25 Years in Makeup: What Heidi Scarlett King Learned About Careers, People, and Knowing When to Reinvent Yourself

Heidi Scarlett King

Heidi Scarlett King has been a makeup artist for 25 years. She started when Mac had just launched in Australia, did Fashion Week in the early 2000s when the shows were packed and the money was real, moved to London with nothing but a British passport and a lot of ambition, ended up on ITV breakfast television, worked on Pat McGrath's runway team in Paris, came home and eventually built King Co Creative — a Sydney-based agency with 45 artists on the books.

In a recent episode of The Makeup Insider, I sat down for a conversation that covered all of it. The highs, the restarts, the people who surprised her (not always in a good way), and the lessons she would give her younger self.

Here is what stood out.

Starting at Mac When It Actually Meant Something

Heidi finished studying at Three Arts in Sydney in 2001 and walked straight into one of the most exciting periods in Australian beauty. Mac had just launched and she was one of the first artists on the counter. Women were lining up for lip glass and spice lip liner. Shows were selling satin taupe eyeshadow 20 times a day.

Then came Australian Fashion Week. At its peak in the early 2000s, there were around 80 shows a season and Mac was doing about 65 of them. That is an extraordinary amount of work — and for a young artist, an extraordinary amount of training. Designers like Zimmermann, Leona Edmiston, Sass and Bide. Sets with props and lighting and art direction. Proper budgets. Proper pay.

"It was the most exciting time in Australian fashion," Heidi says. "We all got paid to do shows. We all really properly got paid."

It does not look like that anymore. The work did not disappear — it just moved somewhere else.

The Year She Packed Up and Left for London

At 28, Heidi was still single, living in the eastern suburbs, and felt like she was just repeating herself. She had a British passport through her father. So she left. No job lined up. No contacts. She had never been to London.

"I just literally had never been to London, packed my bags, off I went."

The first eight months were hard. She went back to Mac — this time the Pro Store in Soho, which functioned as the industry's hub. Every serious artist came through those doors eventually. Val Garland. Alex Box. Pixiewoo's Nicola and Sam (who I calls two of the only people she would genuinely fangirl).

Then came the B Sky B test. Getting onto their freelance books of 50 hair and makeup artists meant steady television work across news, entertainment, music channels, and sport. It was bread and butter money while she built her London client list. It also led to working on BBC music channels and going to festivals like Latitude to do live crosses.

And then came the accident that changed her career direction.

How She Ended Up on ITV This Morning

Heidi was working with Scottish hairstylist Charley McEwen when he suggested they both go for a beauty expert test on ITV This Morning — a breakfast show with three to five million viewers.

"I hired a model from Storm Models, did three celebrity looks, and made the shortlist. He didn't."

She still sounds a little sheepish about it. But the result was a segment called The Beauty Bells — three makeup artists, rotating spots, teaching how-to tutorials to millions of viewers. This was 2012, right as YouTube beauty tutorials were starting to explode, and it was ahead of its time.

The ITV work opened doors to PR companies, brand affiliations, and a writing stint with Two Magazine (the magazine the Pixiewoo girls started). It also pushed her to do a diploma in presenting at the London Media Academy.

"Learning how to speak to camera, how to write scripts, how to use an autocue. It was super valuable. I still use it now."

Then Pat McGrath's team came calling through Streeters.

Working on Pat McGrath's Team in Paris

The team at Streeters put Heidi forward for Pat's Paris Fashion Week show. She said yes.

"You had to really read the room, you know. There is a pecking order. She has five or six assistants. There is a top one who shows you the makeup test. Pat came in halfway through and said 'beautiful, love it' — and then she was gone."

Heidi describes the experience as extraordinary and also clarifying. She was based in London, not New York. It was one incredible experience that taught her what that world actually felt like from the inside — and confirmed that her path was going to be built differently.

Coming Home in 2014: Starting Over (Again)

Returning to Sydney after six years in London is not the homecoming you imagine it will be. The industry had shifted. Instagram was changing who got booked and why. Suddenly a follower count mattered as much as skill.

"Re-establishing myself back in Sydney took longer than establishing myself in London. Wildly."

London works differently. Everyone is transient, everyone is moving fast, there is no ceiling. Sydney moves slower and the pool of work is smaller. It took time. But the work came — and it came in a different form than she expected.

The Voice, and How the Agency Was Born

Not long after returning, someone at Endemol Shine put Heidi's name forward for Hair and Makeup Director on The Voice. She got it. And that was when she started building teams.

Managing the show meant creating looks every week, getting them approved by the artistic director, overseeing a core freelance team plus sponsored brand teams (Redken, Napoleon, Mac) simultaneously. It was chaotic and she loved it.

After the shows wrapped, requests kept coming in. Can you build a team for this event? Can you supply artists for this corporate campaign? Can you run the hair and makeup for this launch?

"It started slowly on its own. I was sitting up at nine, ten o'clock at night doing all the comms. It was a whole part-time job."

King Co Creative became official three and a half years ago. It now has 45 artists subcontracting across Sydney.

What She Looks for in Artists: Integrity Over Everything

Heidi is direct about this. She gets around five to ten emails a week from artists wanting to join the agency. She cannot say yes to most of them. Not because they are not talented — but because she cannot know them yet.

"What you cannot learn is integrity. Being a good person is not something I can teach you. That has to come already."

She prefers working with someone first before recommending them for agency work. Even then, people surprise her and not always well. She has had people steal from her. She has managed artists through mental health crises. She has had to end working relationships with people she genuinely liked.

"Managing people is the toughest job I have ever had."

But she also looks around at her core team — artists she has worked with since coming back to Australia a decade ago and feels genuinely lucky.

"They are still killing it. They are still inspiring me every single time."

The Cartier Event: 63 Artists in One Day

The standout story from the King Co side of her career is the Cartier event at the Sydney Opera House.

Heidi was approached by two separate production companies for the same event — one needed her agency to supply artists across ten Sydney hotels simultaneously, the other asked her to direct the makeup on the runway show itself.

"A total of 63 hair and makeup artists working for me in a space of a few hours."

The hotel operation alone required separate teams at the Crown, Sofitel, Intercontinental, Langham, and more, with a point of contact at each venue and constant comms running behind the scenes for weeks beforehand.

It went off without a hitch. Every client had positive feedback for their artist. The runway show looked the way it was supposed to.

Heidi's Kit Favourites

At the end of the episode, Heidi walked through what is sitting in her kit right now. Here is the breakdown.

By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder Her 15-year staple and the powder she uses on every single client. A true "no powder powder" fills pores and fine lines without ever looking like you are wearing powder. Found it at Space NK in London and has never gone back.

Mac Tattoo Eye Liner (gel pencil) Her new obsession for tight lining and waterline. Does not transfer like every other liner does. Tiny, precise, comes in around ten colours. "One of the first Mac OGs, and still the brand I keep coming back to for long wear."

Heart Percent lip liner (dusty rose) Her go-to for the Cupid's bow lip contour moment. A universal dusty rose shade that works across skin tones she also has a deeper shade for darker complexions. Matte, long-wearing, and it stays put. Her tip: blend well and assess the face before applying lip contour is not for every lip shape.

Tarte Tubing Mascara XL Her ride or die and the one she has converted every client to. Tubing formula (so it does not transfer or smudge on oily or sensitive eyes) but unlike most tubing mascaras, this one actually builds and volumises. "One stroke and it is there.

NARS LIGHT REFLECTING LUMINIZING STICK New release and she is obsessed. An airbrushed finish, multi-use on cheeks, eyes, and lips. She showed a warm blush shade and a clear version the clear one gives a glazed, wet skin look with no shimmer or glitter, just pure glow. "Really hard to find a highlighter without the sparkle. This one does it."