Here’s the story of a gal named Sheila…

It would make sense that one of my earliest memories would involve some part of the beautification process.

I was about four years old and sitting on my mom’s lap in a hotel room in New York City while watching her paint a cherry red nail polish on her nails. My family was in town for a conference, and Mom must have seen someone wearing that shade. She headed over to a drug store, brought the bottle back to the hotel room in a brown paper bag, placed her hands over the empty bag, and proceeded to paint away.

It’s hard to explain what that particular moment did to me, but I’ve been hooked on all things beauty-related ever since.

Through years of trial and error as a makeup lover, and my years of working as a makeup artist, I can say that everything that I’ve experienced in my life and my work – the good and the bad – made Painted Ladies possible. 

My vision with Painted Ladies was to create an online magazine of sorts, a centralized location where makeup industry pros as well as real women who happen to love and use makeup, could convene to share, learn, and grow.

I love makeup. I love applying makeup on myself. I love applying makeup on other people. I love teaching people about how to apply makeup and how to use the colors they own.  I love educating people about the beauty industry, period!

And that is who I am - I am a beauty industry writer and makeup artist, and I also dabble in photography. You can see more of my work on my personal website, http://www.sheilaarkee.com/live.

Some more details about me: I’m 31 years old, of Middle Eastern ancestry, and have dark, naturally curly hair and olive skin that tends toward the oily side. My beauty goals are to keep on top of this aging thing (where’d those sunspots come from?), and my general well-being. I hope to finally lose those lingering pregnancy pounds that have stayed after a divorce and the stress of being a single mom.