Beauty boss condemns the ugly side of social media

7 hours ago

Georgie DockerNorth West

News image — Mitchell Halliday is a 28-year-old beauty brand founder from Bolton

A make-up artist and beauty brand founder has condemned "cruel" online trolls who flooded his social media accounts after he came up with a red carpet look for reality star Katie Price.

Mitchell Halliday, who created the make-up brand Made By Mitchell and has worked with the likes of Kim Kardashian, received tens of thousands of comments on a video of the makeover, some of which he said were "too vile" to repeat.

Halliday, from Bolton, said: "I've seen a lot of social media so it doesn't really shock me anymore - but the women talking about Katie struck me.

"Some of it was just so vile and just straight to the attack."

Mitchell Halliday/Made By Mitchell Mitchell Halliday stands smiling in a red, white and black tartan hat standing next to Katie Price. Katie has dark black hair and wears a white shirt and large gold earrings. She is wearing heavy make-up consisting of a dark grey sparkly smoky eye, large lashes, dark black thick eyeliner and a contrasting white waterline. She wears a brown lipliner offset with a nude lipstick. — Halliday said he had never seen social media comments as cruel as the ones left under the video he posted about Katie Price's new look

Price, who rose to fame as model Jordan in the late 90s, has been vocal about her body dysmorphia and cosmetic procedures.

"I've not really ever seen this amount of cruelty before," said Halliday, whose previous online content has been shared by Kardashian and celebrity make-up artist Makeup by Mario.

"It's almost like people think that we're not going to see the comments.

"Katie loved the look and knowing I made her happy was all I cared about."

'I was in shock'

Halliday, who said the episode had made him feel "quite sad", has since posted a video in defence of Price and his brand.

"I was in shock that so much negativity had come to the page that I have nurtured and created such a beautiful community with over the last 10 years.

"I want people to come to my platform and see that people who are doing things differently are celebrated."

He added that he and Price have bounced back from the incident and plan to work with each other again in the near future.

"I don't take things too personally and thankfully Katie doesn't either."

Price declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

Mitchell Halliday/Made By Mitchell Mitchell has pink hair and wears an orange jumper. His face is painted with an abstract scene of multi-coloured lines creating a sky scene with varying shades and highlights and small white clouds painted on his cheeks. — Halliday now lives in Cheshire but said Manchester would "always be home"

Halliday is no stranger to celebrity collaborations.

In 2018, he was invited to Amsterdam to film with US make-up icon NikkieTutorials.

"The visibility that I gained overnight was insane," he said.

"How the hell does a little kid from Westhoughton end up getting reposted by Kim Kardashian and the most famous make-up artist on the planet?"

Mitchell Halliday/Made By Mitchell A teenage boy wears light make-up and dark painted eyebrows. He is wearing a shirt and blazer and has a large smoothed quiff of brown hair. — Before make-up, Halliday's ambition was to become a professional singer.

Reflecting on what inspired him to become a make-up artist, Halliday said his love of make-up started in school, when he would experiment with drawing on his eyebrows.

"My headteacher was a great man," Halliday said.

"He tried to get me to take them off in the most loving way.

"And I just simply would not!"

'Transformation'

His first job in the industry came after a short stint on ITV's The X Factor, where he briefly appeared as part of boyband No Getaway.

Dropped before the bootcamp stage, Halliday turned his attention to beauty and got a part-time job at a friend's salon in Manchester.

"I've always loved the aspect of transformation and I ended up picking up some brushes and loved it," he said.

Halliday was never professionally trained, but said his time working at the salon meant he was constantly learning and working with some of the best in the industry.

Mitchell Halliday/Made By Mitchell Mitchell wears a pink baseball cap backwards and a pink top. He rests his hand on his chin and his eyes are closed. He wears an pink and purple eyeshadow look with a pink base a thin purple cut crease and a darker upper lid. He wears a light coloured powder highlighter and peach lipstick. — Halliday said he quickly garnered attention from some of the biggest names in the make-up industry

Using those skills, Halliday said he started sharing his looks on social media and quickly began to attract attention.

"It blew up and I was quickly noticed by the biggest names in the beauty industry," he said.

Having founded his brand during Covid, Made By Mitchell became the first in the UK to hit $1m in sales in one day on TikTok Shop - during a 12-hour live event in 2024.

After travelling around the world with his career, Halliday now has an office in Manchester and said he was happy to be "home".

"Did I ever think I would end up where I am now? Definitely not," he said.

"I didn't even think that was possible. Coming from a little council estate in Bolton you don't really see that kind of representation when you're growing up.

"I truly think I've been put on this earth to make people feel great about themselves and to listen to people and to give them the space to be themselves.

"But there's so much more that I want to do."

Mitchell Halliday/Made By Mitchell A young boy with brown hair wears denim jeans and a denim jacket. He wears a yellow and red stripey top and is stood smiling inside a living room. The walls are red and behind him is a multi-coloured geometric patterned curtain. — "I've never really been nervous to be who I am," Halliday said

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