makeup artist for almost 20 years, and it was mostly about self-learning, which included analysing pictures of faces in magazine shoots to identify how the makeup is applied and sketching makeup on a clean face from a photo to see how it works out.
I have a preference for creating natural and wearable rather than fashionable looks. A friend once encouraged me to do dramatic fashionable makeup because it would cause a sensation and make me famous, but that's not my style.
How do you define beauty?
When someone asks me this question, I would say: beauty is moderation _ less can be more. If a simple sweep of lip gloss makes you look good, then that may be enough.
Why are there so many successful male makeup artists?
Women may be afraid that they are not beautiful enough and so they may excessively put on everything, from foundation to false lashes.
Men aim for moderation that may not require doing every step, from 1 to 10. If say, steps 1, 2 and 3 already make someone pretty then just stop there.
A lot of my clients are brides, who also may not need the complete makeup look on the most important day of their life.
What is your bridal makeup approach?
You can always retouch makeup for a fashion shoot but bridal makeup has to be impeccable whether seen from a distance or close-up, in day or night lighting, and it has to have staying power for at least six hours. Doing bridal makeup is like putting on a show.
Most importantly, each bride has to be beautiful in her own way and the makeup has to bring out her individuality and personality.
I always use the most expensive cosmetics, whether foundation or false lashes, in doing bridal makeup.
When wearing makeup, it doesn't carry a brand name like handbags. But when you use a luxury cosmetics brand, it makes a difference in giving a better coverage, texture and colour to make a bride the most beautiful woman on her big day.
How did you become a beauty blogger?
I also took a course in creating websites and that background made me qualify for the head of interactive media department at Central Pattana Group.
Besides managing the shopping complex's website, I also began giving advice on my own beauty blog after previously doing that on a Pantip webboard.
At first, I only posted a picture of the finished makeup with a description of how I did it. I thought that people didn't want others to compare before-and-after pictures of them as everyone wants to look their best in the cyberworld.
Netizens, however, didn't believe in me, and so I asked permission from my clients to put both pictures. That earned me credibility and made me who I am today on alwaysfluke.com.
Can anyone be a beauty blogger?
Yes, if they want to be. It's basically giving one's opinion and advice and most bloggers base that on their experience of using cosmetics. But what works for one person may not be good for another.
I actually wanted to become a beauty blogger after reading the blogs and finding that they didn't offer the advice that I would give based on my interaction with cosmetics users.
What are your views on cosmetic surgery?
When I was a child, I naively thought that you have to be born beautiful. But now I know well how makeup can make women beautiful.
Nowadays, cosmetic procedure and surgery can dramatically change how one looks, and I'm not against people having them because they have the right to make changes to their body in order to improve their appearance.
What are your future plans?
At this moment, I'm thinking of an early retirement in 10 years' time. It doesn't mean that I will totally quit being a makeup artist but I will take things more slowly.
What is important to me is not how much money I can make but how much I can save in order to securely prepare for retirement.
