Makeup By Danielle, Mahopac
For the last decade, women in Mahopac and the surrounding communities know if they want their makeup done right to call Danielle Spirelli.
Spirelli, who owns and runs Makeup By Danielle, which is a home business, has worked the last ten years making hundreds of women feel beautiful before they embark on a major life event like marriage or prom. Spirelli said the idea for her business first began when she was still a dancer and fellow dancers loved the way she did their stage makeup prior to performances. With a natural talent for it, everybody would always ask her to do their makeup.
“So that’s where it started, I said, ‘hey, I’m kind of good at this, maybe I should make a career out of it and I really enjoy doing it,’” Spirelli said.
From there, she took a course to get certified, but mostly uses her own artistic instincts to make others look and feel glamorous. Makeup by Danielle will do makeup for prom, weddings, sweet 16s, bah mitzvahs, special events and even just for a group of women simply going out on a Friday night. Many of her customers come from Mahopac, where she resides, and other parts of the Putnam and Westchester counties. She’s benefited largely from word of mouth and social media to attract business.
For weddings, Spirelli is willing to travel to the venue, bringing her equipment with her. Spring, summer and fall are the busiest time for her with winter more of a lull. The job is perfect for Spirelli, who is the mother of three children. Most of work occurs during evenings and weekends when her husband is home from work.
“Definitely something I want to expand and keep going a bit,” Spirelli said.
Spirelli still attends classes to keep up on the latest, hottest trends that are constantly changing because of social media and Youtube. One of the bigger fads out there right now is airbrush makeup, she said.
Spirelli’s goal no matter whom she does makeup for is to make women feel good. She wants them to look in the mirror and feel beautiful.
“I’ve had people in tears,” she said. “You have a woman that looks in the mirror and it brings tears to her eyes because she looks so beautiful, it’s such a rewarding feeling. Just to make people feel good I guess would be my philosophy. That’s the best part of my job.”
Spirelli is so passionate about her profession that she has rarely ever had anyone do her own makeup. In fact, on her own wedding day, she did her sister’s makeup and she has done the makeup for all of her friends at their weddings, even when she is in the bridal party.
“I had to have my makeup done once when I was dancing,” Spirelli, who danced for the New York Jets and New York Dragons. “And I hated it. When you know what you’re doing, you know your own features, it’s very hard to let somebody else take over.”
