This is an editorial series of portraits – written and shot by Nicole M. Gomes – spotlighting women from The Soulfuls community.
In our fifth edition, we meet current mentor Sidsel Marie Bøg, Hair & Makeup Artist and Founder of Untold Secretz. From working with international artists and fashion houses to building a beauty platform of her own, Sidsel has spent decades creating a career that continues to evolve, without losing the way she wants to work.
A conversation about building a creative career with longevity, trusting your own way of doing things, making space for family and ambition, and why one person believing in you can change where you go next.
“You can actually be a nice person and get the same amount of job done.”
What is your job and what does a work day look like to you?
I am a trained make-up artist and hair stylist. I work in fashion and commercials and with celebrities. I do various jobs - campaign shoots, red carpet, Fashion Week and producing makeup and hair products as well. I’ve also been working as a beauty editor for a magazine, so I do tons of different things within the fashion industry. I have a lot of hats that I’m juggling around, which I like, so there’s never a day that’s the same. Right now, I’m putting a photoshoot together for one of the brands we have here at Untold Secretz.
What is Untold Secretz?
Untold Secretz is a project that I started 15 years ago on the side. I had bad skin my whole life. I had a lot of allergies, so I had to find makeup products I could use. It started there with “what can I use?” Then I ended up thinking that if I cannot get hormone-disturbing ingredients in my system, maybe a lot of other women can’t either. So I started Untold Secretz, finding natural, clean, non-toxic beauty products. I realised they are exactly the same in efficiency and colour payoff, and the textures are even nicer because they are all skincare-infused. And the performance is so much better, and you enhance natural skin even more.
I really pay a lot of attention to ingredients because the biggest organ is our skin; what we put on it goes directly into the veins. It’s super important. So it became an obsession and a thing that I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing and working with. It started out as a small website where I had all my favourite untold secrets from make-up artists and hair artists, but now it’s a web shop, and we have distribution as well with the products. It’s really amazing to see now non-toxic beauty is a thing; fifteen years ago it wasn’t, and it was really difficult to find.
How do you schedule all of the different jobs?
It’s definitely a lot of organising; you need to be quite structured to be able to do this as a full-time job. You could be like, okay, what comes your way is nice, but if you can be structured… For example, we are currently having conversations about trying to organise the team for shows in four months. You need to have all the pre-appointments for the team, for the product, for the designers, all of that. It’s so much about timing and organising, and you don’t think that. You think you just meet up to a job with your make-up bag and that’s it, but it’s not; it’s really about being organised. Organisation is key!
“I’m definitely a better version of myself when I’m working.”
What was your journey to get to where you are now?
I started out really young with an interest in makeup and hair. I didn’t fit into a regular job. So I found my way into hairdressing school, and back then we had four years of education, and if you wanted to be a cosmetologist, you had one year of that. For me, it was just eye-opening, and I thought I definitely wanted to go more into make-up eventually. So I went to London College of Fashion and took my make-up education, and I thought I was definitely going to stay and work in the UK. But I wanted to travel more, and I met my (Danish) husband quite early, and so I thought ok I can do this from Denmark. We’ve been together 29 years now, so I’m happy I stayed here! It’s really amazing. The choices you make in life, right? It’s possible; you can stay here and have a fantastic career as a make-up artist, and you can also have an international career as a make-up artist.
So you still got to travel?
Yes, I got to travel. I used to have agencies in New York, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. I don’t anymore. I have two kids, and I also have Untold Secretz, so it’s a lot of work! I’m trying to stay more here, but I do travel with clients. Of course, I am also the hair artist for the Scandinavian market for L’Oreal, so it takes me to a lot of places, still without being represented by agencies now. And being in your mid-life, it is also nice to think you can have your beautiful career in your own country.
Incredible. Was there a pivotal moment when you were starting out that really got you on the path to where you are now?
Back when I started, the industry here was quite small. I came from a TV program similar to MTV, and that was my way in because we were doing a lot of music acts - CDs, music videos and all of that. I did so much creative work. When the TV station closed down, I decided to go freelance. I had so many connections from the music industry, so I went to one of the big agencies, Elite Models. Back in the day, they had artists, and I said This is what I want to do. They took me in, and ever since, I’ve just been working. I didn’t have major experience in fashion back then; I was doing mostly artists, like Kylie Minogue and Nelly Furtado. We had major artists, and from that perspective I had a big name, but that was within the music industry, and I wanted to move over to fashion, and they gave me a chance. I’ve been with a lot of very nice agencies over time, and it’s been such a journey. I really loved it, and my words would be: just go out there and see if you can get in with an agent because that’s where you can get playtime.
Personal question, I know you have two children. Did you plan on becoming a mother? And how do you juggle that with your career?
Yes, I really, really wanted children. This industry is difficult to take time off, especially when you have your own business. It’s a curse and a blessing. It’s wonderful that you can plan your days and you can say no, but there are also opportunities that you don’t want to miss out on. Sometimes when you say no, they get somebody else, and you’re never going to get asked again, so sometimes you have to say yes and get on with it. I was working 21 days after having my first child. I had my husband there with my boy. It was a big three-day shoot for Samsø Samsø on location with an international photographer, and I was like, yeah, sure I can do that. Then two months after, it was Fashion Week, so the same thing, with my baby. Luckily, I had two very easy children, and my husband was flexible, so for me that was really the key: we decided this is how we’re going to do it. So either you need to have a good nanny, a good husband, or grandparents.
And I think it’s a mindset and not feeling guilty. I take days off, and I do stuff with my kids that nobody can do if they had an office job. But I also work long days and long hours, and I travel a lot. It’s about looking at yourself in the mirror and saying I’m a good mum; I do really good stuff with my kids, but I work different hours and I work differently, but it’s ok.
And of course, I’m lucky that I have a good, understanding husband and I have a nice team as well; that’s also very helpful. They all know my kids because they have been around forever. My kids have been with me on jobs, everything from pop stars to X Factor to Dancing with the Stars, all different stuff! It’s just normal to them.
I’m definitely a better version of myself when I’m working. It gives me energy, I feel happy, and I love what I’m doing; it’s my passion. I’m a better mum when I’m working, for sure. I give that energy to my kids. Encourage your kids to make a living that makes you happy. So many people are doing stuff their whole life that aren’t happy with their work. I couldn’t get up in the morning! I’m encouraging people to stop, do what makes you happy, and make a living out of that.
“You can develop so much as a human if there’s a good vibe and you trust each other instead of the pointy elbows”
The Soulfuls - How did you get involved?
There was this beautiful woman on my street with beautiful kids, and we met on the street playing, and that was Aram. She was at an internship at a magazine that I was working for, so she came up to me and said I kind of know you and I was like Amazing! I want to get to know you! And then we met, and we totally clicked- our energy and the way she sees the world and what she’s giving out and what she’s trying to create. So I followed her building up the Soulfuls right from the beginning in her little office space out on the street in her little shed that she had. When COVID happened, it was really mission impossible to work, but she was building up the Soulfuls meanwhile. I fell in love with Aram because she’s such an amazing soul. We’ve been working together and creating nice stuff together over the years so when I was asked to be a mentor, it felt so natural. I’ve been mentoring my whole life; I’ve always had assistants, I’ve always wanted to give - somebody gave me a chance. It’s just one person taking you in and believing in you. It’s so important that we give back.
What has your experience been as a mentor?
I’m being a good mentor and telling my mentees, try and get out while being young - go to Paris Fashion Week, go to New York, go to London. It’s a different way to work there; definitely the work experience is different, the elbows are different… very pointy! It’s good to have some hair on the chest from that. It’s a nice industry here; we usually treat each other really well and with respect. And I really try to emphasise that with the way that we work as a team. We work together and not against each other; we try to lift each other up and really support each other while working, so it’s a team effort. We have such a good time at fashion weeks, and we do a lot of big shows, TV shows and stuff like that, and really the spirit there is just very cosy. We have such a good time, which I find really important. You can develop so much as a human if there’s a good vibe and you trust each other instead of the pointy elbows and that. But it’s good to go and explore what’s happening out there and say "ok! It’s not necessary, you can actually be a nice person and get the same amount of work done.
