The beauty behind the brushes

Tarleton alumni turns passion for makeup into blooming business

What started as a seemingly fleeting hobby turned into a blooming business opportunity for Tarleton alumni, Baylee Bradley. 

Bradley has been dabbling in the makeup industry since she was very young. Around the age of 15, before she could even attend prom herself, Bradley picked up her brushes and began exploring her passion. 

It wasn’t until she was 16-years-old that she was able to test her skills at her very first wedding. This is where her love for the wedding industry was born.

Despite her being nervous due to how young she was at the time, Bradley used this experience as one of the building blocks towards the rest of her future. 

“I’ve had a love for doing wedding makeup from the beginning, so that first experience confirmed to me that I actually could do it. I look back on the pictures and it {the makeup} was actually pretty decent. That’s where it all started,” Bradley stated.

Bradley’s talents are not limited to weddings and proms. She has done makeup looks for various events like formals, sorority events, graduations and so much more. In addition to these services, Bradley doubles as a traveling makeup artist. 

“I’m willing to travel as far as someone needs me to. I have done weddings that were several hours away and I have worked a wedding in Florida,” Bradley said.

During her time at Tarleton State University, Bradley pursued a degree in business with a minor in management. From there, she began her full-time career as a nanny. However, this did not stop her from pursuing her passion.  

Bradley officially launched her Instagram business account in Oct. 2020, and has since been able to enhance the beauty of her clients while also sharing her journey with potential clients

“I was hesitant to start an Instagram because there is so much that goes into having a social media. My page has only been up for a few years, but I’ve been doing makeup consistently since I was 18-years-old, when I first started working at MAC as a freelance artist. I started taking makeup more seriously when I was around 17 or 18-years-old,”Bradley stated.

A typical busy season for Bradley consists of doing makeup for a party of up to 10 girls. As of recently, her wedding parties have consisted of about five to seven women, including the bride, her bridal party and the mother of both the bride and groom.

In the past few years, she has watched her calendar fill up with various clients that have deemed her worthy of helping make them shine on their special day. Additionally, Bradley has worked weddings at every venue in the Weatherford area.  

Within the next year, Bradley hopes to see an increase in the amount of clients she books during the busy wedding season. Her goal is to work as many weddings as she can with hopes of booking out her weekends whenever she can. 

Although Bradley does not currently have a booking website, potential clients can directly message her on her business Instagram account for information about travel, prices and all booking needs. For information about Beauty by Baylee, visit her Instagram @beautyby_baylee.