Whilst still at high school back in the late 70’s Laura  asked her careers advisor about becoming a Make Up Artist and they had never heard of it! She took her career journey into her own hands, contacting the BBC and they only took you on if you were 20 (& a half!) but Laura was only 16 at the time , so she decided to go to hairdressing college, working her way up to Manager in a Salon and worked in Hamburg and Nice as a hairdresser.  

She then came back home where she started her family and went into teaching for a time when her children were young. Then an opportunity came up with the new HND Makeup Artistry, the 1st of it’s kind in Scotland. 

BBC & STV were keen to give work experience for a variety of their shows and Laura built a relationship with Anne Hamilton at STV and she gave Laura her first paid work on News, Sports & Chat shows to start with which worked in well with her small children.  

She also worked on many of the Saturday morning children’s shows with live bands. Her first design job was a children’s show called Snug & Cozie then Fun House and Not Another Saturday with Dani Minogue. 

She said, “I really wanted to get into Drama and was doing a lot of dailies and met a Designer called Irene Napier, who took me onboard her team to do Holby City, Down to Earth, Inspector Linley Mysteries, Jeckyl & Rebus.” 

This gave her the desire to design herself and she got her first design job on a Drama called The Book Group & the rest is history! Laura took over as Series Designer on Holby City, Line of Duty, The Replacement, 2 Doors Down, Scot Squad, Whiskey Galore, Secret Agent, The Nest, Humans, The Cry, The Vigil, Karen Pirie, Chemistry of Death, Guilt & is currently shooting The Vigil 2. 

She said, “I think one of the most important skills a MUA needs to have is strong Hairdressing and Barbering, so please get yourself a Saturday job in a Salon it’s one the skills that that set you apart from others on your CV & to remember the MUA course is a training and you will then further that training out in the industry!”  

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