Glow Up's judging duo on how they made it in make-up

Make-up artists Val Garland and Dominic Skinner have done it all.

Val has stuck crystals onto Björk’s face, given Lady Gaga facial spikes and covered Cate Blanchett in red paint. Dom, meanwhile, has worked on some of the most shocking make-up looks ever for the runways of Jean-Paul Gaultier and Dame Vivienne Westwood.

Together, they are the judges for the BBC’s make-up competition show Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star, hosted by supermodel Leomie Anderson, where they are known for their encouraging critiques and Val’s signature "ding dong" catchphrase when a make-up artist does an incredible job.

Now they have shared some of their milestone "first ever" moments from their careers.

Arriving in Britain from Australia in the mid-1990s, Val was integral to the boom in British fashion of the time, working with icons of the era such as Alexander McQueen, John Galliano and Kate Moss.

Often working with Val over the years, Dom is now global senior artist at MAC Cosmetics.

Dominic: “I had a place at the London College of Fashion doing menswear, but I kept deferring.

“My mum said ‘well, if you’re not going to uni, you’ll go out and get yourself a job'. I was a part-time Christmas temp at the Body Shop, and they had a make-up line.

“I really enjoyed the process of painting people and seeing how it gave people confidence and changed people’s attitudes. So I phoned up the college and asked if I could swap to make-up.”

Val: “I was a computer programmer. We just worked like robots punching numbers. I was on a break and asked why nobody talked. I was told we're not allowed to talk. I thought ‘oh God, I can't do this job, I'll die of boredom'.

“I was then a hairdresser in Bristol, earning good money but not really getting anywhere. So I went to live in Australia, and within a year I had my own salon and was starting to do bits of make-up.”

Val: “I was heavily into the club scene, which in Australia was second to none. It was all about getting ready, creating a character for these three-day club events. I was quite fond of blood and dressing myself up in raggedy sort of bandages.

“I wasn't interested in being beautiful. I wanted to be noticed. Wearing frosted white powder with jet black holes and a stonking red lip, that would be my look.”

Dom: “I knocked on every agent’s door every season. I got it wrong the first season by knocking on doors a week before, having people tell me: ‘No babe, we organised this months ago.’ So next season I started pestering people months before.

“The first show I got, I had to get a night bus across London to get there for 4am. I set up and realised my kit is not good enough, I’ve brought the most random things.

“So then you learn and next time you bring the right kit, do the right make-up. It’s a learning process, until eventually you find yourself backstage in Milan talking to Jeremy Scott because he’s lost a model that’s covered in green body paint.”

Val: “I arrived in London in 1994. I'd had a very successful career in Australia, but I came to London and nobody knew who the hell I was. But the people I met and started to work with were getting noticed. I felt like part of a gang who were just trying new things.

“I remember working with Kate Moss for the first time. She sits in my chair and says ‘what’s the look?’. I tell her we’re doing a sort of mucky mascara thing, and she’s like ‘darling, nobody’s wearing mascara in New York'.”

Dom: “I remember working for Vivienne Westwood with Val. Westwood was always a challenge, because it was never straightforward. We were making models look like mother of pearl, and then they decided they didn’t like it, so we had to do something completely different with about half an hour before the show started.

“Seeing Vivienne for the first time, I was in absolute awe. I didn’t know what to do, so I curtsied!”

Val Garland: “She was very young at the time, but she knew exactly what she wanted. We got on because she reminded me of me and my friends in the 80s, just fearless.

“When we were talking about ideas, she’d say: ‘Go on Val, tell us an outrageous story from the 80s.’ And so I told her about making an outfit out of meat. I made a long-haired wig and a hula skirt out of sausages. I wrapped bacon around my calves and wore two fresh, bloody steaks as a bikini top.

“Gaga asked if she could use [the idea], I said 'go for it, darling' and that’s how the meat dress came about.”

Val: “Working as a make-up artist can be all about who you know or your social media following. And a lot of make-up artists that have been on Glow Up have gone on to assist incredible leading key artists.”

Dom: “What is so incredible about the show is that the contestants would never have the opportunities in the outside world that are laid in front of them in the show. They've worked on Doctor Who, London Fashion Week, worked with legendary drag queens... they've done it all.”

Val: “I’ve been saying 'ding dong' for 25 years. At shows, I would get my make-up artists to stand up. The make-up artists would be quivery, thinking I was going to say it's awful. And I'm like, ‘Right, everybody, that is ding dong. I want all the make-up like that.’”

Dom: “You wanted a ding dong so much! You would put in an extra amount of hard work, because you wanted that moment where Val noticed your work.”

Glow Up series six is streaming now on BBC iPlayer