The self-described “half left-brained and half right-brained” MBA graduate from the Schulich School of Business founded BlushFX Make-Up Artistry + Hair in 2006. Lim’s seven-person team roves the Toronto area to fulfill brides’ beauty dreams, set the mood with make-up in fashion editorials, and perfect performers at charity fundraisers, to name just a few clients. BlushFX’s dynamic approach to mobile beauty services and its commitment to customer communication have grown the business steadily year after year.
More than a paint-pot magician, Candace Lim is an artist with commercial sense.
BlushFX is also the fulfillment of Lim’s own dream. For Candace, make-up has turned from personal interest to passionate hobby to the all-consuming basis of her business. After a career start in the financial services industry, she bootstrapped up the start-up learning curve by funding BlushFX with her own money. Lim honed her technique as a cosmetics guru with training at George Brown College’s Yorkville School of Aesthetics and workshops with celebrity make-up artists, but for her, customer service is also its own education: the BlushFX staff built its success on communicating with clients as individuals with deeply specific needs. Lim’s goal to “highlight the woman, not the make-up,” goes more than skin-deep.
What inspired you to start your business?
I have always had a love for make-up artistry since I was a young child. I was mesmerized by the transformative effect a glorious tube of red-orange lipstick could have on both my grandmother and my mother: their subsequent reactions to themselves (feeling beautiful) and the reactions others had towards them due to this feeling of confidence and beauty they were projecting.
As I grew up, I embraced this experience myself. Not always with the drama of red lipstick, but often just with simple beauty enhancements like wearing powder, light eyeliner, mascara, etc. The feeling in me was the same, and the reactions I received were positive.
I wanted to give other women the same feeling. So often I heard them say, “That looks SO great on you/her. I could NEVER wear that, though.” I wanted to show them that they could wear anything; they just had to find the right form. I enjoyed the transforming quality that cosmetics had on people’s personas: how beautiful they can feel, and the confidence that they get from it.
Live your vision. Perception is reality. For the first few years I did nothing but eat, sleep, and dream about BlushFX.
I also found that many women were intimidated by cosmetics and had the impression that all make-up would look very drastic. I wanted to show them the transformative power of subtle make-up that truly enhanced their beauty without being obvious. The goal in these instances is to highlight the woman, not the make-up. This is especially true of classic bridal make-up, which is one of our core businesses.
In my other life, I had done work in the financial industry and had completed an MBA degree. From the business side, I was prepared. From a beauty perspective, I was initially self-taught, and then took various courses to hone my craft. But as prepared as I was and as much as I wanted all of this, I was afraid to put myself out there and start as a formal business. I started doing it for fun just for people that I know and doing this for free for people that I know. It was through the great encouragement of my friends, family and in particular my cousin Jaymee, who arranged for my first paid gig, that decided to go ahead with it. Next a great group of friends helped me with my first portfolio shoot and I’ve been happily going strong ever since!
Photo courtesy of BlushFX
Where did your business’s seed capital come from and how did you go about getting it?
It’s not the most ideal way to do things from a business perspective, but the seed capital came from my pocket.
Tell us about what your services?
We provide Mobile Beauty Services, such as make-up (including airbrushing) and hairstyling for: weddings; commercial work such as catalogues; fashion work such as portfolio development, editorial-style work and runway; charity and fundraising events such as for United Way and Beauty Night.
Our services are mobile and we will go where we are needed.
[BlushFX has] given me a creative outlet from a business perspective. I am half left-brained and half right-brained.
What makes your services unique?
We focus on being service-oriented. In our industry, we need to be able to sense what people are feeling and figure out what they can’t express. In the bridal industry, it’s important to be an effective communicator. We deal with their feelings and explore visions of what they never knew they could be by taking the time to listen to them. Sometimes we have trials that last for hours to get that perfect look, and our clients appreciate that.
We also get feedback from brides that besides getting married to their husbands, the time that they spent with us getting ready was the best part of their wedding days.
Photo courtesy of BlushFX
How do you keep them motivated and engaged?
The key for BlushFX is staff personality. There are a million make-up artists and hairstylists who are technically skilled. But I look for staff with great personalities, communication skills, work ethic and drive. My staff are naturally motivated and engaged by their very nature, so I don’t have to do much in this regard.
How did you brand your business and market it?
Our business is based on word of mouth.
What has been your biggest success so far?
Everyday testimonials from clients—nothing more rewarding!
We’ve also starting a blog and Twitter account. This may seem so little, but it was a long time before we got to doing this! We were concerned about starting the blog because we just couldn’t commit to updating it all the time. But the benefits of having one outweighed this, because people do check us out online and the blog lets them see that we are active in the business.
Photo courtesy of BlushFX
There are a million make-up artists and hairstylists who are technically skilled. But I look for staff with great personalities.
Do you have plans to expand to new markets/products?
I am thinking about geographic expansion and finding great staff in areas outside of the immediate GTA. This is more convenient for clients and also from the staff’s perspective, since it would decrease some of their travel time.
We’ve expanded our services to include hair and will add more people to my team. This helps because I can accept larger bridal groups now, whereas in the past, staff size limited my ability to take on those parties.
What are your goals as an entrepreneur?
Expand the one-stop-shop services.
How do you define success?
Meeting your targets and goals while doing what you love, keeping the passion strong and anything else is gravy on top!
Everyone that I meet is an opportunity… an opportunity to learn from, teach, network with, and share ideas with.
To what do you most attribute your success?
Live your vision. Perception is reality. For the first few years I did nothing but eat, sleep, and dream about BlushFX. As an entrepreneur, you have to be very passionate about what you are doing because often the financial gains alone aren’t worth the effort.
Get to know your industry. I spent an insane amount of time (as evidenced by incredibly dark undereye circles that I am forever covering) researching and talking to people in all aspects of the industry in an effort to get to know it; to better understand what I wanted to do in it, how I could contribute; what value I could bring; and what I saw lacking elsewhere.
At the same time, it’s important remain open, flexible and responsivejay because you might miss an opportunity otherwise.
What advice do you have for others who want to become entrepreneurs?
Benchmark yourself against others in the industry, know your unique value proposition. If you don’t know it, ask your customers, they will tell you!
Take the time to understand and get to know your target market well.
If you had the chance to start over again, what would you do differently?
As a personal make-up artist, not buy one of every product. It was expensive and not necessary.
Photo courtesy of BlushFX
If you were to recommend a book or movie to a young entrepreneur, what would it be?
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.
The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hanson and Les Hewett.
How has being an entrepreneur affected your life?
I feel that I’m on 24/7. Everyone that I meet is an opportunity… an opportunity to learn from, teach, network with, and share ideas with. If I’m not doing that, I’m looking at websites on what competitors are doing.
It’s given me a creative outlet from a business perspective. I am half left-brained and half right-brained. Being a make-up artist myself allows me to express the art side through creativity, but being an entrepreneur allows me to express the other side from a business perspective.
What is the best part of owning a business?
- Reward of doing what you love every day.
- Networking, meeting like-minded people with similar passions.
- Feeling that I’ve provided a valued service, and made a difference in people’s special days.
- Feeling unlimited. The business can go wherever I want to take it.
- Flexibility, ability to set a goal and make it happen.
Photo courtesy of BlushFX
Building a Beautiful Business on Customer Service
The industry that Candace Lim has built her business around is focused on looks and outward beauty. The strength of her business is built on providing service that you can’t really put a price to and that is listening to the inner insecurities and fears that her clients have and helping them bring out confidence that they never knew they had. This entrepreneur has mastered her creative skills by transforming other peoples’ dreams into a gorgeous reality.
Click on the following for more information on BlushFX Makeup Artistry + Hair and for more photos, click on the BlushFX Facebook page.
