About Ellie...
Ellie Balfe has been one of Ireland's leading professional makeup artist for 17 years. Her teenage dream of becoming a makeup artist became a reality when she was accepted into the prestigious Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design in 1993 and trained intensively for two full years in makeup skills for film, TV, theatre and fashion. She was in the first group of graduates and was in immediate demand.
She started her career in the film and television industry working in the makeup rooms of RTE TV, The Abbey Theatre and Ardmore Studios before moving into fashion where her first shoots were published in the popular DSide and Hot Press magazines.
In 1995, she was chosen as Bobbi Brown’s first head makeup artist for Ireland and in this role she worked both on fashion shoots and shows representing the brand, but also with real women educating them in new makeup techniques on the counter. This sparked an interest in Ellie for merging the two skills; she believes that the fantasy of the fashion world can translate to real women’s beauty regimes as long as they are shown how to use products correctly.
In 1996, Ellie moved to London to work for Space NK. At that time, the brand had only 6 stores and Ellie become a makeup artist and then a store manager for the company. This period was full of inspiration as she was trained in over 30 different brands including Stila, NARS, Laura Mercier and Chantecaille to name a few. She had the pleasure of training with Laura Mercier and Janine Lobell themselves, and picked up many tips from these great makeup artists.
As a result of this exposure to some of the makeup industries trailblazers, Ellie adopted a true mix and match approach to beauty; a theme she keeps to this day. Whilst in London, she worked on celebrities such as Courteney Cox and Louise Redknapp as well as many high society weddings and events.
After four years in London, Ellie moved back to Ireland to help in the set up and staff training of the original Blue Eriu store on Dublin’s South William St. This project was exciting as it was the launch of many of the niche makeup brands to Ireland and Ellie’s expertise in this concept of beauty retail was invaluable.
After her stint in Blue Eriu came to an end, Ellie worked freelance for a number of years and built up a great clientele of notable women as well as those not in the public eye who wanted a personal makeup artist to prepare them for big events and weddings. She led the makeup team for the MTV Music Awards in Dublin personally working on Geri Halliwell, Alicia Silverstone and Iggy Pop to name a few. Her freelance clients include RTE's Off The Rails, IMAGE magazine, VIP magazine as well as Social & Personal and Tatler magazines.
Ellie began to build her reputation as a reliable, non-biased makeup artist at a time when so many good artists worked for a particular brand, so they couldn’t truly recommend all the products that they used in their kit. As a result, she was frequently called on by the press for her opinion and she regularly sits on beauty award judging panels such as those for IMAGE and Prudence magazines. After a couple of years as a freelance artist, Ellie was approached by Stila Cosmetics to become their business manager and head makeup artist in Ireland. She was based between Brown Thomas in Dublin and London in this role for two years.
In 2005 she wanted to get out of the retail environment and teach real women how to do their makeup so she set up a company called Boylan & Balfe – The Makeup People with fellow makeup artist, Ken Boylan. Together they taught courses to aspiring makeup artists as well as to women who were looking to update their makeup skills and get some non-biased advice as to what products to buy to get the best results. Boylan & Balfe were responsible for the looks for many fashion shows and events such as Off The Rails Live, Marks & Spencer, Divine Boutique, The Aghadoe Heights Ladies Lunches, The L’Oreal Colour Trophy show and they looked after the makeup for the wives of the golfers throughout the Ryder Cup.
Since Boylan & Balfe closed in 2010, Ellie has launched her own range of bespoke makeup courses to much acclaim and her passion for bringing the best products to her clients continues unabated. She also taken up beauty writing for various magazine and websites. Her own blog called Ellie loves has become extremely popular with people searching for style and makeup inspiration and she was voted Best Irish Blogger 2010 by the leading review website Entertainment Ireland.
She also continues to work with many brides and personal clients who love her flawless and natural, yet glamorous makeup style. Her recent exciting partnering with Harvey Nichols means she is available for one-on -one lessons in a beautiful private suite in the store and will provide the only personal beauty shopper service in the country where she will chooses the best products for her clients from across all of the brands in the niche beauty department.
Ellie’s beauty philosophy is a simple one; she believes in taking it back to basics; really looking at your skin, your lifestyle and your personal tastes and designing a look that is beautiful and polished and that enhances who you are.
‘Good makeup is an equation; accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and what you're left with is you; only slightly better!'
- Ellie Balfe.
She started her career in the film and television industry working in the makeup rooms of RTE TV, The Abbey Theatre and Ardmore Studios before moving into fashion where her first shoots were published in the popular DSide and Hot Press magazines.
In 1995, she was chosen as Bobbi Brown’s first head makeup artist for Ireland and in this role she worked both on fashion shoots and shows representing the brand, but also with real women educating them in new makeup techniques on the counter. This sparked an interest in Ellie for merging the two skills; she believes that the fantasy of the fashion world can translate to real women’s beauty regimes as long as they are shown how to use products correctly.
In 1996, Ellie moved to London to work for Space NK. At that time, the brand had only 6 stores and Ellie become a makeup artist and then a store manager for the company. This period was full of inspiration as she was trained in over 30 different brands including Stila, NARS, Laura Mercier and Chantecaille to name a few. She had the pleasure of training with Laura Mercier and Janine Lobell themselves, and picked up many tips from these great makeup artists.
As a result of this exposure to some of the makeup industries trailblazers, Ellie adopted a true mix and match approach to beauty; a theme she keeps to this day. Whilst in London, she worked on celebrities such as Courteney Cox and Louise Redknapp as well as many high society weddings and events.
After four years in London, Ellie moved back to Ireland to help in the set up and staff training of the original Blue Eriu store on Dublin’s South William St. This project was exciting as it was the launch of many of the niche makeup brands to Ireland and Ellie’s expertise in this concept of beauty retail was invaluable.
After her stint in Blue Eriu came to an end, Ellie worked freelance for a number of years and built up a great clientele of notable women as well as those not in the public eye who wanted a personal makeup artist to prepare them for big events and weddings. She led the makeup team for the MTV Music Awards in Dublin personally working on Geri Halliwell, Alicia Silverstone and Iggy Pop to name a few. Her freelance clients include RTE's Off The Rails, IMAGE magazine, VIP magazine as well as Social & Personal and Tatler magazines.
Ellie began to build her reputation as a reliable, non-biased makeup artist at a time when so many good artists worked for a particular brand, so they couldn’t truly recommend all the products that they used in their kit. As a result, she was frequently called on by the press for her opinion and she regularly sits on beauty award judging panels such as those for IMAGE and Prudence magazines. After a couple of years as a freelance artist, Ellie was approached by Stila Cosmetics to become their business manager and head makeup artist in Ireland. She was based between Brown Thomas in Dublin and London in this role for two years.
In 2005 she wanted to get out of the retail environment and teach real women how to do their makeup so she set up a company called Boylan & Balfe – The Makeup People with fellow makeup artist, Ken Boylan. Together they taught courses to aspiring makeup artists as well as to women who were looking to update their makeup skills and get some non-biased advice as to what products to buy to get the best results. Boylan & Balfe were responsible for the looks for many fashion shows and events such as Off The Rails Live, Marks & Spencer, Divine Boutique, The Aghadoe Heights Ladies Lunches, The L’Oreal Colour Trophy show and they looked after the makeup for the wives of the golfers throughout the Ryder Cup.
Since Boylan & Balfe closed in 2010, Ellie has launched her own range of bespoke makeup courses to much acclaim and her passion for bringing the best products to her clients continues unabated. She also taken up beauty writing for various magazine and websites. Her own blog called Ellie loves has become extremely popular with people searching for style and makeup inspiration and she was voted Best Irish Blogger 2010 by the leading review website Entertainment Ireland.
She also continues to work with many brides and personal clients who love her flawless and natural, yet glamorous makeup style. Her recent exciting partnering with Harvey Nichols means she is available for one-on -one lessons in a beautiful private suite in the store and will provide the only personal beauty shopper service in the country where she will chooses the best products for her clients from across all of the brands in the niche beauty department.
Ellie’s beauty philosophy is a simple one; she believes in taking it back to basics; really looking at your skin, your lifestyle and your personal tastes and designing a look that is beautiful and polished and that enhances who you are.
‘Good makeup is an equation; accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and what you're left with is you; only slightly better!'
- Ellie Balfe.
