After spending more than 25 years in Las Vegas, the singer-turned-makeup artist is living and working in Moorestown.
Makeup artist Stuart May has worked with Chanel, Estee Lauder, Yves Saint Laurent, Bobbi Brown and even actress and singer Debbie Reynolds, and after 27 years in Las Vegas, he now calls Moorestown home.
“I really lucked out moving to Moorestown,” May said. “After five years, I’ve really grown to feel a part of the community.”
May moved to Moorestown with his partner after singing in Las Vegas for more than 25 years, beginning in his early 20s. Approaching 50 and finding his passion for singing was fading, May found a new passion in makeup.
“I felt like I was home when I came here. I don’t know how to explain it,” May said. “Part of it was [my partner], part of it was this town. Most places aren’t like this — it’s like a protection.”
After he left Vegas, May got his esthetician license and began working for a plastic surgeon specializing in skin care, but he missed doing makeup.
“When I worked with Debbie Reynolds, she would do her makeup every night and I would watch her do her makeup and it was kind of amazing,” May said. “It was like artistry. I started developing a passion for it and I started getting better at it.”
As a performer, May knew how to apply his own makeup, but Reynolds taught him to do makeup for women.
While he does makeup for all ages and is already booked for prom, May finds himself to be especially talented at applying makeup on adult women, saying 35 is typically when the skin starts to change.
“When you’re young, you can put whatever on your face. You don’t have any lines or wrinkles,” May said. “Once you’re over a certain age, there’s a very fine line between what makes you look better and what makes you look older.”
After spending some time working for a big, busy salon, May recently began working at Moorestown’s Salon at Marc Stephens.
“It’s like a hometown place,” May said.
Salon co-owner Michele Merlino knew hiring May was the right choice when she saw how talented he was and how well he interacts with clients.
“People are afraid to get into somebody’s chair that they’re not familiar with. These women come in that he doesn’t know, he introduces himself, and next thing you know they’re back [in the makeup room] because he’s good at what he does,” Merlino said. “We’re very happy to have him here.”
While most of May’s clients are women, he does often get men coming into the salon to get their eyebrows waxed.
“Perceptions have changed and men are more comfortable,” May said.
In addition to working at the salon, May is also the founder of on-site makeup company The Bridal Squad, a makeup service for bridal parties before and during weddings. He compares the job to catering, saying it’s very fast-paced, while working in a salon is more relaxed and allows him to build relationships with his clients.
“There’s a certain vibe here. It’s not high pressure,” May said of the salon. “We work and we do our jobs, but it’s Moorestown. We’re not in Manhattan.”
May jokes that after making a living singing and applying makeup for the better part of his career, he only began to gain fame when he appeared on QVC.
“I have been a singer my whole life and made a living out of it and because I’m on QVC selling shoes once a week as a co-host, all of the sudden I’ve made it,” May laughed. “Now I’m legitimate.”
After returning to Vegas last year for a visit, May realized Moorestown is where he belongs.
“I just love product and makeup and making people feel good about themselves, and I love that I’m in a place that allows me to do all of those things,” May said.
