08.16.2023
Episode 237: Neil Scibelli, Makeup Artist and On-Air Beauty Expert
Summary
When Makeup Artist and On-Air Beauty Expert Neil Scibelli says that he feels like he has already lived several lifetimes, we can understand why. From hosting a radio show in 3rd grade, auditioning for Tony Bennett in junior high school, to talking his way into a job at Fresh Skin Care—he has clearly shown persistence and a passion for the entertainment and makeup industries.
We loved chatting with Neil about his journey to becoming a well-respected on-air personality, often seen on Good Morning America—where one of his earliest gigs was doing makeup for Beyoncé’s dancers and band! But every day is different in the entertainment industry and Neil makes a great point when he talks about always showing up for yourself because as a freelancer, you don’t know where the job will take you next.
To hear our chat with Neil (which we think needs a Part 2!) listen up wherever you get your podcasts!
I think when you have something that your soul has a burning desire to offer the world, you will find a way to do it.
Neil Scibelli
Transcript
| Announcer | Welcome to WHERE BRAINS MEET BEAUTY™ Podcast hosted by Jodi Katz, Found and Creative Director of Base Beauty Creative Agency. |
| Aleni Mackarey | Hi, Jodi. Or should I say, Hi Barbie? |
| Jodi Katz | Yeah, let's do it. Let's play along, Hi Barbie. |
| Aleni Mackarey | Hi Barbie. I'm sure that you have seen I know we've all been talking about it at face beauty. The incredible marketing campaigns have been happening for Barbie this past several months. I think it's been it's just been pink overload all over and so many amazing collaborations with different brands. I was actually at an Ad Age Conference this past week. And somebody was talking about how the Barbie marketing was so genius because it's not like the idea was incredibly innovative. It was just going so insane with putting this collaboration with every single brand. You could think of food brands, fashion brands, makeup brands, service brands, so many different things. It's everywhere. So it's, it's really cool to see. |
| Jodi Katz | Well, I will say this is not gonna be surprised. I think the Barbie marketing team takes inspiration from Disney because they do this really well themselves. Right? They like find a foothold, a topic or category and they just really saturate it so that everything from you know the songs are wearing the song you're listening to is surrounding you in that world. |
| Aleni Mackarey | Yeah, that’s amazing. It's a full takeover. I have not seen the movie yet. Have you? |
| Jodi Katz | I saw it. And I really loved it. It is laugh out loud. I guess it's funny, but it's also very biting. And very true. And I think it's always fascinating when like meaningful, deep and important stories are packaged up in ways that you don't expect. So I thought it was awesome. The art direction, of course is incredible. The approach to weaving in the history of Barbie as a organization and an innovator through the years is also amazing. And then there's some really great cameos by people who are important in the in the Barbie history. |
| Aleni Mackarey | Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. I am going to see it next week. I have done a lot of different pop up activations that have happened in New York City. Over the past few months, I went to the Malibu Barbie Cafe, which was so fun. I went to a rooftop place that had a lot of Malibu Barbie things. So I am a Barbie girl and I can't wait to see it. That's a great review. |
| Jodi Katz | Yeah, you know, now that I think about it, it's really been months and months and months of Barbie, behind the scenes at best beauty because our clients, you know, for some of the clients, it is a relevant trend to hop on. So I remember when this first wave came a few months ago, and then there's some clients where they just say like, it's not us. And we agree and we move along. So it's always a really fun conversation to have with clients about how to or if to leverage trends. |
| Aleni Mackarey | Yeah, being authentic in those places is really important for brands because the trends can be so fun if they work and if they don't, then there's probably somewhere else you can be playing. |
| Jodi Katz | I want to introduce you to Neil Scibelli. So Aleni, you probably heard Neil's name a lot because he's done some work behind the scenes with us at Base Beauty. But he's a very talented makeup artist, celebrity makeup artist and on our beauty expert you might see him on like Good Morning America or other shows. And we have a really sweet and honest conversation about journey. And his story is so incredible. He was one of those amazing performing arts stars as a young kid had a lot of opportunities in performing arts schools in New York City. And I love hearing that shift from being you know, the person who was on the stage to being that person behind the scenes who's helping people feel their best. |
| Aleni Mackarey | Oh, that's amazing. I love that he shared his his history and his story with us and I did get to see the photo he's a bit of him as a child on the radio New York kids show and you have to check that out on our Instagram be going live WHERE BRAINS MEET BEAUTY™ Podcast if you don't already follow we have a lot of fun over there. And you can also see the video of our fun Barbie makeup the game from this episode. So there are a lot of hard choices with Neil and Jodi deciding what makeup to wear to the movie which is a lot of fun. |
| Jodi Katz | I want to shout out to Natasha our producer because she comes up with these amazingly inventive games. And she found a way to have a different like Barbie theme scenarios with this or that makeup options and they were so precise and so incredible. And they were hard pics for Neil. This is a fun one to watch on Instagram. |
| Aleni Mackarey | Oh that's so great. Awesome. Well, let's get to it. Here is episode 237 Neil Scibelli. |
| Jodi Katz | Welcome to WHERE BRAINS MEET BEAUTY™. We are career journey podcast talking about what it's like to define success and reach for it in the beauty and wellness industries. Today we continue our artistry and influencing theme with Neil Scibelli makeup artists and on air beauty expert who has worked with celebs such as Elle McPherson, John Legend and Melissa Etheridge. You may recognize Neil from his recurring spots on Good Morning America, but he's also no stranger to New York Fashion Week runways, red carpets and other national television with almost 15 years of Experience Sharing beauty education with the public has become a passion for Neil, where he is now able to contribute insightful beauty tips and tutorials to leading beauty media, both on air and in print. I'm excited to get into this conversation about his career journey from Makeup chair to on the air on Episode 237. Hi, Neil. |
| Neil Scibelli | Oh my gosh, that was such a sweet intro. I literally like feel emotional about that. Thank you for having me. |
| Jodi Katz | Neil, it’s pretty major, right? If you think about like the very beginning, and we're gonna start with the beginning. So my favorite question on the show, since we are career focus is let's go back to 10 year old 11 year old Neil, what do you want to be when you grew up? |
| Neil Scibelli | Well, funny enough, I co hosted a radio show when I was in third grade called New York kids. I'm born and raised in New York. And I remember this radio station, they're still around, they're like in New York radio station, on FM, they came to the school and audition people. And I go figure to what I'm doing now. So I got on the show. And they asked me then on air in the third grade, and I said I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I feel like every kid says that, you know, veterinarian for for a few moments in my career. But that quickly changed. And I fell in love with music and performing arts and art in general, really early on, you know, growing up alongside my grandfather, who is from Italy, and was a painter, an oil painter, and incredible painter, I'm looking at his painting right now in front of me hanging out, you know, as a kid at my grandparents house was literally hanging out in the art studio with my grandpa and helping him blend the colors and like passing him the brushes, and then being like, Can I do something? So then he would give me like a mini canvas. And I was paint. And so there was a lot of art early on. And then you know, I just continued to fall in love with it. |
| Jodi Katz | So in third grade, you're on a radio show. Was that like something that like a casting you had to go through to get on that? Or was it just random? |
| Neil Scibelli | They were interviewing students in schools, and they brought like a radio set up to our classrooms. I can't even that's so cool to my school actually participated in that. But they did bring like, sort of like a setup to our classroom. And they were like, does anybody want to audition to be on the show, raise your hand. And it was like all about kids hosting the show and interviewing other kids around the world, talking about current events, delivering like, somewhat like soft news and at the time, so I loved all of that I loved communications early on. And I also loved, you know, acting and drama program and stuff like that. So I auditioned for it. And they sent a letter to my house and they were like it, you know, your mom has to sign it and bring you to the studio and in Time Square at the time. So it was really cool. It was just really fun. And I have an old photo of me like with the headsets on in the studio that I posted before, but I have to dig it back up again. |
| Jodi Katz | Now we're going to dive really deep into this. But there's just so many sort of performing related arts related experiences that you had as a young person, like a lifetime's worth really is what it feels like. So I want to jump from this because this is fascinating to high school, because your high school experience was, you know, kind of like, what kids dream about. So tell us a little bit about, well, life in New York City in high school, and you know, where you ended up and how. |
| Neil Scibelli | You know, for the people who are listening who might be maybe younger, can you just paint in perspective how major it is that Tony Bennett was at your auditions and involved in the school so closely because a lot of the certainly might not really understand the scale and scope of his stardom. yeah, coming out of junior high at the time it was you either go to your localized high school, or you audition for a specialized high school, and I knew early on, I was already involved in the arts as a kid and then Jen and I was already performing in junior high school. And so my music teacher while I was in junior high school, Miss Shaunc. I love you if you're watching or if you watch the replay, Miss Roberta Sean said, there's this school opening. It's a new performing arts school that's opening for high schoolers, and it's going to be founded by the singer Tony Bennett. And at that moment, at that time, I had already auditioned and got into talented unlimited and LaGuardia. And those were the two that you kind of just no brainer like you just auditioned for and you cross your fingers. But the new high school actually was I was still in time for it. And I said, Oh my gosh, the legend Tony Bennett like is creating a high school. I totally want to go there. And so I auditioned and we have to sing Happy Birthday, acoustic I'll never forget that and Tony Bennett was there and he was at like a lot of like the opening like the school opening and like our he would come into the classroom. So long story short, I ended up going there and there was vocal Drama, Musical Theater, fine arts, and it has continued to be an incredible school with top notch facilities for kids to have at Access to arts programs and schools. So I did go there I chose to go there I got in and honestly it was a dream it was singing in the hallways, painting you know on your breaks singing on the subway with the choir we we performed starting freshman year all the way through senior year. And that was unique to me because a lot of the schools at the time did not want you in the field young like they wanted you to stay in school. And you can only perform your senior year. But aside from the Tony Bennett factor of him opening the school with his wife, Susan, who's incredible, who is a dear friend of mine still, and they were both involved in opening the school. The other factor was that they allowed you to be in the field pretty young. So I think like learning on the job was also really a way to just do it. Yeah, for Tony it was, as someone like himself, who grew up in Astoria, Queens in has had such an incredible iconic career. At the point that he started the school with his wife, Susan, they wanted to give back to kids, just like Tony himself that wanted to sing that wanted to perform, who I'm a native New Yorker as well. So it felt really familiar. And I understood the passion behind Tony and Susan's mission. And I so appreciate that. So to the state, it changed the trajectory of my life, my career, you know, it really the mentorship from not only just Tony and Susan, but the teachers at the school who were in art classes, three art classes a day, in addition to academics, it changes your brain, you know, it changes your life perspective, it set me up for the future, it set me up for you know, how I interact with people. And it just changed my whole life. Like I was going to Manhattan as a kid. And it was like a candy store to me, like go into Manhattan and go to Broadway shows and auditioning as a kid. Like, it just gave me a whole different worldview. And, you know, aside from him, you know, being happy auditions or anything like that. He just was Tony was so invested in the arts, and how important the arts is, and how it relates to life. You know, like, there's art everywhere. There's beauty everywhere. And that translates to my makeup career as well. And yeah, now I want to do that when, you know, as I continue, I just, I am so passionate about giving back in the arts as well. So, you know, it's just like a full circle. |
| Jodi Katz | Well, he passed just a few days ago. So that must be, you know, a different sort of experience, you know, for you. |
| Neil Scibelli | Yeah. I mean, it's been really sad of my heart goes out to his wife, Susan and his family. I have amazing memories of Tony, I got to see him on and off for, you know, over 20 years, and I've gotten to keep in touch with him and his wife, which has been such an honor. And I literally just saw his wife like a week and a half ago, who is just an incredible human being and is also someone who's just so passionate about, you know, the arts of giving back and I have incredible memories of Tony I have photos with him and I they're framed and I I've never told anyone this but Susan gifted me a little painting a sketch of Tony's which is hanging on my wall. So he's everywhere. And we will never forget him. He's contributed so much to the world from his humanitarian efforts to being a social rights activist to being an iconic legendary singer. I mean, he's tough. He was timeless. And I think what he did in his career and how he's reinvented himself in so many chapters, it's just been a lesson for all of us. And just incredible. I mean, I saw him play at Radio City two years ago, at 95 years old. And when the curtain rose, he lit up, and there was a light in him that inspired me, I was just like, oh my gosh, like he's so alive. And you can see that just music was his soul. And and also the audience was his soul, like seeing the audience and the applause and the energy exchange, I think is what really fueled him that night as well. So he lives on forever, and all of our hearts and we love him, and I'm just so grateful for him for changing my life. |
| Jodi Katz | No, thank you for sharing all those thoughts with us. You know, given everything that you experienced at that school, I would have expected that you had ever career performing on Broadway, but you're not behind the scenes unless you're on TV. So how did you go from perfect were mean to, you know, getting people ready Yeah, for their moments. |
| Neil Scibelli | Well, it's interesting because towards my senior year of high school, I started like helping people do their makeup for the shows like I would, I was naturally gravitating towards like trends and like, I loved fashion and I would go to Sephora with my friends and read the boxes of products like we literally like after school, we would literally go to Sephora and like break up like some of our friends would go into like the makeup department, I would usually be in the skincare department like reading, oh my gosh, would just tell us to like acid do or like, what is like colic acid like I literally was that person as a senior in high school. And I would spend my time at like Sephora, like I said, so I got involved, just naturally. Like I love the idea of transformation. Like especially in performing there's that transformation. And there's also that preparation of helping someone get ready. I still love that to this day in my career of like helping someone get from here to here. And being part of their moments. It's really an honor to be with a client who's like getting ready to do something really special and you are kind of the flashlight behind it, like helping them get ready. So I was still recording and releasing music independently, and ended up working in makeup and following that path. Throughout my college years I went to Marymount Manhattan, I studied journalism and communications, because my parents were like, well, you have to go to college, you can just do makeup and music. So I went to Marymount, which was a great school and I loved it. And that prepared me for today, you know, I feel like an all again, it's full circle, like having that experience like with communications and journalism like really fits into what I'm doing now with working as DDS, but as well. So, but yeah, it did transition, I think sometimes life has different plans for you that you wouldn't have ever realized. Like, I almost feel like I fell into makeup by just being open to what kind of the world and the universe was sending me but it also makes sense because when you're an artist, I think there's different layers to being an artist and, you know, I still release music like for many years and still do, and still do it. For fun, I have a piano on the upright piano that i It's like my meditation, I still play and it's still very much part of my heart in my life. Someone said it to me, like being a multi hyphenate I think is very real. For a while I was like I'm only I can only be a makeup artist and in my in my 20s it was all about really like red carpet in New York Fashion Week and celebrity and I really focused on that and expanded my client range a lot and early on in my career. And then as I went on, I was like, I want to incorporate all of these other facets to me with the journalism and the communication. Whereas that fits in with contributing to media and press now the way I do or that's prepared me to go on air, you know, to places like Good Morning America so I think everything has kind of lined up in a way that makes sense to me now. Um, so it all kind of Yeah, it all it's been a journey I feel like I have had many lifetimes already but it's super fun and, and also I my clients that I work with somehow are in the arts so much like you know, I work with like musicians a lot and they work with actors and I get to help people like feel their best before they go on the red carpet. So it feels familiar to me. And so in a way it's almost like having that perspective as the artist myself I can put myself in their shoes and understand what they're going through and how important these moments are for them and I can kind of just be the flashlight for them. |
| Jodi Katz | So when you decide to focus on makeup, artistry, what type of formal training did you seek out? |
| Neil Scibelli | So literally like 17 and a half years old, I at the time this company called fresh fresh beauty is still out and about but at the time they had a makeup program and a makeup line and I remember being in school and I walked into fresh a store like a storefront that they still had and I just walked in I was like Can I speak to manager and I was like, I would love to work for fresh I was like using their upgrading clay face mask at the time. And like just like I love their products so it's like when can I work part time that would fuel my like what I still want to do so they looked at me like I was crazy because I was really young and also never worked in like sales or like beauty before but they I was pretty like persistent. I was just like I love your products. I would love to work with your brand. I am also a makeup artist and I love your makeup products and like I'd be happy to show you what I can do. And now That's just you know, when you're 17, and you're in New York City, you're just like, you know, I'll do anything the world is yours. So they actually set me up with an interview. And they were like, Alright, we're going to set you up with like the general manager or something long story short, in my interview, he would like take the samples home and come back and like audition for us basically like a sales pitch, what the cleanser does. And then once you pass that round, you will sit down with like the manager of the store and do a makeover on her with fresh makeup. So I had six interviews for for us, I'll never forget this. And I was just so persistent. And then they offered me the job. And I was like their key makeup artists and I trained under their umbrella, which was LVMH. So I trained with like, their, you know, global artistry programming, I took a lot of classes on the side through different like companies like makeup forever, that would post like masterclasses and then I assisted soon after. So like I would say, in my early 20s, I was assisting celebrity makeup artists, and learning one on one with them, always learning from like the Mac Pro programs, Makeup Forever pro programs, there were classes that mod at the time that you could drop into, and then learning one on one with these other big celebrity makeup artists was a dream. And that's really what you did that there was no Instagram, there was no you know, getting ready with me on your phone and just kind of winging it. It was like there was really kind of a structure and I love I love that. I think you know, it was building your book with photographers. So you were literally collaborating, quote unquote, working for free, which to me was a dream because you're doing what you love on set. So you collaborate with photographers, you get your photos done. So you're collaborating with models and photographers so they can see your work on how it looks. And then you would collect all these images and then you know, also assist and then you would kind of get on an agent's roster while you were assisting and then that's kind of how things started to go. And then just for me personally like one of my earliest celebrity clients, I was probably 24 years old, helped kind of like put me on the map and then was referring me to other celebrity friends and then you know it just like it all trickles around and you kind of do everything you can I guess Yeah, to make it happen. |
| Jodi Katz | So you helped me segue into my next question. So, you had the job at Fresh you had at Sustain. Do you remember what the first paid gig as the lead makeup artist was for you outside of being at the store Sustain? |
| Neil Scibelli | Yeah, I was a national makeup artist for a brand called cya cosmetics who I love founder Christina Zilber and I are still super close. So as UAE found me at Henry Bendel, so I left brush I ended up getting like recruited to go to Henry Bendel, which at the time was just like this incredible. I mean, you know, he had you know that it's like rip Henry Bendel's because they're close. But I worked in the on the makeup floor and Henry Bendel while I was like doing my side hustles you know, like, I was at Henry Bendel. And then I was like doing photoshoots you know, my days off or you would as a freelance or you can schedule around your own career. So I was doing that and Kim Cottrell came in which is so funny because now her show glamorous, shows her going into a store shopping and the same scenario happened to me, but it was really hard. Bendel's, but yeah, I was a national makeup artists. That was one of my earlier things. And then, you know, getting to work with like Beyonce as dancers was like one of my earliest gigs as well, like on a larger scale, like working like Good Morning America. It was a Good Morning America concert, another full circle moment. But it was yeah, for ABC. And Beyonce was doing a huge central park concert. And her publicist, my dear friend, Yvette Noel shore, called me and was like, Look, we make up for the band of the dancers. And it's an all female band. And I had assistants helping me because there's a lot of people, but that was like one of my most memorable early moments of like, wow, my work is on TV. And it's like, right behind Beyonce. And it's just that is so much fun. And it's just the cool thing, too, is like, all the projects are always changing, you know, and that's what keeps makeup artists forever feeling, I guess, innovative and on their toes. Because, you know, you have like, dancers one day, and then you have a fashion shoot the next day, and then you might have a red carpet. Like it's so fun. It's so much fun, because it's always changing. But yeah, some of those early moments, Molly Sims was like one of my first ever celebrity clients and at the time I lived in Soho downtown, which was actually not far from her. So I would like stroll over with my kid and like walk over to her apartment, which is incredible. So yeah, I definitely have like Have some really incredible like early, early makeup moments key Fashion Week for Kate Spade for so many seasons was really a dream. The collections were always incredible. And I got to work alongside Brad Goreski stylist, who's amazing. And I remember being like, also like kind of young in the room and going in for those consultations with the designer. So it was like the head of design for Kate Spade, and then Brad Gretzky and then me and we would just kind of sit around a table and look at like, colors and racks of clothing and just figure out like, what we wanted the looks to be for that showcase for that show. And, you know, I did it for like, almost like six seasons or something, or it wasn't really, it was really fun partnership. And yeah, so things like that I'll just never forget, and I have so many photos in the archives. |
| Jodi Katz | Let's talk about kind of life as makeup artists you mentioned every day is different, but then every day is different. So people in your career have to get used to the fact that you might not know what you're working on in two days, right? Or three days. Yes, you don't know where you're going to be next month. So what is the sort of mental alignment that you have to do when you're in a role where you're not in the same place every day, like people who go to an office or people work in a store? And you don't necessarily always know what's coming next? |
| Neil Scibelli | That is really a great question, because not many people have asked it. And I feel like not a lot of people kind of think about that. But um, so it's a few things. My, I think my family always kind of, like, wanted me to have structure and a life that was set up in a certain way so that I knew what was happening all the time. And from very early on, I knew that that wasn't in me, it wasn't, it just wasn't me. I think, you know, when you have to make something like that work, when you just feel like you like owning your own business, you like controlling your own schedule, I think it's artistic, I think because I'm an artist, it's hard for me to just kind of like not do what I'm doing. So in a way, I don't know, anything else. But at the same time, I have had multiple, you know, working with, you know, as a national artists, like you're exclusively with the brand, and it's it's kind of corporate, and you know, I've tried, I had experiences like that, and I worked for a record label out of college, my, I interned really early on for Sony Music and Columbia Records, which was a mind blowing experience. And it was incredible. And I think internships are so important. So also intern everywhere, you can't if you're still in college, but um, I got to see all of those things, I got to see what an office setting was, like, you know, in at Sony and I sat at a desk at Sony. And I got to work PR angles for for the, for the Sony artists. And that was like a dream. Like, I got to work on amazing campaigns for some of today's biggest acts, you know, but I still knew even then I was like, I just know that. This is not for me, I know, I'm not supposed to be at this desk. And like, I just always felt that there was more that I my soul was supposed to give the world and it took a long time to like, just figure out that you can go out on your own and be successful and make it happen. And I did it in a little bit of a strategic way. I think, you know, I always worked from very early on. So I feel you know, freelancers will tell you now, like you need to have a couple months saved before you go out on your own, you kind of have to like, look at the future and know like, these are my expenses, this is how much I might need for the next few months. Even if I don't know what's coming in January, I know that I'm good until then, or you know, things like that. And then I also feel like, you know, it's okay to sacrifice a bit to get there. So I feel like at this point in my life, I'm okay with it. But maybe when I was younger, I always knew I had to have you know, maybe it was a part time job. And then I was on my own or I knew like how to balance that financially. But I think when you have something that you know your soul is has a burning desire to offer the world you will find a way to do it. And I feel like we all do we all just kind of find a way to to make our passions happen. And and I think you know, when you're doing something at a certain point, you know that like it might have an expiration date, you know, you're going to do this for a bit but then you know that your burning passion is this and so you know, you just kind of have to balance your time in making both happen really, along with a lot of self. I would say like meditation. You kind of have to set your yourself up in a regimen as a freelancer, or as a creative that makes you feel sane. Because a we could work morning tonight and just never stop or be, you need to know how to actually let yourself relax and you don't know what's happening, you know, in three months from now, but guess what, I'm gonna go to core power yoga and do like a hot sculpts yoga class, and I'm going to feel really good when I get out. And then I'll figure it out, you know, like, you do have to become your own best friend, you're your best champion for yourself. And you really have to like, hone in on your mental health in order to be a successful entrepreneur or be a successful Freelancer because, you know, it's, it's definitely not easy. But I think it's also really rewarding. |
| Jodi Katz | I would like to just point out to everyone listening, that to get to where you are now was an enormous amount of hustle, and you had to make it happen, right? Things are not handed to you. And anyone who has gotten to their goals, whatever their goals are, worked hard for it. So yeah, you know, Neil, you have a very, like peaceful Zen explanation of what, what the career has been like, but I know for sure you had to really, really, really commit yourself and make sacrifices to get to do what you're doing today. |
| Neil Scibelli | Absolutely. Yeah. And I think we all do in different ways. But it's not easy still, you know, and I still am constantly working, you know, I'm constantly pitching still, I'm constantly auditioning still. And also, like, still really hard on myself all the time. Like, when I maybe don't get the project I really want or, you know, I think you just kind of have to champion through yourself. And yeah, it's, it's still hustled. So I feel like you know, as long as you love it, and you just, you know, you gotta just continue to do and put your best foot forward. And yeah. |
| Jodi Katz | I think that Well, first of all, when I was my 20s, I thought that all the stuff came easy to everybody who had it, right. So I was very misaligned with reality. But once I realized, Oh, everybody has to work for it. Then I started working for it. And then I was like, wait a minute, that never ends, you have to pay for it. Like, like, never ever ends. |
| Neil Scibelli | Like I think and that's the thing. Like, I think people think that once you do this, then you'll like be okay. Like, you'll be good. I'm just like, I did this, but I'm still you know, I'm still hustling. Like, I think we all still are. And maybe we have to continue to lift the veil, which I think the pandemic honestly, and sadly did. But in a way it lifted the veil of like, we're all in this together, and we're all working hard. We're all just trying to make things happen. And I think when you see it on highlight reel, and you see the success, look at us, you think the success is coming easy. It's really not, you're I've heard this said but like you're only as like relevant as like your last project or something. I've heard that as a makeup artist. And I think that's kind of sad. So you have to feel yourself for yourself. Like, I have definitely taken a lot of time over the last few years, like, away from kind of things that I don't want to do anymore. You know, like, I also stay off of social media a little bit more, and I'm trying to get back into like, life things like reading, you know, like, I have a book or right there, I have books right behind me, like I'm trying to actually, you know, continue to create a real life greatness for myself, because it can feel really empty when you think that this thing is going to fill you and make you, you know, Solve, Solve whenever you think you need to solve but I think they're these the why behind it should just be that burning desire and passion for sharing what you do. And I've gotten back to that myself, like, for me going on air or performing or doing anything, it's like, there's an intention behind me wanting to share things. So people can feel their best, so they can look their best so that I can share my talent in the most like optimal ways. It's not for you know, the post for the ground. So yeah. |
| Jodi Katz | I feel like you and I can talk about this forever ever today. Because I also want people to know that like you could be working with your dream clients and you could still feel kind of like not having a good day. Right? Like feel a little matte inside, right? Like this is just like totally normal like not every day just because like the work you're doing is awesome doesn't mean like you feel awesome every day like this is life. We have these, you know, emotional ups and downs even when the success is all around us. |
| Neil Scibelli | Well to go off of that the client also is feeling that way sometimes, you know, like, it's not it's not just me and I do have a little A technique that I do like before I go to anything before I leave my apartment before I go to a client, like, I kind of like do this whole, like mental readiness of like, I'm showing up as my best self. Everything is checked up the door, I'm here to help them, I have a light around me protecting me. I'm here to do my job. And I'm here to make you be your best self. And, and I checked everything at the door. And I think that's really important. And I've heard from clients that like that is what will get you rebooked is like, kind of like I meet them where they are. So sometimes, you know, we're all human. So the client might be having a super chatty day where we're super chatty, and everybody's having fun. And then they might have also just gotten off a flight and had a full day of like, press, and we just need to get this face done and get on to the next interview or something. And maybe we're not talking, you know, and that's fine. So I think we're all just kind of meeting I think it's about meeting them where they are, and they might be having just as much of a good or bad day as I am, you know, so. |
| Jodi Katz | I love this. Okay, this has been an incredible conversation, we will definitely have to and maybe we'll have like a bring some more voices into the park too, because of the emphasis could go on forever. We didn't even talk too much about the line between artistry and influencing you did mention that you tried to like stay off Instagram. So I think you gave me the answer there. Like your focus, focus, focus on that client in your chair, but that could be part two. So I want to wrap up this interview segment. Thank you, Neil, for your honest answers. Okay, last part of their show before we run out of time. We have a lot of fan questions here. Let me try to pick Oh, he was a good one. Totally off topics. I love it. Yeah. What are your summer vacation plans? |
| Neil Scibelli | That's so sweet. That's like kind of a fun. Well, I just went to Aruba, which was really nice, super relaxing, even though you know, I was like answering stuff on the beach from my phone. And I am heading to Vegas in like a week and a half. I'm like doing concert madness. So I'm seeing Kelly Clarkson one night. And then thank you to Adele's team, who I was able to purchase house tickets from I'm going to see Adele the next night so I'm going to Vegas and having a concert summer apparently that's awesome. So it's been a busy work summer so like I'm fitting these things in where I can but I would love to like get to Europe when kind of things cooled down a bit but like cool down and work and cool down in Tampa actually both literally both. |
| Jodi Katz | Yeah. Okay, next question. This is a hard one. If you could only use one makeup product for the rest of your life Neil, what are you choosing? |
| Neil Scibelli | Honestly, I put it on right before this interview because I've been running around and events today the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Concealer, hashtag not paid or sponsored to say that on this, I just use it. It brightens, it has hyaluronic acid, so it also hydrates around your eyes. It's like peachy tone so it also color corrects. That's my go to, I honestly don't wear anything else really on except for like skincare and stuff like that. And if I'm on TV obviously will wear, you know, foundation and all that, but my day to day is concealer I think it’s, it's everything. |
| Jodi Katz | When you do TV appearances, are you doing your own makeup? |
| Neil Scibelli | I do. They have offered, like in they've done my hair a bit or like kind of touched it up so that there's not like spiky pieces like that happening on TV, but um, when they offer makeup I usually show up with my face down already kind of like myself. And if anything they'll powder or like add some extra contour because TV kind of sometimes makes you look paler. I realized like I'll show up with bronzer on and I still look like kind of just, so you always have to warm up a little bit more for TV, so they’ve warmed me up sometimes. |
| Jodi Katz | Last question, this is a really good one. So it's written as, what makeup should I wear for my first day at work at a new job? So let's like, let's narrow it down a little bit. Let's say it's an office job. What’s, what's an appropriate look? |
| Neil Scibelli | Alright, so I would wear a tinted moisturizer under that would be your skincare over your skincare would be extensive moisturizer. If you need a little bit more coverage, I would set your tinted moisturizer with like a little bit of translucent powder but I would go natural on the complexion I would do a you want to be yourself like before anything like if you have a signature of something and you wore that in your job interview like show up as yourself. So that's firstly if you are looking to go business forward or business casual and neutral Hi, you can't go wrong with like a champagne eye a toe or like a neutral bronzy i and when I say bronzy I don't mean like smoky, but just something that a neutral top liner mascara, I think a little bronzer as blush is always a great option because it acts as a contour and a blush at the same time. If you're not looking to overdo your cheeks like the little bronzer on the cheeks actually, like does wonders, and I would go with a lip color that's close to your natural lip color and bump that up like two or three shades. So whether you like a glossy finish, maybe it's like a semi semi velvety matte lipstick. Or maybe it's like a glossy finish. Someone said is a cat eye too much if that's your style. And like you wore that it also depends like what I think what industry you're in, because a red lip and Academy and most industries, you know, can work, you know. So it really I guess depends what you do, and what you who you are, what your style is putting your self and your style first in those decisions is always key. Because I always try to like even when I don't know what to wear or like I'm just like, What am I? I'm just like waiting. Take a moment. This is me, who am I? This is what I'm going to show up as this is what I'm going to wear so sometimes kind of bring it back to yourself. |
| Jodi Katz | I love that. This has been amazing. Thank you for joining us for our 237th Episode. |
| Neil Scibelli | Oh cool. Congrats. Thanks for having me. This is awesome. And we could, I feel like we could talk forever so I appreciate the time. And thank you for having me. It's been great. |
| Jodi Katz | And thank you listeners for joining us. If you like this episode, please rate and review. As always, make sure you're following us on your favorite podcast platform and Instagram to stay up-to-date on upcoming episodes and all the fun we have along the way. Thanks for joining us. |
| Neil Scibelli | Bye guys. Thank you so much for watching. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Bye. |
| Announcer | Thanks for listening to WHERE BRAINS MEET BEAUTY™ with Jodi Katz. Tune in again for more authentic conversations with beauty leaders. |
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